I don´t have time to write a legit post

so I will just give one picture, and the link to more:



http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2070785&id=63804488&l=3c415c9c6e

Man, it feels good to be a slave

Lately I've been thinking quite a bit about the difference between being a slave to sin, or a slave to God. It's interesting that those are the only two options: "Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?... But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:16, 22-23, ESV). Along the lines of belonging to God, i.e. being His slave, I thought I'd share the lyrics to a great old song that I just remembered and sang.

Now I Belong to Jesus

Jesus my Lord will love me forever/
From Him no power of evil can sever/
He gave his life to ransom my soul/
Now I belong to Him

Now I belong to Jesus/
Jesus belongs to me/
Not for the years of time alone/
But for eternity

Once I was lost in sin's degradation/
Jesus came down to bring me salvation/
Lifted me up from sorrow and shame/
Now I belong to Him

Now I belong to Jesus/
Jesus belongs to me/
Not for the years of time alone/
But for eternity

Joy floods my soul, for Jesus has saved me/
Freed me from sin that long had enslaved me/
His precious blood He gave to redeem/
Now I belong to Him

Now I belong to Jesus/
Jesus belongs to me/
Not for the years of time alone/
But for eternity

the world is beautiful

Today I had a lot of free time, which I spent roaming around Santiago. Here are some of the flowers I had the privilege of seeing on my trek:

Finally legal

Yesterday I spent 4 1/2 hours in the Office of Foreign and Migratory Affairs waiting to get my visa. It was rather boring, fome, to be sure, but in the end it all worked out. I got to talk with a Colombian dude who is here to study economics, as well as a New Zealander here working to optimize baggage handling at the airport (as he said, if I lose my luggage I can blame him). It was a little embarrassing when I started talking with him and asked if he was Ireland because of his accent. Oops. I also received my visa, which means that I can finally legally study here. This is a good thing not only because I think it might be technically illegal to study on a tourist visa, but also because my tourist visa had already expired. I was and am thanking God for working everything out so nicely. All right, I´m five minutes late to class, so I´d better book it. :D