Don't get comfortable.

Wow, it really has been a long time since I last wrote! Life has been a whirlwind. Sorry about the lack of updates; as a quick rundown, I have finished my time in Potosi and am now living in La Paz for the remainder of my time with the Ramirez family. The mom, Erica, is a physical therapist and has a consulting office in the city along with a speech therapist. Hugo, the dad, works with the mission office. I also have 2 brothers - Jose (15) and Pablo (17). They are wonderful and hilarious and it's fantastic to have siblings again. In general I'm just so happy to have a family! Erica and I have tons of fun being the only girls in the house, and she greatly appreciates having a cooking and shopping partner, as do I =) The two of us are plotting to find a complete and utter chick flick and take over the action-movie-overloaded television for a night. Phase 1: fight valiantly for the remote.

The end of my time in Potosi was filled with good times with good friends and bittersweet goodbyes. I already miss the CEMFY crew, and I am so grateful for the time I had there and the things I learned, much of which is still slowly coming into focus. Sometimes it's hard to put words to things learned while they're being lived, but I know that during the rest of my time, and especially after I return to the States, the things that have been impressed upon my heart will become clearer and clearer.

The first thing I noticed during this first week back in La Paz, after the joy, was a sudden lack of hunger for the presence and Word of God. I hadn't even thought about the possibility that when suddenly placed into a situation in which I was much, much more comfortable and supported, I would lose the sense of dependence on Jesus that I had in Potosi. But that's exactly what's been happening. The Lord blessed me with a difficult and stretching 6 weeks, during which I experienced the precious gift of feeling in my heart of hearts my moment-by-moment reliance on Him. But how fickle our hearts, that when presented with beautiful gifts of the Father, we so often forget the Giver and become intoxicated with the gift, which was never meant to satisfy completely.

So that is my one major prayer request at the moment: that these last 5 weeks here in Bolivia would continue to be filled with new glimpses of the Savior, and that my eyes would be open in this new phase of my journey to the things that He has to teach me.

I love you all; may the love of the Father overwhelm your hearts this week.

In Him,
Catherine