Moving to Ecuador

No, not me. Last night, I met some wonderful people who will be. It is a missionary family who visited a nearby church where my sister attends their youth group. Actually, it is my friends Sandy and David's church (the latter happening to be the pastor). I was visiting with Sandy, and we ended up walking over to the sanctuary where Paul Nordland, the father in the family, was speaking to the kids about their lives, what they did as missionaries, and how they would soon be moving to Ecuador to be missionaries there. It was incredible to hear what he had to say. I caught only the second half of his presentation, but I was certainly amazed by God's presence in their lives. He said that when they decided to become missionaries each of them had to downsize to three bins (I'm guessing each one the size of a Rubbermaid container)! And two of them are in storage! My goodness! And I freak out about trying to pack for four months in Europe in two suitcases. But, you know, this family had to have been some of the happiest people I have ever met. When youth group was finished, I waited for my sister. As we left, I wished Paul the best of luck in their endeavors. They still have lengthy paperwork to complete for their visas and will be thrown into a culture that speaks another language. I told him I knew how the paperwork can be exhausting and stressful and how trying to interpret things you don't understand can be extremely frustrating. We got to talking about my trip to Hungary. As soon as I answered I'd being studying music, he instantly replied with Kodály, and that his wife, Karyn, had studied Kodály at the Hartt School in Connecticut. What a small world! We spoke for a short while more, and as we parted he said they'd keep me in their prayers and asked to send them an email or two to tell them how life in Hungary was, and they'd let me know how Ecuador life was going. He said they'd keep me in their prayers. Check out their blog: Nordlands in Ecuador. I think I really needed to meet these people last night. It was God's impeccable timing. They reminded me how blessed I was. That the greatness I do/have done is truly God's greatness, not mine. And that God was watching out for me...and is especially there when I am stressing or freaking out about one thing and worrying about another. Oh, and on the subject of missionaries, my mom met this lady in her Lupus support group (my mom has Lupus) whose friend has been a missionary in Hungary for the past five years. She lives about two hours from where I'll be and has invited me over for a weekend. I think I will take her up on that offer sometime. It be a neat experience to visit the site where she works.