Strong Enough

God typically only allows things that He thinks we will be strong enough to handle; or that, when we are made to see how weak we truly are, that we rejoice in the Lord and ask Him for his divine help.  My sister said to me, "Em, you must be pretty strong if God thinks you can handle this".  I know I am not strong enough myself; but I trust that God will see me through the future trials.  If I take each day just one at a time, I feel much more at peace. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8JsRxVczmQ

"Whatever did not fit in with my plan did lie within the plan of God. I have an ever deeper and firmer belief that nothing is merely an accident when seen in the light of God, that my whole life down to the smallest details has been marked out for me in the plan of Divine Providence and has a completely coherent meaning in God's all seeing eyes. And so I am beginning to rejoice in the light of glory wherein this meaning will be unveiled to me."

A friend of mine told me something. She said, "Em, I know this isn't what you had planned for your life, but you're an adventurer, and this is your next journey." This isn't at all what I had planned.  But perhaps the things that we plan so perfectly keep us from relying and trusting fully in God.  Perhaps when everything goes perfectly, we start to feel invincible, we start to feel so blessed that we forget whose grace is blessing us.

This wasn't in my plan...but now it is. And I will ask God for courage, patience, understanding and faith every day.  I, at this point, have to throw my hands up, and just trust. 

Nike We Run Quito 2011



Carissa, Emma and I, in front of Pizza Hut, after finishing the 10k race in Quito

 On Saturday, October 29th, I had the privilege to run a 10k (6+mile race), with my friends Emma and Carissa.  This picture was taken by Paco, our cheerleader and companion for the race.   He did not run the race, but he did meet us afterwards to see us finish down the homestretch and to join us for a celebration meal at Pizza Hut! Emma and I finished in one hour and thirteen minutes, and I was just happy to finish without ever walking at all! Carissa finished in a fast 58 minutes. 

It was so fun to see the crowd of over 7,000 runners, snaking through Quito, running a race!  It felt like such a great, happy environment..yes we were in Quito, but I was doing something that reminded me so much of being home! I loved the nostalgia of races at home, and realizing that I was doing the same thing but very far from home.  It just made me comforted, knowing that these races are becoming a global phenomenon and are such a uniting factor amongst strangers.

A big thanks to Paco for helping us navigate and traverse the lengths of the city in the PacoMovil, it helped immensely in our success of getting to the race and getting home safely afterwards! Thank you Paquito mi osito!!!

Grace

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAPFU4TMlwI&feature=feedrec_grec_index

Somedays I just feel like I've had it with the things I have to deal with in this country.  Mostly, the looks, the stares, the catcalls from men, that are constant and so disrespectful to me and my humanity.  Its not like I am walking around in a short skirt and low shirt and high heels;  I typically am in jeans and tennis shoes, my fleece jacket and a scarf!  For crying out loud people, just leave me alone!  I feel like my apartment is sometimes my only sanctuary, my only escape from the daily hassle.  Riding the bus is like a nightmare, it is packed full to the brim you can't even breathe.  And the air you do breathe is full of fumes from the buses and broke down cars.  There are days that are just simply more than I can bear.  I don't think ever in my life I have had to bear so much harrassment and disrespect, it's outrageous.

The job, the people I work with, all that is fine. I have no complaints there.  But it's the harrassment from strangers, all the live long day, that make me want to go insane.  It just makes me wonder how can people be so sheltered from other races?  If you think rural Indiana is low on cultural diversity, you should try being the only white person in South Quito for awhile and you might change your mind.  The thing is, this is a capital city!  Think about how diverse New York City, or Chicago, or LA, or any other big city is.  For what it's worth, even Indianapolis is pretty diverse, although it might be sadly and disappointingly polarized in its diversity (as in rich vs poor, white vs black, not alot of mixing between suburbia and inner city).  But in Quito, you will find the only diversity in La Mariscal or Centro Histórico, typically in the form of tourists.  The city itself, the makeup of the city, has loads of Ecuadorian diversity - Spanish heritage, Mestizo, and pure Indigenous people - but unlike back home, you don't have a mix of Europeans, Afroamericans, Asians, and Indians who mix up the just standard North American culture. 

