Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns."

I'm essentially half way through my study abroad experience. I've been here for over 10 weeks now (which have seemed to go incredibly fast!) and have just under 11 to go. I guess this calls for some reflections?

So far I've been really blessed with a great study abroad experience. I've been able to travel a fair amount, try a lot of new things, and learn a ton. I can actually notice a difference in my spanish from when I first got here, and feel much more comfortable in a group of Chileans - and understand nearly everything being said. I've gotten to see a lot of Chilean culture, and share some of my favorite (and not so favorite, but nonetheless intriguing) parts of culture in the US. And I've made some really great friends, all of whom I can't wait to continue to spend time with during the rest of my time here. I find myself thinking nearly every day how blessed I feel to be here, and to be accepted and welcomed by so many great people. On top of that, I've been able to grow as I've been forced to make choices about my lifestyle here and have had the chance to share my faith, and a part of the gospel with some of my friends. All of this leaves me with a great feeling of peace and contentment. Obviously, there are times when I miss my friends and family deeply, but for the most part, I feel confident that this is where I should be, and because of that I've been able to truly enjoy and aprovechar (one of my favorite spanish words, it means to make the most of) my time here.

Aprovechar. It's an interesting concept, and something that I hope I can take back with me to the US. Let me explain. As I'm sitting here writing this blog post, I'm realizing how I've purposefully tried to take advantage of my time here, in a lot of the typical "study abroad" ways - I've been traveling, trying new activies, meeting new friends, attempting talk in a different language even though I feel ridiculous because I make mistakes and can't think of words, etc... - but I've been also taking advantage of things that I didn't necessarily plan on, but have just kind of happened. I've been enjoying more naps, and walks through the park, I've taken time to relax and spend more than 10 minutes eating a meal as I rush to my next activity, I've spent more time doing devotions and have talked about my faith and why it's important to me. Anyways, the point is, I'm doing most of these things because I realize that my time here is limited, that I only have X number of weeks in Chile and I "need to make the most of it!". But what just hit me today, is that I should have this same attitude in the US, or wherever I am, because my time there is limited too. And, I can truly say that because I've been purposefully trying to do these things, I've felt so much more at peace here. I can't help but smile as I walk 20 minutes to class, enjoying the rain or the sunshine and listening to whatever comes next on my ipod.

I hope that makes sense. and that you all are busy taking advantage of what's happening right now in your life. Because we don't need to worry about what comes next, we simply need to live in today, in this once in a lifetime moment.