Well, I have got a small flat and have furniture now, and after cooking for the first time in my new place, I am feeling very happy!
Coming back to Ecuador has been good, but so many thoughts and feelings going on at the same time. It seems like I have been here for ages considering all these feelings, but it has been less than a month!
Ecuador didn’t feel like “home” as soon as I got here as I thought that it would. But I wonder if that is because I am keen to figure out where I am supposed to fit in here with what I can offer to the church and to Ecuador in terms of work skills. After so many months of travel, I am keen to get settled and to be doing something more useful with my time. But what really is “home”? What does it mean for you, I wonder? I think that I can fit in within in any country and any culture and make a home there, so does that mean that everywhere is home or that nowhere is home? Does it really matter? Someone once told me that the sense of belonging and having your place in the world is very important to how happy we feel. I am not sure that my sense of belonging or place in the world is geographical; I think that I feel a sense of belonging because of my family, because or my friends, because of the unchanging, loving God that I try to trust each day. And I wonder whether the home we are supposed to make in the world is in that place where, despite hardships or discomfort at times, is the place where we recognise that we are not alone in this world, but that we need both each other but more importantly, we need God. Our home could therefore be the place where we feel most able to worship that amazing God with all that we are. Because, isn’t that what heaven is? And isn’t that our real home?
I think all my friends and family are awesome and it is you that make it worth living! I often say to people that I want to live life fully. It is something that Jesus said he came to give us. But no matter how much I love to try new and adventurous sports and travel to far flung places, it is all of you that make me feel that my life is full. Goodness, I am turning all Latin with this outburst of emotion!!!
But needless to say, thank you. And if there is anything that I can do to bless you, please do not hesitate to ask.
So here I am in Ecuador, with my home set up more or less, and now I just need to figure out my work in the church and whether I can do something with water and sanitation and also earn a little money to continue to pay for daily costs. But whatever happens, I want to be useful because giving back for me is part of that living life fully statement that seems to have become a motto!
2 comments:
Claire, I really love this post. It definitely speaks to me and is exactly what I need. So excited to hear the next steps in your journey. Love you!
You know, it took me a while before staying at home (with the children) felt like home(!), for the same sort of reasons you've talked about. I didn't know how my skills could be used in my new environment and it took a while to feel like I was doing a good job for God. Now I feel at home in the workplace and at home! And as for this country... yes, this is home too, now that I have a group of friends I connect with.
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