Dios es Bueno

                I told myself not to expect anything on this trip, but I certainly didn’t expect any of this!

I don’t think there any words to describe how hard it was to leave yesterday. Daria and James came to the airport and after lots of hugs and a quick goodbye I had my first flight from Minneapolis to Chicago. This one was late by about 45 minutes. They also couldn’t fit my guitar in closet, however they said they could store it below and bring it to my gate when I landed. This was great until the flight attendant told me it was actually was in baggage claim and my next flight was in less than 15 minutes. After asking multiple people they told me it was at my original gate so with less than 3 minutes before my next flight I sprinted down the hallways of airport. It was probably quite a sight to see me huffing and puffing with a bulky guitar case and slippery shoes that almost made me wipe out everytime I turned a  corner. With less than 60 seconds before they closed the gate I slipped through the door and onto the plane.

The rest of my travel was much less eventful.  I got a window seat on every plane and the views were indescribable. I only got an hour of sleep during my overnight flight to La Paz. The rest of the time was spent staring at the stars. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful in my entire life. I could have reached out and grabbed them. They weren’t above me, they were all around me, surrounding  me. I must have seen 5 or 6 shooting stars. Everytime I looked out my window I felt so small. Whether it was the countless houses lining the streets, the Andes mountains, or the vast array of stars, I was blown away by this fact: The world is so big, yet the one who created the world wants to know me. There are millions of people in this world and yet he hears all of us.

I also made a new friend. On my flight to La Paz I met Katie. She’s the same age as me and going on a foreign exchange trip to Bolivia for 11 months! What are the chances? Since neither of us knew what we were doing it was fun to be confused together. Sadly we didn’t get to have coffee or anything because she had to go to Santa Cruz, but we’ll stay connected throughout our time here.

I have no clue what I am doing, but I think that’s the beauty of it all. I’m being stretched more than I ever have been before. My host family is so supportive and hospitable. Everything is quite different but yet also the same.  I am surprised by how much I do know and how I was able to maneuver my way around without much effort.   I even talked to some people at the airport and was able to have some conversations all in Spanish. However, the language barrier is something that will be challenging. There is so much I don’t know. 

Today we had 

Prayer Requests:

Growth for the church

Health in general. So far I’ve had no health issues but pray for baby Matias.  He is doing much better but last week he was very sick.

Spanish! I know more than I thought but it is still so hard, and definitely a big weakness for me.  But God uses our weaknesses, so pray I trust him!