The Beauty of the Body

"No hay nadie como tú, sólo Cristo. Moriste por mi en la cruz. Viviré para alabar..."
"There is no one like you, Christ alone. You died for me on the cross. I will live to praise you."

Church today was marvelous. The people have such a passion for Christ and for being living examples of his love in the world today. They are unbelievable welcoming to us as international students even though we are only here for four months. They constantly say that we are is the town of God, the church of God, the people of God regardless of where we are from. They have people from all over the world in this church. This is the way heaven will be! I want to stay longer than just four months! :)

We went out to lunch at a Chinese restaurant with the youth. It was terrific! We got to practice Spanish for hours upon hours! My brain hurt so badly afterwards though. It is really difficult to try to think in another language. It wears me out! :)

Things are going quite well here. God is so faithful. I spent time in prayer prior to Friday's class, just trying to refocus on what is important. That class was by far the best one yet. I started off the class by telling the teacher that I didn't understand one of the grammatical topics; she, of course, explained it, and it went spendidly from there. :)

Yesterday, we visited the Alhambra which was so beautiful. It is a Moorish castle built by the Muslims hundreds of years ago. Despite its age, it is in beautiful condition, and it unbelievably detailed with beautiful tile walls and ceilings. Check out my pictures on Facebook if you want to take a peek at this historical masterpiece. (Sounds convincing, doesn't it?) Here's one pic just to wet your appetite:

Thanks for the prayers! He is faithful when we believe! Love and miss you all!

Culture Shock?

Shocking, isn't it? Unfortunate as it is, I think I have experienced a little culture shock these last few days. I think it was really a culmination of things: getting laughed at when I used Spanish incorrectly, getting scolded for going out for chocolate and churros after a big dinner, not having a community of believers here, missing my family, etc. All of these events escalated to the point of tears at the lunch table yesterday.

Originally, when I got here, I knew my Spanish wasn't perfect, but I thought I could use it well enough to communicate. However, once I got here and used my Spanish in class and learned what was correct and incorrect, my perfectionist side kicked in. I hate making mistakes. (I know, I know...major issue...need to get over it...gonna make them my whole life...haha). Suddenly, after having been laughed at for saying I had my throat taken out instead of my tonsils...oops!...I realized just how much I was butchering the language, and I didn't want to use it anymore! Besides, it was much easier to use English. You don't have to think so hard!

Additionally, my señora got really upset with me the other night because I told her that I was going for chocalate and churros after I had eaten a huge dinner. I found out that that is not the way it works in Spain. She explained to me for ten minutes or so in a raised tone and at a faster pace than usual that you eat that instead of dinner because it is so heavy. She said I should have told her I was doing that, and then I shouldn't have made dinner. Oops. I am a people pleaser, and I get really shaken up when I feel like I have disappointed someone especially authority. I wanted to cry.

Because I haven't had the Internet at my house, it has been very difficult to stay in contact with my family back home. We have been emailing somewhat, but they are short and definitely don't convey all that I want to tell them. To see lots of our other friends getting on Skype freely with their friends and family has been hard. I miss you mom and dad! :)

Again because of the Internet situation, I had a really hard time getting a hold of Cortney and Miguel, the missionaries here. However, we did randomly end up at the right church on Sunday due to its location near our house, and it was great to be a part of a community again. I really really want to get plugged in there soon. So far, they said that students are really returning until October, so it doesn't look like things will start until then. I need to be a part of a body here desperately.

