So Thankful

The important thing here is that to be thankful shouldn’t be limited to today. But everyday.  It seems impossible, but one day a year also should seem impossible.

Being down here has given light to many things and has made me more thankful than ever.  That is no understatement, I have never more thankful for the things I have than now.  I have compiled a list of things in which I am thankful.  The majority of these things I don’t have, and that is why I am so thankful for them.

Family.  The importance of family is revealed to me everyday.  I have realized this upon building a new family, and being away from my own.

Cars.  More specifically, my own car.  The complete luxury it is to be able to hop in your own, and go exactly where you want.

Silence.  Is golden.  And I would like a day of silence for my birthday.

Alone time.  Always being with someone is not good.  It makes someone who normally sleeps in get up an hour before everyone else.

My own space.  I once had a Garren space, and I didn’t realize how awesome it was (not because I was in it) because it was my own.  It didn’t smell bad, it smelt Garren.  It was always just the way I liked it.

Not cars.  I’ve lived without the constant sound, smell of cars for my entire life.  The roar and odor of 3rd world country cars has made me wish for the country.

The weather.  More specifically, the changing weather.  Rain. Snow.  Cold. Hot. Humid.  It’s nice to throw a little bit of variety in there.  (Oh what I’d do for a thunderstorm.)

The weather.  More specifically, the constant, perfect weather.  I’m so thankful for a 75 and sunny type of climate.  I never knew I would love it that much.

Friends.  I’m thankful they come in all shapes and sizes, and that has helped me a lot.  Since being down here I’m thankful that God has shown me who my real friends are, who I consider my real friends, and how much I truly love them (those in the States, and here.)

Money.  I am so thankful for money, and the fact that I have it.  Being reduced to the monthly allowance has really tried me and forced me to adjust.

The Bible.  Got so much to rely on with this one, and so much to be thankful for.  I wouldn’t be here without it.

Food.  Who ate food before? Not me.  But now I am thankful for every type and the time/hard work it takes to put it all together.

Being able to communicate.  Without having to think.  Being able to talk to the clerk or the neighbor without hesitance.  Being able to express your absolute true feelings and thoughts.  That doesn’t come easy when you have to start from the bottom up.

Cardboard.  Moreover, the stuff I get in the 6 sides of cardboard.  Always so thankful for the stuff you send and the care you have.

Fall.  Autumn.  Otoño.  Without it, everything is…the same.

Computers.  I can’t imagine doing the work I do without being able to stay connected with my family and friends back home.

The Fridge.  Countless times I used to walk over to the fridge, open it up, look up and down.  Then 50% I would close it, and the other 50% I’d get something out.  That is soooo luxurious.

Wal-Mart.  Being able to go there.  Being able to go there, have everything you need, and not having to talk to anyone.  Them having the lowest prices, where here the equivalent of Wal-Mart (I use equivalent lightly), have the higher prices as compared to the markets (which smell great, bppppt.)

The Ol’ Any Time Shower.  Or not having to have the sun to be out to get a shower, a warm shower at least.  Cold ones are always available.

Dishwasher.  Put the plate in, done.

Music.  Music. Music.  Being able to play it loud in my car.  Being able to play it.

Carpet.  Soft, fluffy, warm.  My feet long for the feel of carpet.

Grass. To go along with carpet, but outside.

Much more.  The small stuff.  The stuff I never used to think about.  That’s what gets me.

I am so blessed to be here.  This is an amazing opportunity, and all those little things that I miss that I mentioned above don’t add up to be even close to the job I get to do on a daily basis.  I ran into some missionaries from South Afrika.  They said we have “greatest job in the world.”  Without a doubt.  I can’t be more thankful than this opportunity I have.  It truly is the greatest blessing.

Both Extremes

Not much going on lately.  We’ve been in school and just recently have had a break from it.  Tomorrow we’re going to Lima to get the process started of getting our residency cards (holla!) which is going to be really exciting.  I’ll be bonafide Peruvian coming up here before the years end.

