stephaniebernotas - A new normal... (pictures)

First: Praise the Lord, Yarina's ear is 110% healed! I almost cried. So cool.

Life here in Iluman is becoming more and more normal. It's normal to sleep in a tent in a cement room. It's normal to have dogs barking constantly. It's normal to eat rolls, avocados, and eggs every single day. It's normal to send someone down the cobblestone road to restock on fruit and vegetables. It's normal to catch public busses to various Ecuadorian cities. It's normal to have your clothes blow off the line after hand washing them. It's normal to find a rat in your bedroom and accidentally kill it, jumping and screaming and accidentally landing on it. It's normal to be absolutely and constantly covered in dust. It's normal to have a time of team prayer where we ask the Lord what He wants us to say to each other and He gives us crazy stuff to say that we could never have come up with ourselves that are exactly what a person needed to hear. It's normal to joke about sitting on a bucket, sweeping out a tent, and carbohydrates. It's normal to pass a few cows and chickens as I walk to the internet cafe. It's normal to have daily conversations about our bowel movements (ew.) Life's just becoming life here in Iluman. Life on the World Race is not all slow motion video clips, backround music, miracles, and worship services. Life is still life. We have the same struggles (perhaps more, or at least more evident as we live in community.) We have the same fears, the same picky eating habits, the same family back home, the same God. We've just chosen to follow God where He's led. Life as a missionary is just a normal life, surrendered to God. It's a new normal. And I like that new normal. You don't have to be a world racer or a missionary for that to be your normal. Try it ;)