It's my last few days in Ecuador and the bittersweetness is setting in.
It has been an incredibly sweet time of meeting new people, fostering existing relationships, opening myself up to learn and to teach, and being willing to move a little more freely.
Right now I'm house sitting the guesthouse that has been like a home to me during my time in Ecuador. The missionaries that operate the guesthouse are traveling with a group from the states down south and needed someone to stick around, cook breakfast, take care of things and after a few other couples fell through they came to me. Not only was I honored to be asked, but also incredibly excited to be able to give to others the same hospitality I've been given. Day 2 of my housesitting adventure, the day my students were packing up to leave the country, I came down with a horrific bout of food poisoning and had to lean on others to get the day's duties done. That was difficult... I didn't know whether or not the sickness would go away by the next day, but was praying that it was simply food poisoning and nothing else. Thankfully I woke up the next morning with the sun at 6:15am without any nausea - I walked around all morning singing "praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise him all creatures here below..." one of my favorite parts of the church service back home.
I spent the day cleaning up the house and taking it easy with Bryce, April and Ben up the hill. The last Ecuador course of the season is here and we'll all be out of the country by the end of next week. I'm thankful for our community that we've had this season in Ecuador.
The other day, the ISAS students and I were taking a half day to process their time here in Ecuador and prepare them to re-enter the states. I am continually astounded by the ways that God is teaching them incredibly big things through our experiences and that I'm able to be a part of that. After the students finished sharing Bekah looked and me and said "Kelli, I want to know what you're taking home from Ecuador, what God's been teaching you..." I was surprised and really glad at the same time not only that she and Brendon were interested, but that I was being challenged to process my time here as well. What I've continually been reminded of during my time here is the intricate way that God prepares us. This learning started last spring when I was training for a triathlon with Al & Ali. At that point I realized the importance of my physical preparation for the upcoming summer. These past 6 weeks I've seen many of the ways that I've been prepared to hold this job and to lead these students in this capacity. No wonder I fell in love with this place and what Summit does in this program 2 years ago as a student...
I'll be continuing my processing the next couple days as I visit friends and families here in Ecuador to say so long.
