The Sun!!!

Now that the cold season is wrapping up, I want to post an ode to my old friend... the sun. 

For the first time in my life, I am having the privilege of seeing the sun both rise and fall almost every day.  What makes this even more special is the fact that we live at such a great altitude that the sun is gorgeous as are the Xela clouds.  It is an incredible experience to wake up and lie in bed watching the sun slowly appear over the mountain outside my window.  Then, as I walk home at night or am playing with the girls on the canche, I get to watch the brilliant colors of the sunset (thanks diesel powered busses) as it goes to rest in another place.  

As much as I don’t like to admit it, I am fairly sentimental person, and I really miss a lot of people at home.  Don’t get me wrong – there is nothing I would trade this year for.  But, as I talk to and hear of people who are struggling, sad things that are happening or have happened, and also the exciting things happening in people’s lives, a part of me realizes that it yearns to be there with those people.  

Monterrico Sunset

This is further precipitated during times when I am sitting in church, meetings, or even just among people and I want to be able to contribute, but by the time I have everything translated enough to say, we’re on to a new point.  Thus, I find myself spending a great deal of time looking up at the sun; it’s big, bright, and I don’t have to communicate in Spanish when I’m looking at it.  

Sun and ocean... I love it!

Monterrico Sunrise

During the morning, I get up and look at the sun rising and I know that it’s a new day filled with new opportunities to learn the language, the culture, and where God fits in all this mess that we call life.  Each day is a testimony to God’s faithfulness; the world is still spinning, no matter how many mistakes I made yesterday or how many people around me I feel helpless to assist.

During the day, as I soak in the sun (the insides of buildings seem to be frigid all day long) or am looking at it, frustrated that I can’t communicate or that I’m not really sure how to start a conversation with the 13 other people in our Chevy Blazer sized SUV because I have yet to master how to converse with strangers without being stranger than I already am as a 5’6” light colored skinned person living among people who are much darker and much shorter than myself, I am reminded that there are some things in life that are continuous and don’t stop; the sun is one of those beautiful gifts (this is a lot easier to see and remember here than it is in Seattle…). 

Then, during the night, as the sun sets over the mountains, I know that it’s going west.  My friends at home are slowly seeing it in a different light, and it will travel all around the world while I am renewing myself with sleep, and we will see one another once again in the morning, ready to try this game of life all over again.

Sunset from my house