I also miss the seasons...every day passes here, much like the day before it.  There is very little difference between "summer" and "winter", and there are no real seasons.  The climate just IS in Quito, it just is.  Always cool, with some hot direct sunlight, and daily showers 3-4 times a week.  No changes.  I was describing to someone how you don't really have any picture in your mind for the month of October, that is any different in your mind from the month of April...it just is another day on the calendar.

Angel by Your Side

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDPOgwaPAQg

This song, by Francesca Battistelli, reminds us that we are never alone, that angels, Jesus, Mary, past loved ones, current loved ones, they are all by our side.  They pray for us, they are there for us, even though we seem relatively alone. If we seek refuge and strength in them, the courage we will receive will be overwhelming.

Today's first reading comes from Romans 8...

"What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?...What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecutino, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?...No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 8: 31, 35, 37-38

I love the encouragement, enthusiasm, and fearless trust that Paul places in the love Jesus Christ has for us!  Paul believes confidently that NOTHING can separate us from the love that Jesus has for us, that we will always conquer over our struggles so long as we do so in Jesus' name. Jesus' purpose was to life and die and life again for us and our sins, and if He can forgive us for our sins, then His love truly is beyond our comprehension.

Fear Nothing

If there is anyone who teaches us to trust
and not to fear, it is this woman,
Mother Teresa, who drew her strength
daily from the Lord.

Our faith in Jesus fully relies in our belief that He lived and died for our sins; that He died in atonement for our sins.  If we do not believe that He died for us, to save us, to give us eternal life, to come for us the sinners, than what do we even believe?  We believe in vain, if we do not believe that.  When we believe that, we have to believe in His limitless mercy, and His immense love for us.  He loves us, but only we can accept Him into our hearts.  We are not slaves to Him, He is not our master, but our friend (John 15).  Once we accept this relationship with Him, it makes it much harder to sin, because we think of His love for us, we think of how much our sin hurts and offends Him, and how it pulls us away from Him.  

If we truly commit ourselves to our beliefs, to our Love of Jesus, to our faith in His mercy and compassion for us, we begin to fear less.  Our anxieties will fall away, because we know He is always there.  We can't hide from Him if we fall to sin, instead we must run back to Him more rapidly than ever!  It is humiliating, it is, to show Him openly all our sins, but if we hide them away inside of ourselves they will get the best of us, they will tell us we aren't worth such love, that we aren't worth such joy, that we do not deserve to be children of God.  But God doesn't think that, He just wants us to remain in Him, as He remains in us. Once we let Jesus into our heart, once we let Him transform us, we can't fear the daily earthly troubles.  We die to Him, we recognize that we are not in control of the reigns, that He will calm the stormy waters while we await in the rocky boat, that He will keep us safe. Fear nothing, love Christ, live without fear...Christ will be our strength.

Never Alone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4yRsT_fPic

This is a song by Lady Antebellum, that I think will help me get through some tough times in Ecuador.  I think it is just such a true song, the Lord is always with us, He never leaves us alone.  We always must have the hope and faith that He is here with us, that He will direct us and guide us and calm us if we let Him into our hearts.  That is the hardest part, just letting Him into our hearts.  The world wants us to constantly be broken down, it will always find ways to do that.  But God always is compassionate, merciful and loving to those who love Him. We just need to love Him.

"Now hope that sees for itself is not HOPE.  For who hopes for what one sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance." Romans 8:24-25

Notre Dame and Internet

Plaza de los Ponchos, Otavalo Ecuador

Group learning about how the Equator and the earth's tilt/spin works

Celebrating my "handstand" on the equator with help from Morgan

The Notre Dame group was awesome!  Truly, this trip was such a blessing to me.  It was so great to have such a hardworking, punctual, fun group!  They were so friendly and inclusive, and it was really nice to know several of the tripgoers.  Thank you Notre Dame!

Exciting news for the day is that I am currently sitting in my kitchen in my apartment, ON THE INTERNET!  I finally had Internet installed for my apartment, which is going to help me keep in touch much better.  It has been tough since I moved into this apartment to be able to call my family, since that would mean staying at the hospital until around 7 or 8 pm...now I will be able to communicate from the comfort of my very own home.