Grace and Ecuador

I just got back from a 2 week trip to the amazing little South American country of Ecuador.  The goal was to go there and climb mountains and get photos of the high Sierra, but I came back with much, much more.  The people of Ecuador are amazing, and the world they live in is so much more humble then ours, in every way.  While we Americans stand in mobs screaming like children that our taxes are too high and clutch desperately to our glut's of material wealth like the mythical dragon hoards over it's treasure, the people of Ecuador seemed to work together to overcome the everyday obstacle of life in a country with so much less then we have.  

While there, I witnessed great beauty.  Of course there was beauty in the mountains and the great churches, but the beauty I noticed most was the beauty and unimaginable grace of the Ecuadorian people.  I saw people who had little, give to those who had even less, and I saw those who had the least act with absolutely kindness, while trying to give something beautiful to the world in the form of juggling, or playing a small wooden flute on a sidewalk during the Sunday market.  I watched parents of small children give coins to their children, instructing them to give to the needy on the streets, of which there were many.  

It seems to me that we Americans could learn an awful lot to learn true grace from the small country that straddles the hemispheres...

I took a whole lot of photos while I was there, and I will be posting them over time.  Unfortunately, DA was washing some of my colors out, so I haven't posted new photos in a while, but hopefully that issue is resolved.  Have a happy New Year!