a city of beauty and brokenness

I've just begun reading Henri Nouwen's Gracias!: A Latin American Journal. His observation really struck a chord with me and what little I know about the place I now call home:
"Latin America: impressive wealth and degrading poverty, splendid flowers and dusty broken roads, loving people and cruel torturers, smiling children and soldiers who kill. It is here that we have to hunt for God's treasure. I pray that my stay in Bolivia will teach me much more than Spanish."
This is my prayer as well. Yesterday one of the missionary couples here had us over for lunch, and gave us a little history of the country, including the dark rituals of the indigenous peoples that to this day practice paganism (I'll spare you some of the gruesome details). Today we visited a Catholic church in La Plaza San Francisco. At some point I will upload pictures, but it is a sight to behold. Although ornately decorated in beautiful colors, gold, and other precious metals, the statues of saints represented to me false hope for the people of La Paz. I saw such despair in a woman praying and weeping to one of the saints. I just wanted to share with her how there true hope and true grace in the One who knows her intimately and wants to help her in a way that these saints cannot. There is One has sacrificed all for her so she doesn't have to earn salvation.
It is my prayer that I learn much more than Spanish. I want to be an imitator of Christ so my students will be able to imitate me. I desire a broken heart for the people of this city and this country.

bienvenidos a bolivia

I have been in La Paz now for about 2 and a half days, and already I have fallen in love with this city. These are a couple views from my apartment that I stole from my roomie, but they hardly compare to the actual sight. Absolutely gorgeous, right?

There are so many things I could blog about now, but I'm sure there will be more posts to come, and I'll have the pictures to go with them later. Big ups to my incredible sister who has mailed my other uploader thing for my camera! Thanks, Kel! You're the bestest!

Thank you to everyone for all of your prayers, support, and encouragment. I don't want to sound like a broken record, but it brings me to tears when I think of how blessed I am to have such a great support system in the states (aka the U.S.). I believe, from the few people I have met so far, I'll also develop a wonderful group of friends here over the next couple years.

One quick and funny story of my first adventure shopping yesterday...I'm pretty sure this was one of many reminders to laugh at myself rather than get frustrated! So I was walking down the stairs at a cute little store where things are locally made and you can get them made-to-order for cheap. Well here I am taking a few steps, and the next thing I know I slip and fall down not one, not two, but the whole stinkin flight of hardwood stairs. Not only that, but it was like a Jenny earthquake of 9 on the Richter scale. Things were falling off the walls as I was uncontrollably bumping my way down the staircase. Praise God I didn't break anything and the store owner was not angry, only concerned. So I thought I'd made it okay with just a few (rather large) bruises, but then my roomie points out that I have a hole in my britches! Yep, my 12-step slide had torn right through those suckers (and my unmentionables, to be graphic). I wrapped my coat around my waist (praise God for a cover-up!) until I could find a pair of Bolivian pants big enough for me. It's kind of depressing when the sizes are twice what they are in the states! Lesson #1: Cuidado en las escaleras bolivianas. (Be careful on Bolivian stairs.)

So I'm off to a cafe for dinner and more shopping with my wonderful roommate Sarah.

Thank you, Lord, for my supportive friends and family, for a fairly easy beginning adjustment, and for opportunities to laugh at myself!

hope

1-2By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.
3-5There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! (from Romans 5, the Message)

Hope. It's been the central theme for me this year. God has provided circumstance after circumstance to allow me to evaluate where my hope lies. And with the upcoming frustrations, loneliness, and stress that will undoubtedly come with transitioning to another culture and acclamating to my first year teaching, I know there will be many times when I need to be reminded of that hope again. If I place it completely in others or myself, I'll be utterly disappointed. It must be in the hope of the Emmanuel, God with me now. It should also be in what's to come, as I remember that this life is not the whole picture. What a beautiful image of what God wants for his children--to be hemmed in with troubles, yet still standing tall in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, shouting praises we can't contain because he is worthy. Lord, allow me to grab hold of this hope in all circumstances.

