Friends

    I have made some wonderful friends in Bolivia.  I have friends in the office of SIM.  I have friends that live near me.  I have friends from language school.  I have friends from my job.  It has never been hard for me to make friends.  What is hard is letting people really in.  I am an upbeat person, so I like to only show the good stuff.  It is hard for me to allow people close enough to see when I am sad, exhausted, sick, or hurt. 
     I am so blessed for my international skype prayer group.  They are my people that I bear everything too.  My prayer group here has dwindled down to about four other people.  However, these people I trust and care about a lot.  I am still working on letting new people in my head and heart.  I think it is a little odd because I love my close friends here.  It is something I am praying about. 

     I have learned a lot about myself during my time in Cochabamba.  Things came so easy, naturally, in the States.  I took it for granted without even realizing it.  I now struggle with
wanting to be with and around people and needing my alone time.  I have learned that large groups exhausts me.  The pressure I put on myself with language exhausts me.  Not being able to communicate my heart and thoughts is exhausting.  It is so important to find the balance in your life that keeps you healthy and happy.  I pray that all missionaries find this balance.  I am so blessed with the close friends I have in the States, other countries, and in Bolivia.

^12 "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command." 

John 15:12-14