Homecoming

There's no place like home! There's no place like home!

Finally, I made the long 16 hour trek home. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to have that trip behind me. My dad and brother flew in Tuesday to help me pack and drive home. I think my dad had a heart attack when he saw everything that had to go in my little 5x8 U-haul trailer.

I confess I haven't had much time to think about the repercussions involved in this move. I'm not very good at saying goodbye. Some friendships are just too precious to dismiss with a simple goodbye. As I think about my time in VA, I think of all of the many beautiful friendships that I've experienced. I love people. I love talking, laughing, sharing, crying, and living with people. Our lives were meant to be filled with meaningful relationships. Our lives were meant to be shared. A wise Father once said, "It is not good for man to be alone." As an independent woman, I've never truly understood those words. They imply a need within the heart of man that was created to be filled. But our culture does not allow for an ideology in which dependent, healthy relationships exist. How then are we to follow this fatherly wisdom when we work so hard to ignore it?

During my time in VA, I had the privilege of acquiring a most blessed friendship. I learned more from this dear man in a year than I could have ever expected. Our time together was never stressful or scheduled. We simply enjoyed one another's company. There are hardly words to express how dear this friend is to me. During our last days together, we shared a conversation about the necessity of community and dependence upon one another. One of the greatest challenges in needing one another is recognizing those needs. And although we may recognize that we truly do need people, finding those worthy of our trust remains, perhaps, the most difficult task of all. I realized that I needed this friendship and that it needed me. It is a beautiful thing to find a healthy and mutual need for one another. I thank God for the wisdom and authenticity that he and his wife have shown me. Tears well within my eyes each time I think of the sweetness of our time together. I long for the day when we can all sit before the throne, worshipping our King together forever. I do love you my dearest friend.

El Roi, you know my thoughts from afar. You see my deepest desires and draw near to my side. You know how I need you and you know how to perfectly nourish my thirsty soul. Is there anyone who is able to care for me as you do, my Abba? Let him stand. There is no one besides you.

The Sweeter Song

Saturday, my friends and I gathered together for what will most likely be the last time we are all together. It was bittersweet. I was pleasantly surprised to see my roommate and her new husband there. Lots of good food+ Lots of wonderful people= Great evening!

Side note: my keys will no longer electronically open my car but instead I must use the key to manually unlock the door and every time I do my stupid car alarm goes off. Thought you might enjoy that tidbit.

Sunday was my last day at Calvary and my last day to sing on the worship team. I have learned more than I ever thought I would singing with them. There is something powerful about singing with many voices. I learned that there can be many parts in a song and that you must train your ear to hear them. I also learned that singing with more than one person requires you to listen while you sing to the other persons voice in order to blend the voices properly. Life is very much like singing together. We all have different voices and parts to sing. Each of us contributes something beautiful to the the song but we must listen as we sing so that our voices do not overpower one another's. I hope that you will find your voice and allow yourself to hear the sweeter song today.

Though they may be few...

On Tuesday, I gave my final home group presentation. I have always enjoyed speaking publicly to people but never consistently practiced. There were not many at the home group but summer is always a difficult time. I really enjoyed the closeness that we shared while I was with them. We began with some older praise hymns and ended by sharing homemade popped corn and cheez balls. That's what summer's are made of, right?

It was a great opportunity not only to share my vision for Espana but also to get to know people from Calvary that I had seen but never really gotten to know. I am continually amazed at the kinds of people that the Creator makes and the ways he characterizes himself through our feeble personalities and dispositions. I was happy to be with them and priviledged to experience another opportunity to share his vision.

Pray that I will take the time to hear his vision so that I may know the methods by which he is forming it. I spoke with a business man recently who candidly shared that he has difficulty hearing the words of our Father. I later thought about how we are all so prone to wander and turn a deaf ear. Suddenly, we seem to realize that we no longer hear the sweet whispers of the tender Lover calling us to His side. Maybe we should all schedule "walks" with God.