 

The main entry of this blog comes from two stories that I think you might find interesting.  These stories spawn from almost opposite ends of the spectrum, so including them in one blog post makes perfect sense.

 

So a little over a week ago Roy, Nelson (the Peruvian partner of Micah), and I were sick of being in the house, so we took off downtown to get some ice cream and music.  We were walking by the main plaza and turned a corner.  We were in a very touristy section of town, with a fair amount of people.  About 100 feet after we turned the corner, this huge hairy man came running at us screaming.  He was babbling, screaming, and spitting nonsense right at our face.  It’s not like anything I can explain, but much easier to show.  He wasn’t babbling Spanish, he wasn’t screaming English, but now (afterwards) I realize that it was demon. 

So this guy picks us out, out of all of these people.  At the time, I thought it was because we were gringos and didn’t think too much about why us.  I looked at him, and was like what the heck and continued my pace.  But then he followed us.  Oh no, now it gets to the point: what do I do?  Nelson veered off to the right to go into a store and I kept pace, still.  A couple steps later I didn’t here him anymore.  I looked behind me and saw Roy walking back to me.  Roy was like, “Duuude, that guy was all up in my face spitting and everything and I started to quote Bible verses and say ‘Jesus, Jesus I rebuke you’ and the dude took off running.”  We had just had an encounter with a possessed dude.  As soon as I saw Roy coming back to me and he had that look on his face, I knew that this guy had demons.  I mean, I can’t explain that even 50% correct.  It was like nothing I’ve never encountered.  And I’m so glad it happened early on in the process because now I know how to handle it.  But man, after that, Nelson, Roy, and I had some good laughs about what we’ll do if we meet him again.

So the other story is quite different as I said, and as you’ll see.  Our support family told our group that we should do a group fast today and use our lunch money to help somebody somehow.  My Peruvian partner and I decided that we wanted to go to a place that we had never been before on a bus that we had never been on.  And that we did.  And we ended up in the middle of nowhere.  I wish I would've brought my camera.  It was like the desert, with these stone walls that were people’s houses.  My partner wanted to get off at a market if possible, but there was none.  No market.  Which is saying a lot, because these people live in markets.  So we got off on a dust road and my partner says, “What are we going to do here??”  Well I had no idea, but he didn’t need to know that. 

We saw a person off in the distance and headed that way, towards humanity.  This lady we saw, stared us down up until the point in which we asked her if there was a market around.  She said no, then wanted to know what we were looking for and said that there are small stores.  She asked what our business was here and I told her what we were here for and what we were doing.  My partner went off saying what we believe and stuff (which annoyed me to a point.)  I told her we just wanted to know if there was anything we could to help her.  She didn’t understand what we meant by that.  I mean who helps other people?  She took us to the little store, which was a little odd because she could’ve just told us where it was.  I kept asking her if she needed anything, and even threw in some suggestions.  She wanted something, I could tell, but she didn’t want to say.  It wasn’t too hard to arrive to the conclusion that she, Sovina was her name, wanted oil.  So we bought her some vegetable oil and some evaporated milk.  Ooooh, she smiled and grabbed the food and took us to her home to meet her husband (after all, I was from the great United States and we just bought her some groceries.)  We went back, met her husband and got to talking with them.  They said that they wanted to come to church to visit us.  It was so good to make a contact for the other missionaries in this town, although I still don’t know who would take over in this place.

We took off after that, and walked around a bit more.  The idea came to me to collect plastic bottles for Sovina, because that was her job.  She goes around and collects plastic bottles and sells them back to the recycling plant.  That’s her living.  So instead of throwing mine away, I’ll definitely be collecting them within our house and stuff.  They also told us to come visit them again.  I’m going to Lima but after that we’re going to go visit them, bring them some bottles and possibly a Bible.

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