Just as we find a new rhythm, it all changes.  

By April, I was finding my stride with zoom calls, meetings, work, homeschool, and family life.  I even had a very beautifully color-coordinated calendar.  Then, all of Ecuador went into scheduled power outages due to a lack of electrical power sources.  Our scheduled power outages would be announced in the evening for the following day and it changed daily.  My beautifully color-coordinated calendar became muddy brown, like when children just keep mixing all the colors together until it is one unidentifiable mass.  

Working remotely is great until you have no power for 6-8 hours in your day (like right smack in the middle of the day).  Then zoom calls and email and ALL the other things you rely on electricity for become impossible.  April was also the month we had to renew some passports and Ecuadorian ID's, which meant long hours (DAYS) of waiting in lines and sometimes forfeiting precious electric power time, sitting in government offices.  It was a month to test our patience, endurance and flexibility.  (I did not pass with flying colors...)

Miraculously, in May, the rains came and with the rain the hydroelectric plants could reach higher capacity again.  Just in time to Walk for Hope, the annual fundraiser our division participates in.  We walked, prayed and watched God use many people to raise money for kids to go to camps across Latin America.  The challenge in May was when Ivan and I had back-to-back travel (to different locations) and then about 48 hours to get on another plane as a family.  Our family trip was a quick time in VA but an important one.  After almost 3 years of paperwork and waiting, Ivan was able to get his U.S. citizenship.  

Thankfully, he did pass his test (with flying colors) and was able to have his swearing in/oath ceremony right away.  We were uncertain how all the pieces would come together but God's hand was present on each step.  A few days later, he was picking up his new US passport and a few days after that we were back on a plane to Ecuador, just in time to receive a team that came to serve alongside YL Ecuador.  

It felt so strange to be back in the states so soon after our last visit.  Since our focus was the citizenship process, we did not tell many people and didn't make many plans aside from our appointment dates in Washington D.C.  It felt strange and sweet.  Strange to not be bouncing from one town to another, or one state to another.  Strange to not be presenting at churches or small groups.  But oh, so sweet to be free to take Benji to the park almost every day, to eat meals with my parents, to spur of the moment meet up with a friend while she does a Target run.  It had been a decade since we were in the states in the summer time and I had forgotten how the days are longer and lighter.  

Maybe you're wondering, now that Ivan has his US citizenship, does that mean you are leaving Ecuador?  The answer is no, we still feel very strongly about our call to live and serve in Ecuador with Young Life.  However, we also feel strongly about having our family together, and part of facilitating being together is sharing the same passport country.  If you have more questions, feel free to reach out to us!  

So, here I am, once again trying to color-code my calendar.  Forever trying to bring order into my life.  Just last Saturday, I did a yard sale alongside two of my sister-in-laws.  Maybe I was influenced after being stateside (finally) during yard sale season, or maybe I just really have stuff I need to get rid of.  Talk about chaos!  Boxes of random things that I have set aside over the last year that I no longer need/want.  The night before the sale, I emptied all the boxes out (made a huge mess) in my friend's living room and sorted it all.  Grouped the clothing by size.  Priced things.  Re-boxed it all, now sorted, to haul to the local market square.  As soon as I began opening up boxes and suitcases at the market there was a crowd of people and they in turn, in less than 30 seconds, started rifling through, and all my nicely sorted clothes and items became unorganized.  I even pleaded with them to wait, "15 minutes!" I cried out, begging them to let me get situated first.  It didn't work very well.  

I often want to present to God my life, sorted and organized first.  I want to "stage it" correctly and make it look good.  Instead, God is there already turning it over in His hands, digging into the deep parts and I plead, "15 minutes!"  Let me fix it first.  Let me hide some things first.  But unlike the people at the marketplace, He is gentle and careful.  He does not throw things around but He does move things.

1 Peter 5:6-7  (MSG) 

"So be content with who you are, and don't put on airs.  God's strong hand is on you, he'll promote you at the right time.  Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you."

Just aș a parent receives a finger painting from their child, all the colors blurred together, indecipherable and exclaims, "Wow!  Beautiful! Thank you!",  I see God exclaiming over us, "Wow!  Beautiful!  Thank you!"  The painting is beautiful because of the hands that made it.  We can give God our lives, all blurred together, entangled and He sees the heart that offers it.  And He is most careful with it.  

Early 4th of July Celebration