one week

One week and a bit more into this next chapter of our lives.

Not all that much time has actually passed, but in many ways our life in Chicago now seems worlds away. Our known rhythms and routines upon which we built our days have been somewhat turned upside down and our sweet Chicago community that we were surrounded by over these past years is now miles and miles away.

And while there have been many moments over these past few days when it has felt like the ground beneath has shifted in such dramatic ways that we won’t find our footing, we have been so grateful for the friends and community here that have welcomed us back with open arms and have been close enough to hold us steady.

It will take us a while to get settled here, and I am trying my best to be ok with that. I know that there are important lessons to be learned in this space that can’t be learned when more is known and our rhythms are comfortable. But I must admit that so much of me wants to skip this step; to jump to the part where I feel like I know better which way is up and have more clarity on where to start. But alas, this is where we find ourselves.

Our welcome at the Quito airport

We are living right now with our dear friends, Kristina and Erik Amundsen, who are also Covenant missionaries, while we search for a home to rent. They were a big part of our close community in Chicago and it feels too good to be true that our lives are overlapping again here in Ecuador. Many of our friends came to the airport to welcome us back to Quito. On Tuesday we went to the weekly staff devotions at the Ecuadorian Covenant Church’s  (IPEE) offices and were met by a breakfast spread and many words of welcome from our Ecuadorian colleagues. Thursday we ventured outside Quito and headed north. We climbed our way up to Cayambe to visit our friends and fellow Covenant missionaries, Joel and Kim Delp, and the medical project that they are partnering with in the area. And in between these times of reconnection and welcome, we have filled our days with searching for a home, setting up our cell phones, searching through our many bags of luggage for the items we need here and now and trying to find our footing once again.

Welcome breakfast at the IPEE offices

The emotions experienced over this past bit of life have been varied and seem to change rapidly. Trying to get a handle on what I am feeling at any given moment feels like a full time job and trying to parenting well in the midst of this is something else all together. But in the midst of all of the emotions and the unknown we are experiencing right now there is also so much hope and promise and possibility. And to that and to Christ we are clinging.

         

Our family in Cayambe while visiting the Santiago Partnership

A dear friend shared this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson this week: “People wish to be settled; only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them”.  For obvious reasons it resonated with me. Praying that we continue to recognize the hope present in our day to day during this season and the ability to push ourselves into the unsettling even after Ecuador deeply feels like home again.