Halfway...or just past that point

So halfway. I have one more month left. It's been great so far with some fun experiences and learning a lot. Most of what I am learning is coming from conversations that I have with Wade at the most timely hour of about 11:00 at night...It's been awesome though with conversations ranging from college to sports to prayer to purpose. I'm really learning more about the power of prayer and trying to rely on it more but that can be difficult. My schedule has pretty much stayed the same. We go to Bible studies everyday but Thursdays with language school from noon until about four. I usually do homework in the mornings and at night we usually go to church. My favorite services are the ones at the church plant. It's smaller than the other one and since I have been attending house church for the last while back at home, I'm more comfortable there. Plus there's this little kid who is a goofball that I practically babysit during the services so his mom can pay attention easier. It's pretty fun and a challenge to keep him quiet usually. Being around kids always gives me a greater respect for parents, particularly mine.

This past weekend Wade and I went hiking with one of the men from church named Jose Abarca. He's one of the most legit men I have ever met. I think we hiked about 10 kilometers or so. We went up to this spot where you could see two different cities and then we just kinda kept hiking. We crossed about four or five fences like it was no big. We ended up coming out of the mountains about 30 minutes from where we started so we kept walking. The man asked us if we wanted to run down the hill to go a little quicker, I sadly misunderstood what he was saying and agreed. So when all of a sudden he took off jogging I got really confused and had to step it up. Mind you this is a 70 year old man who just hiked 5 hours in the mountains and now we are jogging and he hasn't uttered a single complaint while me and Wade are not believing the feeling in our hips and knees. It was an awesome time just cause we got to be around this awesome man who just exudes calm and peace and is really funny too.

One of the songs that I have really come to lift up as my prayer while here and that I have just really latched on to is "My Desire" by Jeremy Camp. It really frames what I want my life to be like:

You want to be real, you want to be empty inside
You want to be someone laying down your pride
You want to be someone someday
Then lay it all down before the king

You want to be whole, you want to have purpose inside
You want to have virtue and purify your mind

You want to be set free today
Then lay it all down before the King

This is my desire, this is my return
This is my desire to be used by You

You want to be real, you want to be emptied inside
And I know my heart is to feel You near
And I know my life
It's to do Your will
It's to do Your will

This is my desire, this is my return
This is my desire, to be used by You
Oo yea
This is my desire, this is my desire
To be used by You

All my life I have seen
Where You've taken me
Beyond all I have hoped
And there's more left unseen

There's not much I can do to repay all You've done
So I give my hands to use

This is my desire, this is my return
This is my desire, to be used by You
Oo yea
This is my desire, this is my desire
To be used by You