bullet points

Today, I

• wore a sweater for the first time in Paraguay since August.  Autumn weather is finally here!  This is good news because a) I can wear lots of layers now and b) more layers = more effective mosquito protection.  I'm especially excited about the latter.
• made a dozen or so mocha chocolate chip cookies (woo hoo baked goods on cold days)
• ate a dozen or so mocha chocolate chip cookies (boo hoo lack of moderation)
• realized I'm halfway through my 1.5 year commitment in Paraguay (!)

The past nine months have flown by unbelievably quickly. Even though I've come to a point where I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of things here (at least, there haven't been any more accidental bus rides to downtown Asuncion), I know I'm still wading in the shallow end of an enormous Paraguayan pool.  There is so much to learn and experience, and as time passes, a year and half doesn't seem like such a long time...actually, it feels much too short!

Some mid-year-and-half reflections (sorry if it's random...this is mostly for memory's sake):

• Paraguayans are some of the most hospitable people I've met outside of the U.S.  So incredibly, genuinely will-go-out-of-their-way-to-give-you-the-best-slice-of-meat-and-give-you-their-own-beds-to-sleep-on-when-you-sleepover hospitable.  
• Favorite Paraguayan grub: milanesa, empanadas de pollo y huevo, pizza tatakua, lomito arabe, and corazoncitos
• Favorite Paraguayan city: Ypacarai
• Best Paraguayan memories: play dates with Lucho + Sole; night fishing at Los Lagos in San Lorenzo with Pastor Fredy's family, David, Eva, and Lea; exploring Villeta with Fatima and Sole
• Worst Paraguayan memories: finding scorpions in my house; watching a dog decompose on the side of the street (this was over the course of three days, so I was able to watch nature have its way with the dead creature before someone got just as grossed out as me and covered the body with a pile of sand)
• While Paraguay isn't closed off to religion, it's dangerously immersed in the routines of religion.  Centuries of Catholic tradition and watered-down/false preaching have resulted in many closed hearts.  
• There is a big Mormon population here.  Every few blocks, an impeccably manicured temple stands in stark contrast to the humble brick homes that surround it.  And on any given day, you can usually see two well-dressed gentlemen walking around the neighborhood.  It was interesting when I met a pair of Mormon missionaries from Idaho and Huntington Beach, CA.  They live down the street from my house.
• A friend once told me how the way he lived during his missionary term overseas was pretty much the same as the way he lived when he was back home -- the only difference was that he would wake up every morning, reminded that he was in the country as a missionary.  Even though where I'm living has changed, how I'm living hasn't really changed.  I still struggle with and delight in the same things that I struggled with and delighted in before.  The only difference is that this country is so different from the States, that I can't help but be reminded every day that this is not my home. This has helped me to better understand what it means to "always be sober-minded" (2 Timothy 4:5).  I am constantly being reminded that there is a greater purpose to be done here.
• If you're a Christian, you're a missionary.  And the mission field is wherever you are.
• Something I struggled with since my first trip to PY in 2006 was my insecurity in speaking Spanish and sharing with the Paraguayans clearly...but God has proved over and over again that his power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9-10).  And that lofty speech and wisdom are not everything -- knowing Jesus Christ and him crucified, that's everything.  It would be a terrible shame if people came to know Christ by the eloquence of my words, rather than by real, saving faith in the power of God (1 Cor. 2:1-5).  
• God is faithful.  In the best of times and the worst of times, He is always faithful.

Some mid-year-and-half resolutions:

• Cut back on empanada consumption.  PY may not have a McDonald's on every block, but they do have empanada stands strategically located by bus stops and street corners.  Oh, the temptation...
• Continue building on relationships with my neighbors, students, and students' parents
• Recruit more jovenes to go EV-ing with me (not only to encourage & challenge them, but mostly for my personal safety haha)
• Blog/journal more
• Don't waste the next nine months.  Live boldly, humbly, and intentionally for the Gospel.

From the beginning, until now, until the end of my time in PY and forever, to God alone be the glory.