Sunrise to Sunset

Happy (almost) November!!! How is it the last day of October? Life is beautifully chaotic here, and time flies by! Since my last blog, I have been doing so much better with my energy! By God's grace, I have fully stepped back into full-time houseparenting.  Laney has also since moved into the Flores house to provide some extra assistance. The biggest blessing about that change has been her ability to communicate with the girls so well. She came to Bolivia already fluent in Spanish. This has allowed us to uphold clearer boundaries and understand the disagreements that the girls are having in order to solve them more effectively. I praise God for the improvements we have already seen in the house since Laney moved in. Another positive aspect of this change will be evident in the next semester. Lauren will be going back to Southern for the winter semester to finish her degree and graduate in May. (I'm so proud of her and love her so much, but I'm going to miss her terribly!!)

Happy October everyone!! While many of you are probably enjoying some cooler temperatures, beautifully colorful trees, and cozy sweaters, we are enjoying the springtime here in Bolivia. It has been extremely hot, and it's hard to imagine how it is going to get hotter. The flowers are pretty, but sometimes it throws me off since it feels like it should be fall. I found my pumpkin flavored chapstick a couple days ago and it was such a happy moment as I remembered the wonderful things about fall back home. I love how seemingly insignificant things back home can bring such sweet joy here, and I have loved being able to embrace the simple pleasures here that make me smile a little extra. :) I was thinking this would be a shorter blog post, because it doesn't seem like very much has happened in the last couple of weeks. I am still recovering from dengue fever and have spent most of the last couple of weeks resting in bed. However, as I looked back, I realized there is actually quite