Amazing. 

"Whenever I have resisted him, I have cheated myself. Whenever I have yielded, I have found joy."

 -Keep A Quiet Heart, Elizabeth Elliot 

"Oh what a friend"

Tonight I had planned to spend the evening working on stuff for my classroom, but my soul needed to be still. I was hungry for time with Jesus. To be in the scriptures, to speak with Him and listen to Him. I felt led to pick up one my favorite books, The Ragamuffin Gospel. It always serves as a loud reminder of the Father's deep & ardent love for me. I opened to a random chapter and a portion of this chapter spoke to the concept of finding our "home" in Jesus:

   

        "Jesus simply says, 'Make your home in me, as I make mine in you' (John 15:4). Home is a safe place right in the midst of our anxious world. 'Anyone who loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make a home in him" (John 14:23)

        Home is that sacred space---external or internal---where we don't have to be afraid; where we are confident of hospitality and love. In our society we have many homeless people sleeping not only on the streets, in shelters, or in welfare hotels, but vagabonds who are in flight, who never come home to themselves. They seek a safe place through alcohol or drugs or security in success, competence, friends, pleasure, notoriety, knowledge, or even in a little religion. They have become strangers to themselves, people who have an address but are never at home, who never hear the voice of love or experience the freedom of God's children. 

        To those of us in flight who are afraid to turn around lest we run into ourselves, Jesus says, you have a home. I am your home. Claim me as your home. You will find it to be the intimate place where I have found my home. It is right where you are, in your innermost being. In your heart." 

---When I long for familiarity, my earthly home, or a former community, draw me into the hospitality of Your love. Remind me that home is with You, where voids are filled and the spirit is refreshed.---

"We drink you in

 Oh what a friend

 We've found in Jesus."

A Saturday.

Old fashion machines weaving beautiful blankets. 

Fresh fruits and veggies. 

A bustling market, filled with the local & the tourist.

Farmers presenting their crop. 

Lunch straight the from the pig. Amazing. 

Sweet gals who are partnering with me in this new season of life.

Though some days I long for a coffee date with dear friends, miss the feeling of being known & wish to be seated around my family's dinner table---I am grateful for where I am. There is beauty all around me; the tangible and intangible and I pray I can continue to see it.

It's not just a metaphor for love.

One of my favorite artists is Sara Groves. She in an incredible songwriter and has a simple, yet beautiful voice. I continue to find such treasure in her lyrics. She writes honestly, without the fluff and flowery language that is so often found in the Christian music industry today.

This song "Awakening" is one of my all-time favorites. (Ignore the cheesy music video!)
The lyrics are powerful. The last two verses are always so convicting to me.

Dress down your pretty faith, give me something real
Leave out the Thee and Thou and speak to me now
Speak to my pain and confusion
Speak through my fears and my pride
Speak to the part of me that knows I'm something deep down inside

I know that I'm not perfect, but compare me to most
In a world of hurt in a world of anger I think I'm holding my own
And I know that you've said there is more to life
No I am not satisfied
But there are mornings I wake up and I’m just thankful to be alive

I've known for quite a while that I am not whole
I've remembered the body and the mind, but dissected the soul
Now something inside is awakening
Like a dream I once had and forgot
And it's something I'm scared of and something I don't want to stop

I woke up this morning and realized
Jesus is not a portrait
Or stained glass windows
Or hymns
Or all the tradition that surrounds us

I thought it would be hard to believe in, but it's not hard at all
To believe I've sinned
And fallen short
Of the glory of God

He's not asking me to change in my joy for martyrdom
He's asking to take my place
To stand in the gap that I have formed
With His real amazing grace

And it's not just a sign or a sacrament
It's not just a metaphor for love
The blood is real and it's not just a symbol of our faith

A beautiful day.

Traded in the city life for the country on Monday. 

Hammocks, mountains, horse rides, food, conversation, dogs, & rest. It was a beautiful day, indeed. 

Stillness.

Currently I am sitting in a quiet apartment, soaking up a time of stillness and rest before the busyness begins. I don't know what the coming year will look like, but I presume the word "busy" will be common in my vocabulary when someone asks "how are you doing?". Even though busyness may be a coming reality, I pray that I won't define my life by that term. I have done that in the past and I remember specifically the Lord showing me that there are much more interesting parts of myself than the fact that I am busy. It is easy to glorify busyness and I desperately don't want to find my worth in what I am doing/accomplishing/not accomplishing. Thus, I know the only way to move away from that tempting and dangerous mindset is setting time aside to be still. To abide in the Father and soak my mind in the truth of His word, daily. To renounce the lie that "I am what I do". I know the whole daily pursuit of stillness and abiding is not easy. My flesh is weak and resists it. That is why I am praying for strength now, for I know the exchange of times of solitude for things such as social media is not worth it. Ever. 

photos & a poem.

Here are some pictures I have taken since I have been here. I haven't taken many, but here are some to give you an idea of what I have been up to. 

View from my apartment!

View at night. Lights for miles and miles. We even had a firework show a couple of nights ago!

Our Kitchen. We have a lot of space! I am also learning how to cook on a gas stove, so that has been.....interesting. I am also drinking a lot of water, I don't think I've had to pee so much in my life.

View from my classroom. Guys, I have my own classroom. What?! 

