Beautiful Cotopaxi, a Volcano that we see from Quito.  It is covered in snow year-round.
The views from this city can be breathtaking.  I often think of the verse in the Psalms, that says, "I lift my eyes to the hills from whence comes my help, my help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth."  Surrounded by majestic, snow-capped volcanoes the reality and nature of this truth rings true in a different way.  The God who placed these mountains and made such views, is the one who is helping little me!  Wow!  On Saturday I was on a skype call with our daughter Natalie, and she was missing home, which for her is Quito.  She was longing to see "her vistas" the mountains and far-off hills surrounding Quito.  So I walked from window to window in our apartment and showed her the views.  Ofcourse, this is not the house we lived in while we lived in Quito, but the views are familiar and similar enough that Natalie got her fix, and was happy. 
These are dear friends who were here two years ago, now only Sandi is still here.  Janice is in Kansas city, Gina in San Juan Capistrano, Rheanna in Dana Point, and Wendy in Pleasant Hill.  Now I am back and I get to see Sandi, but all the others just are memories that I see around every corner, in coffee shops, and the grocery store, as I walk the park. I love these women, and am so thankful for them.

I have been pondering so much how a place that can be so much the same, can be so radically changed all at the same time.  Anyone who has ever "returned" some place after being gone for a while will understand what this means.  Nothing stays the same, but everything is similar.  The landmarks are there, but people have come and gone, and people really make a place.  So many new faces, in old places, that when I run into an "old" face (meaning one from our time here) there is a surge of joy and a moment of "coming home" but it is fleeting too.  People change as well.  So really there is never a way to go back, to return, it is more like being on the adventure of encountering new, adjusting, transitioning, and being open to the moment, the now!  My prayer for today is, Lord give me grace to flex and change, grow myself, and accept others as they grow, and help me live in the moment that you have given me now, here, today.  Amen.