Ecuadorian Gifts

With the gentle hum of the dryer in the distance, I sit and type. Eyes heavy from a filled day of ministry, both at work and at home, I am tired but my heart is full. Gratitude lives here.

There is joy found in the discipline of giving thanks. And so with steady hands and a smile on my lips I type; with each stroke of they key I count gifts. Gifts from treasured memories that warm my heart and rekindle a love for a past I am so grateful for. It is fitting that today, the sixth of December, is a Monday. For I have a multitude of gifts to be thankful for on this seis de Diciembre.

- 476 years of a city (mi cuidad) that will forever live in my heart 

- "El Chulla Quiteno" and lost conciertos de Quito with the very first friend I made when we moved to Ecuador (Te amo Marti!)

- knowing that 20 years later I still have contact with beloved friends

- Humitas, Manichos and "agua con gas"

- Pichincha, Cotopaxi, Cayambe and Antisana -- the Rocky Mountains of BC will never live up to you

- The class of 91

- Casa Blanca

- strolling Amazonas, having coffee at the Colon Hotel and singing the national anthem at the top of our lungs outside the presidential palace

- "regalitos de navidad" and burning "el ano veijo"

- El Bosque, my second home

- Choir trips and marriage proposals

- teachers I called friends, missionaries that were my aunts and uncles, and classmates who were more like siblings...

Que viva Quito!