Dance, dance, dance

Since my dream of becoming a b-girl is likely wishful thinking, I decided I would just dance around the world like this guy. (I'm sorry about the offensive title...just scroll down so you don't have to see it. And make sure you click on the link to view it in high quality.)

growing, growing, GONE!

And she's off! I'm so proud of my 13-and-a-half-month-old niece, Madison. She is beginning to take her first steps on her own! Wobbly as she may be, and as hard as she can fall, she is absolutely captivating to watch.

Not only does Maddie like short walks in the living room, she also now enjoys other grown-up things, like evening rides in her Daddy's truck,

cheering on the Greensboro Grasshoppers,

talking on her cellie,

and perusing an assortment of reading selections.

I can hardly believe how quickly the past few months have gone. It has been an indescribable joy to watch this little one grow every day! Thank you, God, for Maddie Grace!

a wedding, a hike, and a poop

My birthday was yesterday, so besides being thankful for so many things in my life, I got to be with two of my closest friends from high school and celebrate one of their weddings in Boone. (I am grateful to have seen two Christ-centered weddings the past two weekends. How refreshing to know that despite an impure world, people can still love Jesus and each other, and commit their lives to one another in purity!) It was a beautiful ceremony and there was bluegrass muisc and contradancing at the reception...so much fun! God is so good to be supplying me with time with people I love but rarely see. Congratulations, Emily and Isaac!

I wanted to take advantage of being in the beautiful Boone area today, so besides doing a little shopping in the very cool downtown stores, I drove up to the Blue Ridge Parkway to find a trail to hike. I ended up going to one I'd been to before, which is great for me since I have a tendency to get lost. A good ways into the 3-mile loop I realized I didn't bring my water bottle along. Even though there's less humidity in the mountains, it's still NC and I was pretty durn hot and parched. So what's a thirsty girl to do but drink from a stream? There's nothing like handfuls of fresh spring mountain water to refresh the body...or should I say, cleanse it. Not more than ten minutes later, my stomach was yelling at me. No biggie, I thought. If I gotta go, I can make it to a gas station on the way home after I enjoy my hike. Nope--no waiting. So there I was, bare-butt off the hiking trail, taking a you-know-what, praying that no one would walk by. I didn't bring any water, much less any sort of paper product to finish the job. But no worries...a couple leaves did the trick nicely. Toilet paper, schmoilet paper. Thank the Lord those leaves weren't poisonous! And it was a close call; probably a minute later, I passed several groups of people. Phew! I enjoyed the remainder of my hike thirsty but pain-free.

It really was a lovely weekend! (Minus..well, you know.) I've been praying for God to prepare me for leaving and adjusting in Bolivia. I got to see some friends I won't see again probably until I get back in the States. And my incident reminded me of what is meant when traveling to other countries by "Don't drink the water." God uses everything for good, right? I still immensely enjoyed the hike, the scenery, and being in nature...just God and me. I hope to take many a hike in the mountains of Bolivia. But then I'll be sure to take along some water.

Adios, Glenwood

I moved out of Glenwood, my old neighborhood, last weekend. It was a pretty abrupt change, and I'm mourning the loss of some wonderful neighbors, the awesome diversity there, being nearby some students that are involved at my church, and two amazing housemates who became some of my closest friends. I've been struggling with how me being there was effective for such a short period, but perhaps it was not so much for the benefit of others, but for what God wanted to teach me. I've learned a lot in the past few months about God's heart for the poor and for racial reconciliation, about incarnational and relational ministry, about loving beyond my limits, about patience and getting out of my comfort zone, about fear and the one who conquers it, about living communally with others who share your vision, and about how to listen to the Spirit's leading. And what's exciting is that I have so much more to learn!

Even though leaving Glenwood is pretty heartrending, I've moved back in with my sister, brother-in-law, and my beautiful niece, which makes me joyful and thankful! They have been so flexible with all of my life changes this year. I'm grateful for this time with them before I leave for Bolivia. However, whenever I drive around my old neighborhood, I still feel like that's home. I'm trusting that God will make a way for my new place in La Paz to feel like home, too.

Thank you, Lord for Glenwood, for changes, and for the people you put in my life, even if only for a short while.