Recibe toda la Gloria

Things have been incredibly busy and so I apologize if I've been really delayed in getting back to people's messages.  (I love hearing from you!  Don't stop!).  On July 7th-10th Ivan and I were in Quito processing paperwork.  Step one:  get our marriage license from the United States accepted and legalized here in Ecuador.  Step two:  Ivan gets a new cedula (identification card).  Step 3:  Apply for my visa.  Step 4:  Once approved the visa, Rachel gets a cedula.  It might seem simple but it is a long and at times confusing process.  All of our documents issued from the United States had to be translated and notarized here in Ecuador.  One of the papers we needed took extra long because when we came into Ecuador, they stamped our passports incorrectly and marked Ivan as having only 90 days to be in country, even though he is an Ecuadorian citizen!  So we had to fix that and it took pretty much half of a day to do.  Day 2 we were able to accomplish Step 1 and Step 2.  We went through at least 5 different lines in one building, filling out one paper and being sent to another line, etc. just to get our marriage license legalized in Ecuador.  Our mistake being that we didn't eat breakfast before going, because we wanted to get there right when it opened and several hours later we were very hungry.  Lunch never tasted so good!  By Day 5 we had turned in my application for a visa.  Now we play the waiting game, as they will contact us between 1-3 weeks with information.

YL Expedition Team touring the Nate Saint house in Shell

After running around Quito and waiting in many lines, we picked up our first YL Expeditions team from the airport and the next day got on a bus and headed to Shell.  Members from the team stayed with different YL leaders here in Shell and Puyo.  One member stayed with Ivan and I, the other 9 were dispersed to other homes.  Our first guest!  The team worked to construct a new roof for the YL Club space in Shell.  Since it was our first time hosting a team, it was definitely a learning experience not just for YL Ecuador but also for Ivan and I as husband and wife.  At times working as a dynamic duo, translating between English and Spanish and taking on different responsibilities to accomplish the task at hand, and other times having a breakdown in communication combined with long days ending with exhaustion.  Looking at the timeline of the past two months, it's definitely a testament to the goodness of God that I've been taking on all these changes in stride.  If I think about the reality of everything happening in my life, I can only marvel at how God meets us where we are and never gives us more than we can handle.  In all the commotion of activity I pray that I never forget that this is all for Him. 
We sang the following in one of the songs at YL Club:

"Recibe toda la Gloria, recibe toda la honra, precioso Hijo de Dios"

(Receive all the glory, receive all the honor, precious Son of God)

This is my heart's desire.