Lesson From Bolivia

Hey all! We made it back home to Jacksonville safe and sound and are having to quickly get adjusted to life here as our schedule is already turning busy with Bible Bee, school music, and sports. We've jumped from one kind of busy to another kind already! It's somewhat strange, and almost dream-like for me to be living here again after two months. All summer we've lived a completely different life surrounded by different people, a different culture, and different places. I'm glad to be back home, but am starting to miss Bolivia a little now! For starters, I miss the cheap food ;) I miss family and certain aspects of the culture as well, and treasure the lessons God has taught me through our vacation there. Sure, God teaches me and guides me and loves on me here, but there He shows me things that I wouldn't see in the States. How real poverty looks like. How despicable corruption ruins a country. A bigger picture of the world.

In this trip to Bolivia, He taught me, first of all, that where I live is not the only place in the world. Of course we all know that the rest of the planet exists, but we get so caught up in our own itty bitty  world that we can become complacent with watching the world from afar. I love our trips there because they give me a bigger taste of the world and its diversity. They help me appreciate and enjoy that diversity more.

Another lesson: Our world is truly broken; mercy is needed daily. Again, in the States I know that poverty exists, but I get caught up in my own world of luxury and ease so that I don't look for it, or see much of it. In Bolivia I see beggars in the streets daily, trash everywhere, and ramshackle huts made of brick, dirt, and tin. Bolivia's poverty has taught me to be merciful. Instead of spending my days shut up in our house in the midst of well-manicured lawns and well-paved roads, I've spent many a long day walking in the middle of cities crowded with all kinds of strangers. I wonder, "Do they know Jesus? Are they depressed? Are they in the midst of a trial?" Seeing hundreds of faces each day opened my eyes to how much of the world needs Jesus.

Another lesson God taught me was that I don't have any place to call my own in this world. Home is in Bolivia, but it's also in the States. I've lived in many places for a fifteen-year-old girl, and they all have a part of my heart; I love all of them! But I realize that in none of them do I truly feel at home, because when I'm in one place I long for the others. I realized this before, but Bolivia has put it into sharper focus: Heaven is the only place I'll truly feel at home, and I can hardly wait for the day when I am there!

As a family, God has taught us mainly about flexibility this summer! He's also taught us to fear Him, praise Him, and to stand in awe of what He's created. We love each and everyone of our trips to Bolivia, and hope we can travel there again in two years. Adios for now!

 One of my favorite pictures from our travels :)