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Thanksgiving and “Hello December!”

And we’re back from Thanksgiving!

Even though Thanksgiving and I have our differences, I do love the fact that it brings family and friends together, and for that reason, I do celebrate and give thanks.

This year was the first year that I wasn’t able to be with my family during Thanksgiving and so it was really special for me to be able to come together with our missionary family here in Ecuador.

 

I loved the traditional food we had, the fact that everybody brought something and participated in some way, and that we all went around the table and shared what we were thankful for.

But what truly made it feel more like “home” was the little things, like laughing while doing the dishes, hearing the cracking and popping of a fire in the fireplace, sneaking bits of food here and there as we prepared the meal, the coolness of a rainy Quito day, and the sweet friendship and camaraderie we share.

 

And although we didn’t do the traditional Grothe, “after-dinner-before-dessert-hike-around-the-circle”, we did do a hike the day after thanksgiving and listened to Christmas music all day. *happy heart* It truly was a lovely Thanksgiving.

 


Minnesota Visits

This past week we also had our first guests from Minnesota and our home church in Minnesota, the Millers! It was so fun to spend a few days with them as well as hear home church news and happenings in Minnesota. It was so lovely to be able to show them our lovely country we call home! Thanks Millers for the love, encouragement, and visit!

 


Welcome December!

And with that, we closed off our November and said hello to the much anticipated month of the lovely December, which will be filled with but not limited to:

  • Christmas decorating and music
  • christmas cookie bakes
  • much candle lighting
  • cozy fires in the fireplace
  • Christmas services and celebrations
  • Christmas movie nights
  • rest, and rest
  • Richard’s whole family coming to spend Christmas with us in Ibarra.
  • I am so excited that I could pop!

The Christmas season is definitely my favorite: all the excitement, decorations, togetherness, and what it means for us as a people of faith in Christ.

That is why I absolutely love and participate in Advent, as it prepares us and gently leads us into reflection and preparation for Emmanuel, the celebration of God with us. God with us.

God, with us.

Hallelujah and Amen!

Bring it on, December! We are so ready for you!

peace,

E

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finding joy :: 6 (aka: giving thanks)

1. warm fires at night (and if I close my eyes, I can almost imagine the snow falling softly outside)

2. decorating for Christmas (because here in Ecuador…..you start right after Halloween, THAT’S RIGHT THANKSGIVING!)

3. being creative (and making sneaky, little homemade christmas gifts for friends here)

4. cold nights (remember Elizabeth how you said you would never miss the cold…well, jokes on you)

5. wearing thick, wooly sweaters (that also itch like crazy sometimes, because: wool)

6. making special sweets for my Acts 29 friends (and speaking of sweets…)

7. being able to bake, a lot (it really makes me happy to bake)

8. feeling more at home in our church community/community (being able to say “Hi friend, how have you been?” and really mean it)

9. my husband’s carpentry work (seriously)

10. having a steady welcoming of friends and guests (wether spending a night or two or three or just chilling at our house)

11. candles, coffee, meditating/writing (every morning, every night. I need to buy more candles)

12. the company and solidarity of dear, dear friends here (aka, we don’t walk this journey alone or in this culture alone)

13. trips to the mountain every Wednesday (soul=alive)

14. exploring unknown roads (of course with music playing)

15. cow crossing (everyday, every time, we usually stick our heads out the window and look like fools as we moo to them or say hi)

16. the common greeting phrase of: “hola veci” (“hey neighbor”) (I LOVE IT! and it feels so Minnesotan that you say it to EVERYBODY you pass by or greet)

17. partaking in cultural traditions and ceremonies (the new food, music, togetherness, excitement in the air, rituals and traditions….nothing but love)

18. being able to make kombucha (kombucha=happy gut)

19. the mountains that surround us and how they look on different days (misty, mysterious, brilliant, like a painting, but always, always calling my name)

20. the eucalyptus trees that surround us (what a glorious fragrance!)

21. the 5 o’clock Ecuadorian shadow (aka: my life explained via light)

 

   

   

   

   

 

Now, don’t let this list fool you into thinking that it has been all rosey and peachy. My heart has been missing certain people, places, celebrations, and seasons like I never thought I would. 

And moving to and living in a new country and culture has it’s moments of embarrassment (ask me someday about the time I went to the store to “try” to buy a large stock pot…seriously, ask me), confusion, homesickness, peoplesickness (as in, “missing people”, not “sick of people” or “people that are sick”), frustration, anger, loneliness, etc.

And life, as life anywhere lived, is filled with us: broken people, with broken relationships with ourselves, others, God, the world, etc.

But, in the process of dealing with these feelings and my/our brokenness, I have also been learning to be grateful. To take moments throughout the day to reflect on His goodness, His blessings, His solidarity, Him, as a good Father, His promises, and His words and what he is saying.

That is why I make these lists, not only to remember the joy of discovering new, beautiful parts of living in this culture, but choosing to find the beauty (whether hidden, in plain view, LIKE THAT MOUNTAIN OUTSIDE MY WINDOW, or just having to be searched for a bit more) in any place, any circumstance, and any season (even if that season doesn’t have autumnal leaves or snow or a routine or familiarity). AMEN? Amen!!!

Peace to you in whatever season you may willingly or unwillingly find yourself. This is a prayer for us today:

 

 

Love,

E

 

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24

I choose grace

In the wake of the tragedies and atrocities happening to our brothers and sisters, our fellow human beings right now at Standing Rock in North Dakota, it is especially hard to partake in the federal holiday that, although filled with good intention and works, has roots that come from anything but that.

So today, on this day, I am grateful that I have a choice.

I have the choice to choose to be informed.

I have the choice to choose to extend grace.

I have the choice to choose to listen.

I have the choice to choose to look in-between the lines and through the angry words and find the root. The why.

The choice to not be offended and retaliate in anger and hate.

The choice to stand in solidarity.

The choice to act.

The choice to choose grace.

To choose love.

To choose forgiveness.

To choose to ask for forgiveness.

To choose to forget.

To choose to not forget.

The choice to lament.

The choice to look for beauty in ashes.

The choice to be grateful and thankful yet mindful and aware of my own privilege.

I have a choice.

May I make my decisions wisely, and always choose the choice of grace and love and understanding, even when others don’t.

This is my prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me bring love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Love,

E

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