A Happy Engagement

It has been much longer than I thought since the last time I posted on here. :-| Evidently my last year of college really took up a lot of my time!

I just wanted to announce that as of March 25^th . . . I am a fiancée! :-D My sweetheart of 2.5 years proposed, and we will be getting married on August 12^th, 2017. Since many have asked for the full story of the proposal, I have decided to post it here!

That Saturday morning (March 25^th) I drove down to Texas to Jessie’s parents’ house. Jessie and I had plans to attend a wedding in central Texas on Sunday evening, but I came down a day early so that we could just have some time to spend together. We had seen each other quite a bit over the previous weeks, but we had always been busy doing something with our families. Jessie had mentioned going on a date together on Saturday night, so I had a nice outfit planned for that.

When I arrived, he said we were going to have a date day! I had planned a special day for his birthday celebration this past year, and he had planned a similar sort of day in return. When we got in the car to head to our first destination, he asked if I knew why we were celebrating. I couldn’t think of a good reason. He explained that Monday (March 27^th) would mark 1,000 days since we left on our Guatemala internship together. :-O I hadn’t even thought about that, but was so appreciative of his thoughtfulness to mark that special milestone!

Ready to go on our date!

Our first stop was Chick fil A for lunch! This was significant because when we were in youth group together, this was the very first place where we talked to each other. After we ate our lunch, we drove over to a Mexican ice cream place in town to get choco-bananas. During our internship in Guatemala, we went to the choco fruit shop nearly every day for a snack since everything was less than one U.S. dollar! This was a sweet throwback. ;-)

At the Mexican ice cream place.

Then we went home and set up Jessie’s ENO hammock. During our relationship, we have frequently had “courtship talks” in the hammock. During these times we would discuss deeper, bigger issues related to our future together. After relaxing in the hammock awhile, we went back inside to watch the last Downton Abbey episode together (we had been watching the show “together” over the past few months while we were apart, but waited until we were actually together to finish the series).

After that, it was about time to dress up for dinner. I got ready and came downstairs. His parents asked where we were going (it was a surprise) and then asked if we were sure that we didn’t want to stay at the house and have chili with them. ;-P We stuck to our plan and headed to a favorite café downtown. We had only ever been there for lunch before, and had the restaurant virtually to ourselves at dinner time! The food was delicious, even though we were both still pretty full from lunch.

All dressed up and ready for dinner!

When we finished dinner, we got in the car and drove towards one of our favorite parks in town. After dates, we frequently go to a park and dance together for fun so I didn’t think it was unusual. When we arrived, he said I would need my Sperry’s. I panicked a bit because I hadn’t brought them; all I had with me were the wedge heels I was wearing. But he had packed my Sperry’s in his trunk!

We started walking down the nature trail. We were walking at a faster-than-enjoying-nature pace, so I figured we were headed to a very specific spot to dance before the sun went down. We came to a part of the trail that turns down a peninsula.

Halfway down, I saw mason jars with candles illuminating the path. That was the point when I knew what was happening! I think the shocked “is this really happening?!” emotion started to take over at this point! We arrived at the end of the peninsula on the lake and the park bench there had been covered with a sheet. Four dozen roses lay on it, and the redbud tree behind the bench was illuminated with twinkle lights. A Go-Pro peeked out of the woods as well. ;-)

The set up on the peninsula.

The path.

Jessie sat me down and pulled out a letter he had written to me and read it aloud. I couldn’t remember much of what he said because the whole time I was thinking, “Wow! He’s actually proposing to me! Also he’s choked up right now and it’s precious!” <3 After he finished reading the letter, he had me stand up.

Then my sweetheart got down on one knee—in the damp and muddy grass—and asked if I would marry him! That was the point when I started crying and saying “Yes!” over and over again! We hugged for a long time and I admired the beautiful rose gold and diamond ring he had chosen for me. (I had actually had a dream about getting engaged, and the same ring was in my dream!) Apparently he picked it out based on the fact that I had pinned it on Pinterest four different times! I didn’t even know that I had done that! Then he played our song (“Forever Like That” by Ben Rector) and we waltzed together, smiling, laughing, and tripping probably more than we ever have before while dancing together. ;-)

Engaged!!

After taking pictures of the beautiful setup, we headed back down the path as dusk fell. At the end of the trail, we could see someone lighting up sparklers. I thought it was Jessie’s dad or brother (I figured out that they had been the ones who set everything up while we were at dinner). As we got closer, I could tell it wasn’t them. I thought maybe it was one of Jessie’s friends. The guy—who appeared to be around our age—asked, “Did she say yes?!” Jessie said yes, and then introduced himself! Neither one of us had ever met this guy! He was very nice and we chatted for a few minutes before leaving. It made our night even more memorable!

