A month ago I was eating a delicious pork chop at Beaches Restaurant on the Columbia River.In a frenzy, the day before lift-off, I packed three bags full of everything I'd need for a year.
I was tearfully saying goodbye to friends and to family, wondering how the heck I got to be where I was.
The summer quickly came and left. My time at WSU (go Cougs) with my friends at Cornerstone and the Commune was over. I was in Spokane becoming a Krista Foundation colleague one minute, and the next I was in Toronto meeting other YASCers and people who would profoundly change my life. I had much to do to prepare for this year, and I hardly had time to REALLY prepare for it.
So when I arrived a month ago, it was a surprise, a shock that I was already here.
I've dealt with some homesickness and loneliness, and every time I see my empty luggage sitting on the top bunk, I think about the adventure that begins when I return and begin seminary. I've felt guilty for that because I think it is keeping me from really focusing on living here, but I'm realizing that it is all part of the process. I need to really address how much I love home before I can start to call Quito my home.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I am so grateful for all of the support all of you who read this have given me. I truly feel it every day, and it is what's giving me strength to keep going. You are all blessings--representations of the Holy Spirit at work in my life.
I don't wish to sound like I'm not in good hands down here. I am.
Chris and Trish have been enormously supportive, as has Bishop Ruiz. My family is wonderful and caring--always asking if everything es bien. I have many comforts that some of my fellow YASCers probably don't and won't have (though that doesn't make me miss showers with good water pressure and toilets that flush paper any less).
I'm blessed to be here, and I'm getting ready to take the advice of David who said "the year will go by fast, so live it up while you're there."