All of these crazy circumstances culminated to the point of tears yesterday at lunch when my señora gave me two huge porkchops and half a plate full of green beans, and I couldn't finish eating it all. I told her I was full, and she said it was because I had gone out for chocolate and churros the night before. She said I had eaten way too much and that is why I still wasn't hungry. I proceeded to tell her that I thought it was because there was so much food on my plate. I told her that until that point I had been eating everything on plate because I thought it was rude not too. But, I said I was leaving every meal feeling sick because I had eaten so much. Of course, this was when the tears started to flow. She told me to stop crying because I look ugly when I cry (she was laughing when she said this...but, the Spaniards are blunt...haha). She said that I should have said something before that because she thought I just ate alot! :) She said she would start giving me less food. Yay! I said I was sorry, and she said it was okay because we just didn't know one another's customs. She gave me a hug, and then I went back to my room and slept. :)

Since the tears flowed yesterday, things seem to have gotten better. I still have a hard time talking in Spanish with people and in class because I don't want to make mistakes. I also still really want to get involved in our church. Please continue to pray for these things. I have been blown away in these past few weeks with how God answers prayer. We have such power when we have faith that He is able to supply our needs. Keep praying. I love and miss you all!

Everyday Life

First of all, I apologize for those of you who have been trying to follow what I am doing here in Spain through my blog. I don't have the Internet in my house. I have to pay to use the wi-fi at cafes which makes blogging somewhat difficult because it takes so much time. Anyway, I think I found a place with free wi-fi now, so hopefully it will be much easier!

Life in Spain is delightful. I was actually having a somewhat difficult time at first though. Most of my trips to other countries have been somehow tied to missions; however, this trip is obviously quite different. I told many of you that I had gotten in contact with some missionaries over here who said that they could hook me up with their church. Well, because of conflicts with schedules and general difficulty with using different modes of communication (i.e. not the Internet), I could not get a hold of them for the first week that I was here. I was really really missing my family and community back home. I felt very disconnected and spiritually like I was waning here. Luckily, two of the girls in my group live on a street where there is a church, so on Saturday we decided to just go there Sunday morning since we hadn't heard from the missionaries. So, we went. Lo and behold, it was the missionaries' church! Hooray! It was amazing! I have never been so filled with joy to be in the presence of other believers all worshiping Jehovah Jireh, the God Who Provides. :) We met the missionaries afterward, and they introduced us to Jota who is in charge of the youth activities. He told us he would get our emails and keep us informed about what is going on. He also said that they have about 140 students involved. They have services Saturday nights and Sunday morning and they eat meals together every week after both. Hallelujah! That is what I call communion. :) What a tremendous blessing this Sunday was for us. Before, I was feeling like these four months were
going to be long, but now I am sad that I am leaving in December! God is faithful. :)

General everyday life is great as well. We started classes last week. We are only in the intensive language course right now. This will last through the last week of September. It hasn't been to bad thus far. There are some things that are different grammatically here. They use the preterite perfect a heck of a lot more than we are used to in Latin American Spanish. They actually use it more than the indefinite preterite. That is taking some adjustment, but I'll figure it out at some point. I have actually been surprised with how much Spanish I have been able to understand. I still have a hard time producing language quickly though. I get caught up on the verb conjugations. :) Anyway, after this language intensive course, we have a week off during which we are going to Italy and France! So excited! We just booked our 5 flights yesterday, and it totalled under $180!!! Ridiculous! I can't wait...clearly. Anyway, I will be taking 5 Spanish classes after we get back from our trip. It shouldn't be too bad.

Home life is super fun. Our señora is so sweet and is such a wonderful cook! :) We do eat ALOT. But, I have tried to run at least a few times a week. We also walk miles a day to and from school, so hopefully it won't be too terrible. :) The Spanish schedule is the college student's dream. Spaniards don't wake up until 9, 10, or 11. They eat maybe some bread for breakfast, but have lunch around 2:30 (on the early side). They then take a siesta for about 2 hours partially because they are so stinkin' full and partially because it is so stinkin' hot! It is over or close to it 100 almost every day. It doesn't feel too bad; you just sweat alot. haha. Then they have dinner around 8:30 (again, on the early side), and perhaps they go out afterward. It's really a beautiful thing. Although I do feel like they days slip by, but all I did was eat and sleep. I need to figure out how to fix that! :)

Well, classes are going to start soon, so I have to get going. Thanks for reading and thinking of me while I am away. I really miss you all so much!