I was anxious to FaceTime my family back in Oklahoma to tell them the good news. Jessie suggested waiting until we got home and calling them together. We pulled up to the house and walked in. There were balloons, flowers, and candles decorating the living room! As I walked into the room my jaw dropped . . . my entire family was there waiting for me! They had driven down from Oklahoma that afternoon and were planning to stay at a hotel for the night and come to church with us in the morning!

Some of the decorations!

Talking to grandparents on the phone!

What a joy it was to have both of our families together for an evening of celebrating! We retold the story from our perspective, heard about all the secret happenings that made our night possible, called friends and relatives, and enjoyed a delicious fondue bar made by Jessie’s mom!

The past month have been so delightful and we are so thrilled about our August wedding coming up! It is an exciting season of life that we are entering together! :-)

Fitness

To continue my series of posts on health changes I’m making in 2016, I wanted to talk some about fitness and exercise!

Since I was a child, I have been encouraged to live an active lifestyle. As a kid, I joined my siblings in countless hours of outdoor play which involved cycling, running, playing on the jungle-gym, tree-climbing, and more! I also was involved in swim and dance up until middle-school. In high school, running became my primary form of exercise and something I enjoyed doing.

When we moved to Oklahoma, I really slacked off on the amount of exercise I did. My work schedule disrupted my normal running schedule. But one of my favorite quotes that focuses on what type of exercise is best, goes something like “the best exercise is the type you’re consistent about.” There are so many variations of exercise; just because you’re not a fan of running or weight-lifting doesn’t mean you’re out of luck when it comes to staying physically active!

In 2016, I am striving to do 3 cardio-focused workout sessions per week and 2-3 workouts focused on muscle toning and strengthening. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I get up early and go for a short run (2-3 miles.) I’ve had trouble getting up the massive hill we live on, but I know brisk-walking is beneficial as well. On Tuesdays and Thursdays (and sometimes Saturdays) I will do a 20-30 minute workout video. I’ve turned to Youtube quite a bit because there is so much variety! Some of my current favorites are Christine Salus HIIT videos and BUTI yoga videos. However, I would recommend these workouts only to ladies! The outfits worn by the women leading these exercises aren’t the most modest. :-S I also usually like to do these workouts in my room where I have a little more privacy.

On Saturdays, I usually go on an afternoon run. I have attempted biking around here a few times for variety, but the hills tend to be very challenging. I would love to find a place where I can swim and do another triathlon with some of my siblings and friends.

I highly recommend trying a new form of exercise! Variety is a great way to develop consistency. If you find something that is fun, enjoyable, and challenging, you’re more likely to stick with it!

Advocare

One very big piece of my healthier lifestyle in 2016 has been Advocare. Ben and I were introduced to Advocare through some friends of ours way back in 2014. We were interested in the company at the time, but since we weren’t working, we didn’t have the income to spend.

I’ve had to work hard to maintain a healthy weight since I became a teenager. While I haven’t been overweight a day in my life, I was growing concerned because each year my average weight just kept creeping up. I knew that I didn’t want to keep adding on pounds as time went on. After we moved to Oklahoma and I started working at the pharmacy, my eating habits got progressively worse and I exercised less because of my work schedule.

I felt like I needed a jumpstart into a healthier lifestyle. In the past I would get discouraged by slow progress and by feeling hungry because I was focused on calorie-counting. I was ready for a different approach and decided to save up and do the Advocare 24 Day Challenge!

There are two phases to the challenge: the Cleanse Phase and the Max Phase. Throughout the challenge, you focus on eating lean meats, vegetables, fruits, and complex carbs. You also strive to drink 8-10 cups of water per day, especially during the Cleanse Phase. You avoid eating foods that are highly processed, high in fat, or that contain sugar.

Unlike a lot of other cleanses I’ve heard about or read about, I did not feel like I was starving nor sick during the Advocare cleanse! We had been instructed not to check the scale until the end of the cleanse (day 11 of the challenge) because your weight tends to fluctuate a lot during this phase depending on how much water your body is retaining.

I had definitely noticed an increase in my energy levels, but I was curious to know if I had actually lost any weight. I was quite surprised to discover that I had lost 5 pounds and several inches! So I was definitely motivated to keep going with the challenge.

The Cleanse Phase focuses on cleaning out your body of all the junk that’s accumulated (which I obviously had plenty of since I had been eating a lot of sugary, processed, fatty foods before the challenge.) The Max Phase focuses on filling your body up with all the nutrients needed to keep your metabolism fired up!

During the 24-day-challenge, I lost 9 pounds and 14 inches. My energy levels were WAY higher than usual, and since then, I have continued to use some of the Advocare products and also eat the way that the program encourages.

Here are some of my favorite Advocare products that I continue to use:

Spark—I don’t want to live without Spark! This is by far my favorite Advocare product. I am not a morning person, but I also can’t tolerate coffee without a fair amount of sweetener and flavoring in it (pretty much voiding any health benefit the actual coffee has.) Spark gives me a healthy boost of energy and vitamins to start my morning off and it tastes great too!

