Being Present in the Present and Looking to the Future

With less than a month left in my time here in Peru I find myself in the midst of many preparations. It gets a little difficult at time to stay focused on my work and mission here when I feel like there are so many things to do to prepare for my homecoming. To steal from fellow YAV Alissa King, I feel like I've got each foot in two different worlds.



On one side I'm here, finishing up projects, work, translating, and saying goodbye. Saturday I had my "despedida" or good-bye party with the Chicas Tamar, the group of girls that I work with on Saturday afternoons. This group was my very first project here in Huanuco and I've been with since September. So it was certainly an emotional time saying goodbye to them. I tried to make it fun by teaching them some "typical" dances from the U.S., the Cha Cha Slide, the Cupid Shuffle, and of course the Electric Slide, hahaha. Then I gave each girl a friendship bracelet as well as a small dream catcher and told them that I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with them and that I hope that God blesses and watches over them and that I hope all of their wishes and dreams come true. Then I was given a few gifts, including a beautiful picture drawn by one of the girls that also said something to the effect that I was an angel sent by God to spread God's love. It was then that I kinda lost it! The girls told me to not forget them, to which I replied that I could never do that. As I said goodbye to each girl with a hug, I was hoping that they don't forget me. They have impacted my life so much with their stories and struggles that I hope I've made at least half an impression on them as they have left on me.



A lot of my work has really tapered off in the past few weeks, so while I'm still continuing with some of my projects, my work load has certainly decreased. This has given me some free time that I have chosen to occupy myself with thoughts and plans for when I get home. So here I am trying to be present and in the moment for my last days in Peru, and yet a lot of times all I can think about is home, the people I'm going to get to see and things I am going to get to do.




One of the things I am most excited about is starting a NEW JOB! A few of you already know this news, but drum roll ladies and gentlemen..... Pending a successful meeting activity and approval by the youth I will be the Director of Children and Youth Ministries at the First Presbyterian Church of Oklahoma City!!!! When I was thinking about and beginning my search for a new job in Oklahoma, my main criteria was something that paid fairly well and that I didn't hate myself for doing. Basically I didn't want to sell anything, food, clothes, cutco knives, coffee, whatever! Now that I've found a job that I think I will not only enjoy, but one that also utilizes my skills and gifts and will give me an outlet for my passions. The way that this all came together was definitely a God thing, and I just feel so blessed and excited to have recieved this call!




Next up for me is packing, which I kinda started last night and holy cow I did not realize how much crap I've accumulated over the past 11 months!! I'm also trying to plan out time to spend with friends and my host family. With only a week left I'm really starting to feel the pressure of feeling like I still have so much left to do and not much time to do it in. So now I'm back to trying to be present while I am still here. I'm one of those people whose head is almost always days, weeks, months in the future. So for me to focus on the now is something I actually have to work on.

I will be leaving my dear Huanuco on July 15th on the morning bus. I've got a seat on the first row of the second floor of the bus (for those of you who don't know, the long distance buses here have two floors, the bottom with larger more luxurious seats and the top with smaller more squished together seats) so that I will be able to see and take picture of all the beautiful landscape as I pass up and over the Andes Mountains on my way to Lima. Once in Lima it will be a despedida with the wonderful folks at the Red Unidos Manos (our umbrella organization) and then the YAVs along with our coordinator, Debbie, and her husband, Harry, are off to Paracas - a small coastal town called the Galapagos of Peru - for a time of retreat and reflection on the past year. And after all that strenuous retreating us YAVs are off for one more vacation to Iquitos a city right in the heart of the jungle on the Amazon River. No worries - many pictures to follow!!!

After Iquitos it's a couple of days in Lima for last minute shopping and more goodbyes and then we board our plane bound for the U.S. of A. at 12:20am on Tuesday July 27th and barring any unforseen travel delays or arrests at the customs checkpoint because of the pirated DVDs (haha) I should be home for lunch, probably at Sonic, all safe and cozy and happy with my family!!!


This will probably be my last post for a bit, as obviously I will be busy the next few weeks and will have little to no internet access. So thanks again for reading and I will hopefully be seeing most of you back HOME!