Un Día Perfecto

Today was a perfect day. This morning we caught the bus by our house to head to the bus station. From there we bought our tickets for Salobreña. After about an hour long bus ride, we arrived. Oh, where, did you ask? Oh, just the Mediterranean! Indescribable! I spent my day basking in the rays of the beautiful Mediterranean sun and swimming in its crystal clear waters. Our señora packed us some bocadillos and fruit for lunch. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend my first Saturday here. There were a few cultural differences (like the fact that many of the women were topless!), but it was certainly not enough to inhibit our wonderful day at the beach. Terrific. As we sat on the beach, we thought about how guilty we felt that our friends were back home doing homework. No good. L I also sat on the beach thinking about just how much of God’s creation I have never even seen. Today was just one small check on the list of the millions of places he has handcrafted. Brilliant. Today was a perfect day.

The Wonderful World of Spain

On a much lighter note than my last blog, I am currently studying abroad in Spain! The picture to the left was taken at the only Egyptian temple in Madrid. In the background is the Royal Palace and the Cathedral.

I flew out of the States on Wednesday and arrived here on Thursday afternoon just in time for siesta (nap time). :) We have spent the last few days just exploring Madrid. We had an orientation to our program yesterday which included a walking tour of the city. It was really awesome to hear the history of the city. We actually walked through the Today they sent us on a scavenger hunt around the city. We were able to use Spanish more often than just in restaurants, and we got to see more of Madrid that we otherwise would have.

The schedule here is going to take some getting used to. Nothing starts at night until like 9pm. 10pm is really the prime time for dinner. People usually go out to the bars (note: these are not like our bars; they have coffee, etc. and more of a lounge and chat atmosphere) around 12am and then to the discos (dance clubs) around 2am. Whew! Especially with the jet lag, I am pooped! They really don't get anything started though until like 10 or 11 am, so that helps.

Tomorrow we leave from here to take a train to the city we will actually be studying in. Thus begins the actual school part. We will have orientation at the center and take a proficiency test in order to determine which classes we will be taking. Hopefully that goes well. Little nervous. I have gotten to practice some though. It is kind of frustrating though because if you stumble in trying to use your Spanish, the natives automatically start speaking in English to you. Sometimes you just have to keep going in Spanish even though they are constantly responding in English. haha. I hear that the city I am studying in is not quite as bad though because it is smaller. Not as many people know English, so you are forced to use Spanish.

Well, that is all the update that is going to give for now, because I am missing siesta to write this. I need a nap!

God, Break My Heart

"God, break my heart for the things that break Yours."

As I look back at that prayer written at the beginning of the summer, I am blown away at just how He answered it in a far more radical way than I ever dreamed. This prayer and God's answer have changed my whole world view, and how I must live. When my heart is aligned with His, my actions are too. God's heart is about reconciling all things whether things in heaven or things on earth to Himself (Col. 1). This is what my heart must be about. Very simply, this means that I must live redemptively. My major in college must redeem all things to God. My career after college must redeem all things to God. My conversations with all people must redeem all things to God. My discipline of my children (when/if I have them...haha) must redeem all things to God. Wow. That changes things.

Beyond seeing that aspect of God's heart, my heart was truly broken by His heart for the poor and the oppressed. I have always known that Jesus cared for the poor, but I didn't realize just how close they are to His heart and just how much it pains and angers him to see us disregard them. I cannot believe how much of the Bible is about loving the poor, the orphans, the widows, the strangers in a foreign land, the wanderers, etc.

Isaiah has so many verses in which God blasts the Israelites for their lack of concern for the poor. Specifically, Isaiah 58 really convicted me this summer. Essentially, the Israelites claim they are following God's laws of fasting, and they complain that God is not listening to their cries even though they are obeying him. But, God explains the fasting that he truly desires which is "to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke, to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter. When you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood." The Gospels are absolutely filled with accounts of Jesus hanging out the "least of these," but condemning the Pharisees for their pious hypocrisy and refusal to associate with people of low position. This summer we also looked at Luke 4 in which Jesus stands in the synagogue and opens to Isaiah 61 and reads from the scroll proclaiming that the Lord has anointed him "to preach good news to the poor...to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (See Lev. 25) Wow! If that is Christ's mission statement, how much more should that be ours if we claim to be his followers? And these two Scriptures don't even scratch the surface of how much the Lord desires His people to live out His love for the poor and the oppressed.