Catalyst—This product helps me a lot with my workouts! It’s an amino acid supplement, so it helps your body maintain muscle mass during weight loss and workouts. I noticed that I had better results from my workouts while using Catalyst (I didn’t grow as fatigued during cardio and noticed more sculpting from my toning workouts.) It’s a great way to make sure you’re getting an adequate amount of protein in your diet!

MNS E—The Metabolic Nutrition System is one of the core Advocare products. These supplements and thermogenic products are designed to give you energy by providing your body with the daily nutrients it needs as well as giving your body sustained energy. I notice a BIG increase in my energy levels when I use MNS E!

Since the beginning of 2016, I’ve lost a total of 13 pounds. I feel so much better and am enjoying the benefits of healthy eating and weight control. If you have more questions about Advocare, my brother has become a distributor for the company and would love to tell you more about the program and all the products they offer!

Young Living

Over the past several months, I have really tried to make some changes to my personal health and overall wellness. When we moved and I started working 20-30 hours a week, I stopped exercising as regularly as I had before, and my eating habits revolved around what was quick, easy, and gave me some quick energy.

Well, 2016 became the year to change that! There have been a couple of big changes I’ve made in my lifestyle, so I wanted to blog about some of the products, habits, and resources that are helping me live a much healthier, trimmer, more active life!

Last fall I became a Young Living Essential Oil Distributor. I have several friends who are involved in the business and use their products. They shared some of the products with me, and it wasn’t long before I decided that it was a worthwhile investment for me!

Essential oils are created primarily through steam distillation of an herb, leaf, bark or other plant material. They are quite concentrated and potent; only a few drops are needed at a time. I was drawn to essential oils because they are a natural remedy for many common ailments, and I wanted to get away from constantly reaching for a pill when I was sore, achey, had an upset stomach, etc. I work in a pharmacy, and obviously have nothing against traditional medicine! But for me personally, I would rather use something all natural with fewer side effects than traditional drugs.

I chose Young Living oils mostly because the people that introduced me to essential oils recommended them, but as I’ve studied more I have become very confident in the purity and safely of YL oils. While I prefer to use my oils topically, the YL oils are 100% safe to ingest or use in cooking as well.

When I became a distributor, I received a kit of essential oils. I had nearly a dozen to learn about and experiment with! I’ll give you a quick rundown of some of my favorite oils and what I use them for:

Copaiba—This essential oil comes from a resin that is found in a tree from Brazil, and it is a very powerful anti-inflammatory! I had no idea what to do with this oil at first. Right after I received my kit, I had an accident involving a hammock hook breaking and a rock underneath my tailbone. Yeah, it was painful. :-| I knew I would have a humongous bruise, and so I texted one of my Young Living friends and asked her what to use. She recommended this oil. I applied it at night before bed, and I never developed a bruise and barely had any pain after the first day.

Lavender—This is a very calming and relaxing essential oil. While it has many different uses, the way I use it the most is as a sleep aid. If I’m having trouble falling asleep or just want to make sure that I get a really restful night’s sleep after a stressful day, I will apply a couple of drops to my lower spine before going to bed. There is no tossing and turning on the nights that I use it!

Stress Away Blend—This roll-on oil from Young Living is a mixture of Copaiba, Lime, Cedarwood, Vanilla, Ocotea, and Lavender oils. I typically use this on my neck and my temples when I have a headache or *sorry guys* when it’s that time of month and I’m just not feeling good overall. To me, this blend smells kind of like Bubble Gum. ;-P It definitely helps me feel more relaxed!

Thieves—I have nearly used up my first bottle of this! The name of this blend originates from a story of thieves who were caught during the days of the Plague. Somehow they were not becoming ill and dying even though they were stealing things from homes where people had died. Supposedly they had discovered a blend of herbs that kept them from getting sick! The Thieves blend from YL includes Clove, Lemon, Cinnamon Bark, Eucalyptus Radiata, and Rosemary. It is a great anti-viral, antibacterial, and antiseptic oil. Working in the pharmacy, I used this almost daily at the beginning of my job as I was getting sick and needing to build up immunity. I apply a few drops to the soles of my feet (one of the most absorbent parts of your body) and it definitely cuts down on the length of time that I’m sick. If I were to actually use it daily, I might get sick even less frequently!

Peppermint—This is definitely my all-time favorite oil so far! This is the only bottle of oil that I’ve completely used up because I use it so often! The primary way I use this oil is for digestive upset or cramps. A drop or two of oil applied just above my belly button soothes my stomach in a very short amount of time.

Those are just a few of my favorite essential oils! If you’re ever interested in finding out more about essential oils, don’t hesitate to ask me! I’d love to share more with you, and even send you some sample oils. :-) And in my next post, I’ll share a little bit more about some of the healthy lifestyle changes I’ve been making, so stay tuned!

