We're in!

Since we live in the “country” now, I’ve had the thrilling opportunity to drive into town on my own to pick up groceries, since there is now no grocery store or market nearby that we can walk to. I’m starting to enjoy the feel of a large truck, rumbling down the dusty paths out of the neighborhood and cruising down the windy roads that sit at the feet of the mountains. As I was heading toward the store today, I found myself really loving that there is no speed limit and then looked down at my speedometer out of habit, and realized afresh that it doesn’t work! I guess it’s a good thing there is no speed limit…

Our move went very smoothly, a huge answer to prayer from our gracious Lord. The day we originally planned to move, Monday, the apartment was still being prepared for our arrival. It rained hard that day and we saw the hand of God in causing us to wait for the next day. Tuesday was sunny and warm the entire day- a rarity here during the rainy season. Wednesday poured, all day. God is so good to us. Friends began to show up around 9 and we began the long trek up and down three flights of stairs to remove all our belongings. Amazingly, we got everything out by noon, loaded into 4 vehicles and one large, moving truck, and headed for our new home. Then we immediately removed everything again and hauled it up another three flights of stairs, enjoying impressive feats of strength and ingenuity by our hired movers who were in charge of getting our heavy furniture up to the house. It was all finished up rather efficiently and we talked one family into letting us take them out for a yummy chicken lunch as thanks. The others had prior engagements, but reminded us again that they were there for us whenever we needed it. Again, God has given us such great friends here that have more than once acted on their claims to help in any way.

So, I am sitting in our new office/TV room, enjoying the view of the lunar-like landscape of “The Valley of the Moon”- a natural tourist attraction that we are about a block from. The mountains rise up red and green all around us, creating beautiful backdrops from all windows. We’ve lost sight of our beloved, snow-capped mountains, but they’ve been replaced by a more rugged beauty of the craggy hills. One massive benefit to being 1000ft. lower than we were in Sopocachi (and having tons of windows) is that our house stays nice and warm during the day. I can actually exist in my house without socks! We’ve already taken advantage of living a mile or so from the international Christian school, Highlands, by walking over there yesterday so Scotty could give a talk to the 5th grade class, taught by one of our good friends, Julie. He also has plans to be a frequent chapel speaker, hoping to impact the lives of the upper class Bolivians and various internationals that attend this school.

Settling in to a new place takes time and tons of work to get all your stuff situated, as well as to buy what is lacking. It’s had its fair share of emotional toil as well, knowing that we are finally in the place where God has called us where we will start a new church, but trying to figure out how to walk ministry out practically, day by day, and exactly how we fit into the plan. We love this new home, but feel a tiny bit isolated, since we are outside of the city. As we all do, we will take it a day at a time, trusting God to reveal Himself to us as we seek opportunities to be involved in the lives of people around us. We’ve put up our 7ft. Christmas tree, so we’re officially ready to be hosts and hope to have many in our house to celebrate the birth of the One who came to give us life!