I saw just a glimpse of just how much our consumerism and selfishness and pride and entitlement and jealousy hurt God. Jesus said that they will know we are Christians by our love (John 13:35), but I have not had a love that is any different. I haven't had a love that does "nothing out of selfish amibition or vain conceit, but in humility considers others better than myself" (Phil. 2). I haven't had a love that sees the least of these brothers of mine and feeds them, clothes them, or visits them in prison. I haven't had a love that crosses the cultural and social boundaries of race and status like Jesus did with the woman at the well. I haven't had a love that chooses to drive a run-down car or wear old clothes in order to meet the needs of others. I haven't had a love that sells everything and gives to the poor (Luke 12:33). I haven't had a love that never judges or thinks evil thoughts of any child of His. I haven't had a love that obeys Jesus commands at all.

In fact, I have been more like "my sister Sodom" which was destroyed by fire in the Old Testament because "she and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me" (Ezekiel 16:49-50). I have been so consumed with what I have and with the necessity of getting my own needs met that I have not even turned to see if my neighbor's needs have been met. But, isn't that the second greatest command? To love my neighbor as myself? And didn't Jesus say not to worry about what I will eat or drink, but to seek first the kingdom and all these things will be added? Do I really believe that? Because I haven't lived like it.

But, now that I know the good I ought to do, I must do it. Christ calls me to the narrow way, and I must follow. He calls me to take up my cross daily and to die to my own desires. That is where life is more abundant. That is where I will receive 100 times more in this present life and in the life to come (Mark 10:30).

He has called. I can do nothing but follow. I am but a humble servant.

Last Mission Indy Week

Whew! The last week of Mission Indy...again...where to begin???

This fourth week was at Englewood Christian Church on the near east side of Indianapolis. We interns actually stayed at the mission house next door instead of at the church with the groups. This was the same place that we had stayed during our first week in Indy. It was pretty awesome to get to finish where we started. You know us English majors...we like it when things come back full circle. Gives us a sense of security and completion. I guess the non-postmodern ones like that anyway...haha. Okay, enough about English.

We had groups during this week from Knoxville, TN, Florissant, MO, Clinton, IN, and one other city in Indiana that I can't remember...oops. I can remember the group just not their town. Anyway, I was with First United Methodist Church from Clinton, IN. They were great. We worked on a member of Englewood's home just a few blocks from the church. This had been a previous Mission Indy house, but had not gotten finished the year before. We arrived thinking that we really only had to do some touch ups on soffit and then the back of the house, but soon realized that the group from last year had some how neglected to prime anything which meant that all the paint was peeling off. Ahh!!! What a nightmare! We had to rescrape, reprime, and repaint over the whole house! We had intended to only be there for 2 days and then move onto a different project, but we ended up staying the whole week and still having more to be done. Lesson learned. Preparation is 70% of painting. Even though it is a pain, I would much rather do it than come back a year later only to find that it all needs to be rescraped and repainted.

One blessing of the week was that the leader of the youth group, Ed, had a great deal of carpentry experience. He was able to do far more on the house than we ever thought possible. He replaced an entire wall from the inside to the out including putting up new siding on the north side of the house. He also replaced boards on the bottom of the east side of the house which were completely rotted. This was a great help to Ron who otherwise would have had to do that himself.

The week was great. The kids were great workers most of the time...haha...and it was a delight to get to work along side them and get to hear what they were learning. I also got to spend a lot of time with the 4 year old neighbor Ben. So precious! He rode on my shoulders and helped me facilitate the worksite. :)

God worked in huge ways throughout the summer. So many, that I am totally unaware of as well. He had things prepared for use before we even knew that we needed them. My next blog will be about some of the major things that God taught me throughout the summer. The challenge will definitely be making it short enought that people will actually read it! haha.