5-Year-Plan Update

As a senior in high school, I developed a 5-year-plan for the years immediately following my high school graduation. I am almost exactly halfway through those five years now and thought it would be a good time for an update! :-) The items that are struck out are items that I’ve completed (although in many of those areas, I can certainly learn more and will strive to do so!) Next to other items, I’ve made note of where my progress is right now!

Prepare to be a good wife and helpmeet by:

·         Learning how to run a household budget and do banking (*I handle a lot of my own finances, but I would like to learn more about what an actual household budget looks like*)

·         Read through all the “Tightwad Gazette” issues and book

·         Learning how to clean an entire house regularly without using lots of cleaning products (read “Household Cleaning”)

·         Learning how to cook healthy, balanced meals on a reasonable budget (read “Cut Your Grocery Budget in Half”)

·         Learning how to manage my time well

·         Learning how to garden organically

·         Learning how to raise livestock (*we are currently in the process of acquiring chickens and rabbits!*)

·         Learning how to purchase good quality clothing on a budget

·         Taking care of young children via babysitting/nannying/foster care?/church (*I have babysat, been a nanny, and worked with children at church. Currently, I am working to get involved in a local foster care and adoption agency/ministry!*)

·         Helping homeschool/tutor my younger siblings

·         Submitting to my father’s authority

·         Learning basic sewing skills

·         Learning “special” household chores (mowing grass, weed whacking, changing/rotating tires, minor household fix-it jobs, etc.) (*I probably know a lot more about car maintenance, lawn care, and fixing household things than your average college-age girl. But there’s still a lot of things I would like to know before I don’t live in my Daddy’s household anymore!*)

·         Planning our family’s annual Cobbler Party

·         Taking a week to learn how to cook Abuela’s Puerto Rican food

Grow in my relationship with God by:

·         Personal devotions and Bible study

·         Reading books on theology

·         Reading R.C. Sproul’s works (*I am nearly finished reading the books we have by him.*)

·         Memorizing scripture (including at least 1 full book)

·         Mentoring/discipling a young lady one-on-one

·         Being mentored

·         Participating in occasional group Bible studies

·         Increasing my prayer life

·         Attending appropriate conferences related to spiritual growth

·         Starting a Bright Lights group?

Prepare for a lifetime of ministry/missions (regardless of location) by:

·         Earning a B.A. in International Studies from College Plus (read “Accelerated Distance Learning”) (*Lord willing, I will graduate in spring 2017!)

·         Attending the World Mandate Conference

·         Attending the Austin Stone Conference

·         Learning how to play violin and guitar

·         Writing to Valencia and financially support her

·         Volunteering at pregnancy center or homeless shelter

·         Volunteering at VOM (*Our church is talking about doing this later in the year!*)

·         Spending a month on the mission field (preferably in Haiti)

·         Helping coordinate missions trips for A Child’s Hope (potentially a team from our church)

·         Reading books we have on missions work

·         As I’m able, financially supporting missions work

·         Youth ministry/missions internship at church (learn about relationship building, how a church works and is involved in missions, and the nitty gritty of planning and administration)

·         Learning how to be flexible and live with less

·         Taking the Perspectives course

·         Taking some type of medical training course (*After I graduate from college, if finances allow, I would LOVE to get my EMT-B license.*)

·         Getting a private pilot’s license

Miscellaneous:

·         Taking a concealed weapons class (*I’m almost old enough!*)

·         Taking a photography class

·         Doing a photography internship

·         Going skydiving (*This is on my bucket list for 2016!*)

·         Reading 52 books in one year

·         Organizing family photos into albums

·         Starting a blog on post-high school life (*You’re reading it right now. ;-)*)

·         Writing a book (*I have started the process on this, but definitely will not work on it very much until I graduate from college.*)

·         Weighing 125 (*As I focus on fitness and eating healthy, I’ve become less concerned with this number and more concerned with how I feel and how my clothes fit.* :-))

As you can probably tell, I most likely won’t get to doing everything before 5 years are up. But the goal was to keep busy and keep learning, and that is definitely being accomplished! :-)

More Pinterest Projects

Over the past year and a half or so, my creative side has definitely been growing at a steady rate! A good part of that is probably due to my discovery of Pinterest. ;-) I haven’t had as much time lately as I would like for doing artsy projects, but I’ve been able to do a few over the past few months. And yes, they’ve been gifts for Jessie. ;-) But I’m hoping to expand my artistic endeavors when I have a little more time on my hands!

We moved about a week before Jessie’s birthday. I couldn’t locate our wrapping paper and ribbons for his gifts, so I crumpled up some of the packing paper to give it a textured look, and decorated it with one of the Sharpie pens I had access to.

