Editor's Note: This post is actually from last Sunday. It's taken me almost a week to get it written:)

It's Sunday evening here, and I just got back from hanging out with some people after church. It was actually an unexpected treat for me to get to go out to dinner with people from America who speak English...meaning, I don't have to work so hard to understand or be understood:) Part of the conversation turned toward things that we miss back home...namely different foods. Or rather just being able to go to a grocery store to survey the variety of items that can't be found here. At this very moment, I am absolutely craving a burrito from Chipotle along with their chips and guacamole. And a fountain diet coke...my one true addiction!

It's been almost 4 months since I left the states (which, can you believe it?!) and I have started to think about some of the simple things that I miss. Honestly, life here has become so normal that I am betting when I get back, it's going to feel very abnormal there.

It's little things like...

• being able to put my toothbrush under the tap water
• taking a walk without dodging piles of trash...or motos
• being outside without choking in all the exhaust and dust
• driving a car (I hope it's like riding a bike and I won't forget how:)
• not having to carry toilet paper in my backpack
• being able to step onto a dry bathroom floor (no shower stalls here)
• traffic that actually obeys traffic laws (most of the time, anyway)
• smoke-free public places
• carpeting
• grass
• clean feet - my own, I mean
• a screened window that allows a gentle breeze

I could definitely go on.

But honestly, it's pretty easy here to forgo those little "luxuries" in life. When you see barefoot children by the side of the road or families living in squalor, it tends to put life's needs into perspective. I'm not too far removed from the constant bombardment in the states of advertisements that tell me I've gotta have the latest and greatest version of whatever it is that I already have but don't really need...to which I have succumbed many a time. And yet, I have managed to live quite well these past four months with what I could pack into two fifty-pound suitcases (plus a few extra items from Vista...thanks!)

I was recently asked to share something that I wanted instead of something that I needed so that ones could bless me...and I truly could not think of anything. I ended up asking for caramels. Too much, I know. But I spend much of my time with children who are genuinely excited with whatever you give them. And truly, I think they are more excited to just get a hug from you than getting anything you could bring. In light of that, who needs all that other stuff?

I suppose I could end this blog here and leave you with the impression that I've got this contentment thing all figured out. Not so much. While I am pretty content with what I have, I still find myself longing for what it is that I think I need. I was listening to a message by Pastor Mike from Vista about this very topic of contentment (have a listen...it's a good one!), and I realized that for me, it's not the "stuff" I could accumulate, but rather the relationships that I have left behind.

Over the past few weeks, I have spent quite a bit of time by myself alone here. I did not come with any team members, and it can get pretty lonely at times. (So now you know my excitement at having dinner plans with actual people!) How easy it is to start focusing on what is not, rather than what is. And to start thinking, "it would be so much better if..." until eventually life is consumed with discontentment and comparison.

This may sound strange, but I am thankful for those times that are difficult. It's then that I learn where my heart really is and what it is that I truly believe. Do I trust that God will provide for my every need? Do I believe that He is good? Do I believe that He has a plan for my life? If so, then why live as if He does not?

So, in those moments of loneliness, what do I get to do? Believe the truth, and go visit orphans. Twenty kids running at me all at once calling me mommy and giving me hugs...who can be discontent after that?! (Ok, so a few of the newer kids call me daddy. We're working on the English:)

I was going to be spending Christmas alone, so I went to the store and bought enough candy canes for all the orphanages and took a trip out to visit them. I wish you could see how excited they get over something so simple. Many of them have never experienced Christmas before, and I had the privilege of sharing this time with them. After handing the candy cane to one little boy, he held it up between two fingers and asked the orphanage director, "What is this?" How delighted he was to find out it was candy:)

Here are a few pictures from that day...






If I kept my eyes focused on my situation instead of fixing them on the right place, look what I would have missed out on!