Begun in Faith

I find I have been jostled by Quito. Living in a different place, sleeping in a different bed, walking different sidewalks, eating different food, playing different sports has left me with new bruises, scrapes, and blisters. It seems each day my body surprises me with some new ache or pain. I am being jostled.  I am learning new things about my body (I didn't know a sunburned ear could do that). I've also developed new calluses and stronger muscles. I am becoming accustomed, and in the process, learning how to live in a new way. I know my physical scars will heal and I will be more prepared for the next physical adventure. I can commit to never playing soccer in flats or going outside without sunscreen again, but if I don't follow through, I'll just continue to hurt myself. I will continue to be frustrated, and I won't fulfill my potential. I learn from my mistakes and adjust my behavior, but God does the healing and strengthening. I can't heal my skin,...

The view of Quito from campus. I really want to give you an idea of what my daily life is like, but my class schedule is about to change, so this is a description of what life has been like for the past two weeks. Our team is living on the campus of the Nazarene Theological Seminary of South America with about 20 seminary students. We live in the dorms and usually eat in the cafeteria. The campus is on a hill with offices and homes on the bottom level, dorms above them, then classrooms and the cafeteria, then a church at the top. Beautiful Quito is below and as far as the eye can see. The North Americans have Spanish classes in the morning and the Argentines have seminary classes in the evenings. I'm going to describe a basically empty day because every day gets different activities thrown in. 6:30 My alarm goes off. If you have ever lived with me, you know that this is the signal for the really sound sleep to begin. ?? Change into jeans and a sweatshirt and go to breakf...