In September, I made a fall-themed gift basket for Jessie that included Apple Cider packets, candy corn, cans of soup, ingredients to make a loaf of pumpkin bread, and a chai latte mix from a recipe I found on Pinterest. I also included some more monogram notecards and a binder filled with some of the newsletters I wrote in middle school and high school.

Unfortunately I don’t have a picture, but my next big project was my Christmas gift to Jessie. I wrote him 12 “Open When . . .“ letters. On each envelope, I did some special lettering and word art. Then I made my own stationary by decorating some simple white paper. It took quite a while to do all of that fancy lettering, but it was so much fun!

For Valentine’s Day, I kind of had a house decorating theme in mind (Jessie is living in a small town house this school year.) I decided to do some string art! I started with a plain board I bought at Hobby Lobby, stained it several times, put a coat of polyurethane on it, found a large Texas graphic online, outlined the design with small nails, put a heart where Jessie lives, and then wound the string around to make the design.

As another part of his Valentine’s Day gift, I dug up a few smooth canning jars and tea lights, and tacky glued jute on the rims. Then I used a Sharpie paint pen to write on them. :-)

Lately I’ve been very inspired by hand lettering. I’ve bought a little chalkboard and a chalk pen that I’ve kept in my bedroom, and I bought a brush pen a few months ago. When my skills there have improved a little, I might do a post about that. ;-)

Any suggestions of projects I should try? Leave me a comment! I’m really enjoying expanding my artistic horizons! :-D

Guatemala Mission Trip 2015

Our family at Cerro de la Cruz in Antigua, Guatemala.

It’s hard for me to believe that the Guatemala mission trip was eight months ago already! For the third year in a row, God has done some awesome things while I was there. I’m so excited to share this (very late) update with you!

We arrived in Guatemala in the middle of a dramatic thunderstorm. Only one other time did rain dampen our trip, which was a tremendous blessing! At the airport, we climbed into a bus which was already half-filled with students from a church in Zone 25 of Guatemala City. We were headed for a weekend youth camp in San Raimundo! Several other groups of Guatemalan students were already at the camp, along with the Fellowship Guatemala staff and translators, and a student ministry from Little Rock, AR. Friday evening through Sunday afternoon, we had several teaching and worship sessions in addition to a lot of the usual camp activities (creating teams and chants, team competitions, skits, crud wars, a dressy dinner/banquet, and free time activities like swimming and soccer.) Four students also asked to be baptized. It was a very positive weekend of discipleship!

Baptisms in the rain at camp.

Sunday evening, we headed to the new mission house in Antigua. The setting is beautiful! The city is surrounded by volcanoes, and all of the buildings are done in colonial style. It isn’t hard to understand why it is one of the top tourist cities in Guatemala. But the city has great spiritual needs. The majority of the residents are strongly Catholic and don’t understand the GRACE God has given us through Jesus Christ. We don’t have to work to earn salvation. This was the message we preached over and over again during our four days of ministry there.

During the mornings, we went to a private high school. We split up into the different classrooms and spent time getting to know the students and then sharing the Gospel with them. In the afternoons, we hosted VBS in a small village church just outside the city of Antigua. This Christian church has faced a lot of opposition from the Catholic community. Normally, they only have 10 children attend their church. We were floored when 50 children showed up for Vacation Bible School! It was such a great privilege to share the Gospel with these children for the very first time.

Having our final assembly at the school. The Catholic church wouldn’t let us use the courtyard since we were preaching the “Christian Gospel” so we improvised.

The very last day we were in Guatemala, we had our “fun” day. We went to tour a macadamia nut farm in Sacatepequez. Only there, we discovered that we were still very much on mission. The owner of the farm was an older man from San Francisco, CA. I think we concluded that his worldview can best be described as universalism: all roads lead to God, and you can believe whatever floats your boat. It was very interesting to spend time witnessing to him!

Ministering to Lorenzo at the macadamia nut farm.

Out of all the trips I’ve taken to Guatemala, I felt that this was one of the most impactful ones. Antigua is a hard city to work in, and I enjoyed the challenge!

Dealing with Conflict

Since I last posted in November, I have been pretty busy with school, work, traveling to visit family for Christmas, and spending some time with Jessie during his break from school. :-) We celebrated 18 months together earlier in January. It's crazy how time passes by so quickly!

Lately I've been thinking about the subject of conflict in relationships. Any close relationship is bound to have conflict at some time or another. While Jessie and I get along very well the majority of the time, we still have times when we argue and get upset with each other. It's a dream of mine to write a book someday on the subject of healthy romantic relationships. I look around me and see so many couples who are hurting, broken, and confused about what a "real" relationship looks like. Jessie and I are learning so much, and we are so grateful for our parents and other mentors who share their wisdom with us, but more importantly, lead us by their examples.

