Live life to the full

I have started this blog entry many times but can’t seem to write it well. There is a lot in my head that I want to share. The last few weeks have been full of ups and downs. I have tried to write about it but can’t seem to do it well, sorry.




Last week I felt really poorly. I had no energy and spent a lot of time sleeping. It gave me loads of thinking time.  I thought a lot about England and my life there. I felt homesick.  I think it was the first proper “homesickness”. It was the first time I just wanted to go home. I also thought about all the things I needed to do here; the resources I needed to make for the school, the professional development that I needed to record that was well overdue and I had no energy or concentration to do it. I then felt guilty for being lazy.

I felt I should be doing more, something useful with my time. I wondered if people back home would be expecting me to be doing more. Do they want to see that I have used every day and minute to helping the children in Ecuador? Could I take a few days off to rest? Could I spend some more time exploring this beautiful Country?



I have a friend here who told me that you should always aim to complete just one thing on an average Ecuadorian day. Anything else is a bonus. This friend has now recently got married and moved to another Country. Several of my other English friends are also packing up and returning back to England. I have been thinking a lot about home and how excited I am to see my friends and family.


However, I still have 72 days left in this wonderful Country. I did not want to waste the rest of my time here. After feeling loads better and having more energy, I spent a few days in Baños. 

Baños at sunset

It is a small town set amongst the mountains and volcanos. We did not plan to go there. We wanted to go on a train through the mountains. However, due to extreme rain it was closed. We then thought about the beach but after a small tremor  (click here for more information) and tsunami risk, we headed to Baños instead.

Cafe del cielo- The cafe in the sky. From here we saw a view over the whole of Baños

It was a great few days of exploring, rafting, relaxing in the thermal baths, and being blessed and refreshed.  Recently I think I have learnt that I need to live life to the full. The bible tells us that the whole purpose of Jesus coming to Earth, dying and rising again was so that we can have a life, a life in all its fullness. The charity I am working with is called “vida en abudancia”, “Life is abundance”. It is a constant reminder that Jesus came to give us an abundant life, not a boring one.


Tungurahua Volcano





Tungurahua Volcano explosion in 2011

My life is so different here; risks of earth tremors, volcanic erruptions, storms and heavy rain etc. Last night we had such a big storm. The thunder and lightening seemed to go on through the night. The roads became rivers and it was very dangerous to drive. It made me realise how fragile life is. It is there to be enjoyed, each day. We are given a life, to be lived in all its fullness.    

John 10 v 10:

New living translation: My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

The message: I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

King James version: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

The bus we travelled on to the river- no doors, windows, seatbelts or lights

Broken glass and barbed wire on the walls- an everyday sight

The volcanic ash on the road