Gracias

I'm writing this time from the kitchen table in our home in Trujillo.  : )  We've been here since last Wednesday and every day it feels more like home.  We had a nice Christmas celebrating with the church, another missionary here, the pastor's family and our own little family.  The kids have been doing really well.  God has been so gracious.

Since last Spring, I've found it intriguing that the Spanish word for "thank you" means "graces" and the French word for "thank you" means "mercy." And I am so incredibly thankful right now for God's grace and mercy.  I know Thanksgiving as a holiday is past, but I can't help it.  More than almost any other emotion these days, i have been finding myself overwhelmed more than ever before with thankfulness.  And you likely have no idea what a miracle that is (unless you've been reading my other blog for years.)

In the past I have struggled, battled and felt defeated by an internal war with self-pity and ingratitude. So finding myself being so thankful is a huge victory!  : )  It's proof that God can change us when we cooperate with Him and accept that sometimes it takes some time.  This year I have been practicing literally counting blessings/joys around me and it has been such a helpful practice.  I was inspired at first by this book, knowing when I first found it on a free book table at an event that it was truly a gift from God.  I was right.  : )

So today, here in Peru, I confess that I am stunned by how normal and at home I feel. I know we've only been here a week and a half and the hard work of learning culture, improving language skills and actually having some kind of impact on people's lives is still yet to come. But honestly? I expected even these first weeks to be much harder than they have been. I expected to be longing for California and Christmas with family. I expected to be longing for the comforts of what used to be home. I expected to be battling discouragement and feeling overwhelmed and while there have been moments of those things, it has not been the norm. I didn't intend to expect things to be hard - I think I was just bracing myself for it, in part based on how hard the transition was for me when we moved up to Canada for training fall of 2010. I don't think I ever could have believed that the transition to life in Peru would be easier than moving to 10 minutes north of the US border was. How crazy is that?

So as I hand wash dishes and try to figure out where to put away clothes that I have yet to find homes for, as I hang laundry and listen to the taxis who love to honk their horns for little or no reason, as I marvel at how it can sound like the windows are open when they aren't, as I learn to cook without my favorite pots and pans, I will continue to marvel at how God has prepared us for this in so, so many ways.  I will marvel in the joy that God has blessed me with. The joy that comes from being where He wants me. The joy that is certainly an answer to SO MANY who are praying for us.

So thank You again, Lord. You have been so good to us. To me. And thank you friends who are praying for us.  I could not be more grateful.

Merry Christmas!
(new pics to come sometime soon!)