There are a few things we've learned in the past few months about dealing with conflicts that can be applied to really any relationship (not just romantic ones.) I thought it'd be good for me to write those things out, and share them here as well. :-)

1.) Pray. This is hard to do in the heat of the moment. It can be easy to want to wallow in anger. Praying for God to soften your hearts as you deal with conflict is really important. It's even better if you can do this together. It's hard to remain angry at someone you pray for.

2.) Don't fight via social media. It is so easy to text your way into a heated argument. Tone can be misunderstood very easily. It is far better to talk face-to-face with someone you are in a conflict in. Seeing emotional responses does a lot towards softening hearts rather than when you are protected by the anonymity of a screen. Jessie and I have discovered that even a phone call is not the best option for us when we're dealing with a conflict long-distance. A video call is the closest thing we have to face-to-face discussion, and it's hard to stay angry for long when you see the hurt on someone else's face.

3.) Communicate clearly. One of the traps I fall into constantly is expecting that certain things should just be assumed or understood. While that is true in some cases, I have to remember that Jessie (or anyone else) is not a mind reader. If I don't clearly express my expectations or desires, it shouldn't surprise me if they're not met. 

4.) Remember that you're fighting for resolution, not to win an argument. This is a big one. The goal of conflict resolution should be to understand where the other person is coming from, understand the root cause, explain what hurt you and why, and then resolve the issue. If we are set on being right all the time, we will lose many valuable relationships.

5.) Be humble and quick to forgive. In most instances, blame for a conflict lies on both people. Learn to accept your share of the blame, apologize for hurting the other person, forgive them for their part, and then agree to move on and discuss it no longer. The simple mantra of "forgive and forget" is easy to say, but definitely takes effort to do.

So there you have it! These are some of the lessons I've been learning lately. :-) Hopefully I'll be back soon to post more about what's going on in my life lately!

Ecuador Mission Trip

Back in May, I joined the very first College Plus missions team on a trip to Ecuador! There were eighteen of us (3 leaders and the rest students.) Our trip was 10 days long, and our primary focus was children’s ministry. I had met a few of the team members at a College Plus gathering last September, but for the most part, we all got to know each other on the actual trip.

One girl flew with me from the very beginning of my trip. We started at the Tulsa airport, met a few students up in Chicago, met a few more in Miami, and finally joined the other half of the team in Quito!

We hit the ground running the next morning. We served at a mega-church in a more affluent area of Quito. Saturday morning we hosted a VBS for about 150 kids. We actually ran two sessions. The night before, we had broken up into 5 teams: two craft teams, two game teams (I was on one of these teams), and a lesson team. The first day went fairly smoothly, although we were all adjusting to being at ~9,000 feet up (plus learning our curriculum.)

Large group time.

The church had catered a lunch for us after we finished (one of the best meals I had in Ecuador!) We went back to the bed-and-breakfast-type place we were staying in and rested for a few hours. Then we returned to the church to help run children’s church (the church is large enough that they have Saturday night services.) That went really well! It was pretty similar to our VBS set up, only our groups were smaller. After that, we went out for dinner at a fairly typical Ecuadorian restaurant. That evening, one of the guys leading our team led us in team devotions. We looked at the life of Abraham and discussed trusting God when we don’t understand what He’s doing. Following that, we spent some time praying as a team and prepping for the next day of ministry. We averaged about 4 hours of sleep every night of the trip. :-P

On Sunday morning, we went back to the church and repeated what we did the night before, four times. Halfway through we ate a delicious snack of empanadas and quimbolitas! After church, they served us lunch there. It was yet another amazing meal!

Afterward, we quickly went back to the house to change and then left to do a little sight-seeing. We went to the downtown area and walked through their national cathedral. It was HUGE! We walked up at least 10 flights of stairs to get to the top, I’m pretty sure. We also had to climb some very frightening, comfort-zone-stretching, ladders/stairs on the side of a tower to get to the spot where I took this picture:

Quito.

We headed down to the square, and the bus picked us up and took us to a nice mall where we had a dinner of pizza and the Ecuadorian version of Starbucks. Our team devotions that night were focused on Jacob. We did some team training and then headed to bed.

On Monday, we left early in the morning for our first day of ministry at a private Christian international school. That was a pretty difficult day because our “translators” barely spoke any more English than the kids did. We had the same VBS activity rotations. Thankfully, teaching games isn’t difficult to do even with a language barrier. The staff at the school served us lunch, and then we hung out a bit while we waited for our bus driver to come and get us. When he arrived, he took us partway up a mountain. We were headed for the top!

We rode several tram cars up to the top. It took nearly 20 minutes for us to ascend up to 13,000+ ft altitude. I felt a little nervous in the car, but the views were absolutely stunning! Once we reached the top, we walked a trail up to one of the higher peaks. Despite how thin the air was, I didn’t find it super difficult to walk. Your chest just feels a little funny, like you’re breathing very shallow breaths.

