truth #9: clothes don't dry in the rain

I have been thinking for quite a while about what to write this time. I probably have enough to talk about for two or three blogs, however, I will be efficient and put them all into one. :)

First, I returned from my three week trip to the states last Thursday.

Second, it was with my two year Ecuadorian visa! Praise the Lord for that one!

Third, it has been raining here ever since I came back.

In fact, at this very moment I am soaking wet, but I will leave that story until later. So many of you were encouraging to me during my time at home. I think I was blown away by all the interest in what I am doing in Ecuador. Well back here in Guayaquil things are as crazy as ever. Another thing... not all the visa stuff is finished, as I found out today. Another Ecuadorian process is to register the visa after you get it. So I went to register my visa today, only to find out that when I was at the consulate in Houston they forgot to give me a document necessary to register my visa here. Now we are in the process of obtaining that document, of course in the one-month-after-entering-the-country deadline : FEBRUARY 8, 2009! Another thing to add to your prayer list. :)

And now to be really honest with you. As strange as this sounds to many of you who know that I value honestly, it is sometimes really hard for me to be entirely open about all that I am going through. This last week has been a really hard week for me. I am having trouble with my headaches again. It is beginning its fourth week with me, a very unwelcome companion. Normally at this point a bit of a depression begins to hit me, part of it could be sleep deprivation, I am not sure. It is hard to get up in the mornings, almost impossible to sleep, every moment reminding me what a blessing it is to have a clear mind, it carries me in endless circles that I honestly have no idea how to get out of. Really what I desire most that you pray for me about would be that I have the strength for each day, that I will not believe the lies that Satan constantly throws at me and that I will not give in to fear. It has been a while since I have had a headache for this long, other than three weeks in October it has been almost two years since I have headaches that lasted longer than three days. I think they are getting better but who knows since no one can seem to figure out why I get them in the first place.

Well, I left the cold cold weather of Texas to what I thought would HOT weather... instead I got rain, rain and more rain. And the funny thing is that they say we have not really entered the rainy season. Every night it rains, every morning it rains, most afternoons it stops rain for a brief period (but no sun), then it rains in the evening. Today, during the afternoon the sun began to come out! I was so excited! I decided that I had better wash my clothes and get the on the line to dry while there was a break in the weather. So after two hours of washing clothes I get it all finished and get back to work. I was not in the office for 20 minutes when it began to rain... and I mean rain! I stood up from my desk with a involuntary yell, causing everyone in the office to turn and look at me. I responded to their wide eyes with "MY CLOTHES ARE ON THE LINE", comprehension dawned and they all looked at me with sympathy. If the clothes get wet again, I would have to go through the entire washing process again but this time there is absolutely no sun to dry the damp clothes. So I grabbed my little purse size umbrella and dash to the door... not really sure why I bothered with the umbrella as the tiny size didn't stand a chance in the downpour! I practically ran the three blocks to my house, though at this point my clothes would have been soaked! But as I got through the second gate, none of my clothes were on the line! One of my friends had seen my clothes on the line and had taken them down right before it started to rain cats and dogs! What a blessing! Such is life in Ecuador.