My dear friends have decided to throw me a "fiesta" fundraiser before I make my journey home. If any of you would like to come it will be Saturday, July 23 at 6:30pm. Comment or use Facebook for directions as I do not want to post the address on the web. There will be African cuisine...I suppose that is a little odd for a Spanish Fiesta but oh well :-) It is delicious food. I hope you can come.

Insatiable Desire

Time is flying by! In a little under two weeks I will be moving back home. I can hardly believe my time here is finished. It seems like only yesterday that I began my journey here... I had much time for reflection over the weekend. My roommate and her fiance' were married in the beautiful Elizabethan Gardens on Roanoke Island in North Carolina.

 

It was a beautiful ceremony and naturally, the bride was breathtakingly beautiful. She glowed just as she should. As I surveyed the scene, I couldn't help but feel both joy and sorrow. I had watched the stresses of wedding planning throughout the year and knew they would all be glad at their culmination but sad to see this time of gaiety end. I watched as parents made their hearts bid them farewell as they began this new journey of their lives together. Families were chatting and merriment was in abundance. But even now, the transition weighs heavy on us all. Of course, transition is just another way of making change sound more appealing. But it is change. That element of our lives that we wish to avoid and yet somehow manage to face headlong at every bend in the road. 

Change can excite our imaginations, entice our sense of adventure, and captivate our longing hearts. Change is that strange creature that prevents stagnation and compels us to search deep within our beings for something we believe does not exist. I love change. I love it because it presents me with a challenge that I know must be overcome. For if I do not overcome it, then I will never know what lies beyond the challenge. And it is what lies beyond that we are all desperate too see. I know that the One who made me has intricately designed each of the changes that he places in my life to produce something in me necessary for completely the next task and necessary for knowing him more. It is this knowing him more that I am so hungry for. And aren't we all? Do we not all long for more? Are any of us ever satisfied? I know I am not. That is what I love about Him. He creates a being in which there is an insatiable desire for more to compliment the greatest conceivable being that can both satisfy and create further desire with a mere breath. What a being we serve!

His eyes are never far from me...not ever. While caught in the air of wedded bliss, I met a charming couple. As we got to know one another throughout the week, El Shaddai did something wonderful. I found myself so encouraged by His movement in their lives and the powerful work of his hand. I was just preparing to leave when they shared that they wanted to support me while in Spain. It certainly was a surprise to me. I found myself thinking all the more, "I know nothing of the One I serve."

Thank you, Father for pursuing me and lovingly watching me from afar...and near.

Bienvenidos!

Well, I have finally fallen into the world of blogging. So much has been happening with the Spain trip that I thought I would keep a blog to share what is going on and continue while I am in Spain.

At the end of June I went to candidate orientation with Greater Europe Mission at their home base in Monument, CO. The candidates came from all over the country and spent a week getting to know one another and the ins and outs of Europe. Some were going to Germany, Romania, and Great Britain for different lengths of time. I was so encouraged by their enthusiasm and willingness to follow God's leading. We were all exhausted by the week's end but thankful for our time together for one purpose.

GEM explained that Europe was a fertile ground for planting seeds of hope through Jesus because it contained "Every Nation in One Location." Because of the influx of immigrants coming to Europe, there are peoples from every nation in the world. Spain's port city of Valencia see's over 53 million tourists every year- not to mention the Muslim immigrants coming from North Africa and Asia.

After candidate orientation, I returned to Virginia with many valuable tools for my time in Valencia. Once I was appointed to serve with the mission, I began sharing what I learned about Europe.

Last night was the first of many presentations I gave about Spain and its desperate need for the Light of the world. They were all as shocked as I was when I found that less than 2% of Europeans follow the Savior.
It was good to be with them and tell them about what the Father is doing.

I will speak to another group on the 19th. Speak to the Father on my behalf and ask that he go before me and prepare their hearts. I do not know what he is doing but he is at work. I want him to do something that is so big that is destined to fail without him.

Anita (missionary in Spain that I will be working with) always signs her letters to me with, "un abrazo muy fuerte" or a powerful embrace- so I will leave you with un abrazo muy fuerte too.