It was very cold up there! The wind chill probably took it down to the upper 30’s.

Our team! I loved getting to know these people so much.

After our cold trip up the mountain, we bought hot chocolate before riding the tram down. It’s interesting the effect that a lack of oxygen plus sugar can do to a person. ;-P Interesting things were said up there!

That evening we went to a burger/bbq place for dinner. It was a fast-food type of place, but the food was surprisingly good! And the steaks were HUGE. :-| When we got back to Casa del Padre that night, we had a video call with several other College Plus students back in the states. Then we had our team devotions while we were all gathered.

Tuesday we worked with high schoolers at the same private school. It was an unexpected change in our plans; we had come primarily to work with elementary-aged kids. But everyone adjusted really well! The high schoolers knew a lot more English, so it was easier to communicate with them. I enjoyed getting to help lead some more challenging games with my partners that day!

They fed us a light lunch at the school, and then we headed to the market to do some souvenir shopping. We had less than an hour, but I was able to quickly run through and find something nice for everyone in my family! The most unique stall in the market was one selling marijuana, coca, and “cannabis” bags. :-| I promise nobody from our team shopped there! But our leaders just about died of shock when they saw that. :-P

We stopped at a grocery store on our way home so that we could buy snacks for our 5-hour-drive up into the mountains the next day. I was amazed that my friend and I were able to buy a bag of animal crackers, Oreos, and Cokes for less than $4 (we were planning to share.) :-O

For dinner, we went to a place called Crepes and Waffles. It is one of the best restaurants I have EVER eaten at! Apparently it started in Colombia. They only hire single moms, so that they can support their children. So it’s kind of a ministry. I had strawberry juice, and then split a Greek pita and a nutella/banana/strawberry crepe with our female team leader. It was all AMAZING!

That evening we did team devotions, but other than that we were pretty laid back. We had no team prep because the next day was just a travel day. Some of us went outside to take pictures of the city lights. Then we packed up our things in preparation for leaving in the morning.

On Wednesday morning, we dragged all our luggage outside early in the morning to meet the bus driver. But unfortunately, he had a flat tire and was 45 minutes late. :-( Nobody really minded too much. It gave us a chance to wake up more fully. ;-P

For the first full 2.5 hours of the bus ride, five of us had a really in-depth conversation about relationships. It was really encouraging and definitely made the drive go by much quicker!

After about 5 hours, we arrived in Cajabamba! We unpacked our things, and split up into hotel rooms. Then we walked over to a restaurant where we had a simple but good lunch of chicken, rice, and soup. After we finished eating, we drove about an hour further up the mountain to see the church where we would be doing VBS the next day. We hadn’t expected it to be so far away. Plus, we had to hike the last mile up the mountain because the road was too narrow and steep for the bus. The road was covered in black, volcanic dirt and several of us had worn open shoes. Needless to say, we got quite dirty!

Most of the village was away at a livestock auction, but a man was there to show us the church. The few people we did see were wearing the traditional clothing (felt hats, ponchos, wraparound skirts, long dress pants, shawls, etc.) It was tiring to hike all the way up to 11,000+ feet!

For dinner, we went back to the same restaurant as lunch, because it was one of two in the whole town (and both restaurants were owned by the same person and served the same things. :-P) We were served the exact same meal, but this time I was able to have beef instead of chicken.

I was pretty tired that evening, and really enjoyed unwinding with our time in the Word as a team. I stayed up late talking with one of my best friends in her room. Mostly because she had peppermint oil and my stomach wasn’t feeling good. But also because I love talking with her. ;-)

Wednesday morning I woke up fairly early and did my devotions with some of the others. We ate our breakfast and then walked over to a lake. We thought the walk would only take 20 minutes. But at 10,000 feet up, it took us twice as long. :-P But the lake was really pretty and we had fun renting bikes to ride on the trails and playing on the very large playground.

Going back, some of us decided to run/jog (it was all downhill.) It actually felt pretty good . . . until the next morning! The lack of oxygen makes the muscles very sore later on. On our way back, we stopped to buy things to make lunch on the bus. Once everyone made it back to the hotel, we loaded up and headed up the mountain for our afternoon VBS program.

Lunch on the bus was quite the adventure. We hadn’t planned it out real well. One of the team leaders started splitting rolls with a knife while another leader used his knife to cut pieces of cheese off the block for sandwiches. I was assigned the cans of tuna. Luckily they had pull tab tops. But I had to stick my hand out the window to drain all the water out of the cans and then use my fingers to put it on the sandwiches. Needless to say, we made a huge mess! Thankfully we had lots of baby wipes on hand to clean up everything.

Up on the mountain with the entire team plus our translators and bus driver!

(Photo Credit: Rob Bennet)

We only had about 40 kids come, but it was nicer to get to work with smaller groups for a change. They are so excited to have us here! Some of them speak a tribal language, so that was interesting to listen to.