View from down the hall of my classroom.

I am quite enjoying the food here. I am also enjoying the prices. This whole plate, plus a bowl of soup and a drink for $4.39. Sah-weet!

The new staff members were sent on an Amazing Race scavenger hunt. We got to explore a bit of the old part of Quito (I live in the new part).

One of our tasks was to get our shoes shined. I sat next to Mary and a little boy insisted on shining my sneakers. I finally convinced him not to.....well more like I had to get up and walk away, he was pretty determined.

My roommate and I took a stroll to check out the new "hood". We stopped for empanadas and lattes along the way. (Lots of food options, Dominos is next door too) 

Real poor quality, but here I am trying a really delicious fruit called Pitahaya. (I think it is actually Dragon Fruit, but it tasted different than what I have tasted in the States.)

On Wednesday we went to a town two hours outside of Quito called Mindo. Here you can go zip lining and repel waterfalls, no big deal. Our group decided to go to the butterfly garden and tubing. My concept of tubing is like floating down a calm river or being pulled behind a boat. Tubing here was more like whitewater rafting, only via 7 tubes tied together with ropes. It was kinda intense, but super fun and a good use of 6 bucks!

Driving through the mountains on the way back to Quito.

Got to facetime with my favorite lady, and man but he had to leave for watch the Cubs. ;P



I will leave you with a poem I came across this week. It's a bit lengthy but so worth the read. 

THE ART OF AWARENESS 

Thoreau wrote: “Only that day dawns to which we are awake.”   
The art of awareness is the art of learning how to wake up to the eternal miracle of life with its limitless possibilities.

It is rising to the challenge of the stirring old hymn: “Awake my soul, stretch every nerve.”

It is developing the deep sensitivity through which you may suffer and know tragedy, and die a little, but through which you will also experience the grandeur of human life.

It is following the philosophy of Albert Schweitzer who teaches “reverence for life,” from ants to men; it is developing a sense of oneness with all life.

It is identifying yourself with the hopes, dreams, fears, and longings of others, that you may understand them and help them.

It is learning to interpret the thoughts, feelings, and moods of others through their words, tones, inflections, facial expressions, and movements.

It is keeping mentally alert to all that goes on around you; it is being curious, observant, imaginative that you may build an ever increasing fund of knowledge of the universe.

It is striving to stretch the range of eye and ear; it is taking time to look and listen and comprehend.

It is searching for beauty everywhere, in a flower, a mountain, a machine, a sonnet, and a symphony.

It is knowing wonder, awe, and humility in the face of life’s unexplained mysteries.

It is discovering the mystic power of the silence and coming to know the secret inner voice of intuition.

It is avoiding blind spots in considering problems and situations; it is striving “to see life steadily and see it whole.”

It is enlarging the scope of your life through the expansion of your personality.

It is through a growing awareness that you stock and enrich your memory . . . and as a great philosopher has said: “A man thinks with his memory.”                                             

 -- Wilfred A. Peterson

here we are....

So I have decided to start a blog, cause that's what you do when you move to another country, right? I have always wanted to start a blog but I didn't think my life was interesting enough to write about. I guess my life has gotten a bit more interesting, but I don't want that to be my sole motivation for starting this. I will post pictures and give some updates, but I also desire this to be a space to process some of these major changes occurring in my life (moving abroad, living on my own, starting a full-time job), share a quote, song or verse that is speaking to me, and ultimately tell of the works of the Lord in my life. I may be setting too high of expectations for myself, so we will see how successful I will be in carrying those things out!

Well, I will start out by giving a brief explanation of why I have chosen to name my blog, "These Pleasant Places". If you know me well, you have probably heard me mention Psalm 16 and my love for that passage of scripture at some point. (It is an incredible Psalm & if you are not familiar with it you should open up your Bible and read it!) I find the language contained in the verses so pleasing to read, that I mull over its words again and again. My favorite part of the Psalm is contained in verses 5 and 6:
  
       "Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."

 Isn't that beautiful? I could go on and on about these verses alone. I read of the security of life in Christ, that we find ourselves in places He has drawn boundary lines around and we are to call those places "pleasant". I know that sometimes we wish our boundaries lines extended a little further or didn't go so far, and pleasant isn't always the word we would choose to describe the places we find ourselves in. Though, if we allow the Lord to be our portion and cup, He will supply security and contentment in our personal boundary lines and we can taste pleasantness even in the most trying and confusing of places. And like David, I believe we can stand and say "surely I have a delightful inheritance", a Kingdom-inheritance.

My move to Ecuador to teach 1st grade was definitely not in my foreseen places. I had little desire to teach my first year out of college, let alone teach 1st grade (out-of-comfort-zone!), and moving overseas was something I was to entertain when I had some financial security. Yet, one evening in June, I found myself wrestling with the Lord about going to this unforeseen place. I was fearful and confused; my rational and "play it safe" mentality had me very apprehensive about the financial piece of it all. Though, the Lord overcame my financial anxiety that arose at the thought of this move. He turned a spirit of worry and fear into a spirit of overwhelming peace and security. Now in that spirit, I can see his hand in where my boundary lines have fallen and I can taste the pleasantness of this place. So my prayer is that in the triumphs and failures, and joys and sorrows of this move I can stand and share of "These Pleasant Places" my good Father has brought me to.

-Es