It started raining towards the end of our time up there that day, so we had a really fun, impromptu dance party. One person would lead and then “pass” it on to someone else. It was really fun! It made walking down the mountain in the rain not so bad. :-)

That evening we ate dinner at the hotel which was a nice break from the restaurant. We had team devotions and took turns doing the DISC personality assessment test. Then we split into our different groups (we only had D’s, I’s, and S’s there.) We answered certain questions as a group. It ended up being loud and a little bit stressful, but we all learned a lot about each other!

Thursday started out fairly normal. We left a little early to do some more shopping at a market in Riobamba. This time I bought a poncho and a beret. I was pretty happy with that! :-)

We walked over to a food market. Originally we were just going to get juice, but decided to get lunch there also. It was so delicious! We had a plate with lettuce, fried orange potatoes, an over-easy egg, and a slice of avocado on top. I had coconut juice with mine. Perfect lunch in my opinion!

I was pretty tired by the time we got up the mountain and felt like I needed a good cry. One of the leaders grabbed my arm and literally dragged me and another girl up the mountain because we were so exhausted. When we got to the top, I lost it. Several team members prayed over me and just sat with me, got me water, tissues, etc. I was so grateful for their support!

By the time I pulled it together, everyone had already gone to their stations. My two teammates took over the games and let me sit with some of the little kids and just observe.

It was very noisy during our last group session in the sanctuary. Lots of the parents had come and brought their younger children. When we had finished cleaning everything up, the pastor thanked us for everything we had done for the children and the church. As a thank you, they had prepared lunch for us as well as more of the amazing manzanilla tea! Some of the team went and played Ecuadorian volleyball before we headed back down the mountain.

At the hotel, we ate dinner and slowly congregated for our devotions. Afterwards, I evidently fell asleep on somebody’s bed while everyone was out playing cards in the lobby (we met for devotions every night in the guys large room.) The two team leaders woke me up because they all needed to go to bed. I said I was too tired to get up and they literally started to carry me upstairs before I stopped them. :-P Everyone else was downstairs learning how to salsa and bachata and I wanted to go down there since I was awake again. Apparently my dancing proved that there’s Hispanic blood in me. ;-)

On Friday morning, we had to pack up to leave. :-( Despite all the noise we made during our stay there, the staff was sad to see us go! I think we might have been the first Americans to stay there, and they thought that was really cool!

We had a bit of an accident with the bus at a gas station on the drive home. We accidentally scraped a panel on a concrete support and pulled it partially off. The guys were able to get it back on for the time being and continued driving.

About another hour later, we had to stop because one of the tires had gone flat. Our poor driver was having a rough day! But we enjoyed getting to stop and buy ice cream and also watch the Ecuadorian way of changing a tire.

When we finally made it back to Quito, we had to say goodbye to our translators. ;-( We were so sad! They had truly become a part of our team.

When we arrived at Mitad del Mundo (the monument that marks the equator) a rather rough security guard informed us that the president was coming to speak and no one was allowed inside the park. We were bummed since that was the only chance we had to see it. But then we decided to walk and find the real equator (the monument wasn’t actually built in the right spot. It’s a few degrees off.)

We found it! There was a little museum there and we took lots of pictures.

We caused a minor traffic accident on our way out. :-S It wasn’t exactly our fault . . . but let’s just say that we have never loaded a bus and gotten out of a place so fast! We went back to Crepes and Waffles for dinner because we loved that place so much! We were originally going to go downtown and look around, but our driver needed to rest before getting up early to take us to the airport. So we just went back to Casa del Padre to hang out and debrief. We talked a lot about how much we had grown to love each of our team mates. Yes, it was kind of sappy. ;-P

After that, some team members decided to try and sleep for a few hours, but the majority of us tried to stay up all night. We watched some Disney movies . . . and then some of us (myself included) succumbed to sleep for an hour or less. At 2 a.m., it was time to get up and load the bus. We were all pretty groggy!

Getting out of Quito proved to be fairly easy, and our flight was good. The Miami airport was a nightmare though. I have never had such a terrible experience going through customs! All the officers were very rude that day for some reason. I’ve flown before and know that it’s not always like that, but I felt bad for the team members who were going through customs for the first time!

It was hard to say goodbye to so many team members at that point. ;-( It was like saying goodbye to family! Some of us were flying on to Chicago together, so it was nice not to part ways with everyone all at once. Those of us that flew to Chicago had dinner together at UNO’s pizza. Then it was time to say goodbye yet again. :-( One of the girls and I flew back to Tulsa together and were finally reunited with our families. We were so exhausted after staying up for so long!

I was really challenged physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually on this trip. My sense of adventure increased for sure! The Lord really took me to the end of myself and taught me to rely on Him. Plus, I have a ton of new best friends that I love dearly!