Waking the Dead

I can´t believe it´s already December! Christmas is coming! Christmas is coming!

This weekend, Anita and I went to Barcelona (thank God we did not get pick-pocketed!) to visit the city before I visited our director in Santa Coloma, Spain. We toured the city and enjoyed some cooler weather as we walked through the street markets. There were Christmas trees, nativities, holiday gifts and decorations. The architecture was amazing as well. We saw the famous Sagrada Familia, a cathedral designed by Gaudi to depict the life of Christ through his birth, life, death, and resurrection. The cathedral has been under construction for over 100 years! How sad to invest so much time, money, and work in something that means absolutely nothing. The peoples hearts remain unmoved and untouched by this man´s brief life here on earth. I couldn´t help but think about my own life and all of the fruitless endeavors I labor tirelessly to complete. How much of what I am investing my time in means anything at all with eternity in view?

While visiting the famous cathedral, we stopped to see some artwork from an artist selling paintings of scenes in Barcelona. They were beautiful and reasonably priced so I bought some. He was very kind and allowed us to talk to him about a relationship with Jesus. He even allowed us to take a picture to remember him by. He nodded vigorously that he understood that a relationship with Jesus was not the same as being a good, religious person but as always, it is difficult to know for sure.

After our stay in Barcelona, I took the train further north to visit Lauren and Terri (directors of Spain at GEM and ministering in Santa Coloma, Spain). It was nice to see countryside and houses again. On Saturday we all went to France for the day to have some lunch and visit the little town across the boarder. Can you imagine being able to say,¨"Let´s go to France for lunch today"? I think I could do that. The food was delicious and the people were very friendly. We walked around, stopping in some of the shops and enjoying the beautiful day.

Sunday, we visited with their friends David and Raquel who grew up as Protestants in Catalonia. It was interesting talking to them and hearing their opinions of the hearts of the people and their openness to the Gospel. To be quite honest it was probably the most depressing, frightening thing I've ever heard. He explained that religion has been such a part of Spanish history that the peoples hearts have become calloused. Many of the people are so tired of religion because those who profess to be Christians only live a lie. Those representing the believers of the church have only continually used religion as a means of achieving power, money and political gain. I must admit that if my country were like that then maybe I wouldn't want anything to do with God either. I suppose there are many instances where this is true in American culture but I don't think I ever saw it in this way before.

Maybe it frustrated me the most because it presented me with a challenge that I deemed impossible to conquer- I hate those! But I suppose this is the best recipe for God to truly get the glory. I have found that it is when I am left with nothing else that I seem to truly find the Lord. When I have nothing left to reach for- I can reach for him. Sadly, it is in my nature to reach for everything else first and then when I have found nothing to hold onto- I reach for him. Isn't that pathetic? I know it would be easy to say that we all do that but it doesn't make it any more of an excuse or any less pathetic. Do you ever just get tired of living? Don't get me wrong- I love life but sometimes it just gets old. This world is so disappointing, so fruitless, and so full of death. As humans we live trapped inside these fleshly bodies that constantly war against us and yet have no means of truly escaping until death. I realize it isn't popular to talk about subjects so depressing but I don't really think that people think enough about the depraved state of mankind. Because if we truly thought about where we really were...we might begin to understand what a gift our salvation really is. If there is no depravity, no desperation, no hopelessness or loss- then the blood of Jesus is no longer something precious but something of a mockery. But it isn't a mockery at all...it is so sweet. It's the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me...All that being said I didn't realize all of this until I saw it through someone elses life. It's funny how when your perspective changes, you see things much more clearly.

Anita and Chris were sick this week so it was an opportunity to rest and relax. This week there were two holidays in Spain. Tuesday was the Constitution day and Thursday was the Assumption of Mary. I cannot begin to express the differences between Catholicism in America and Catholicism in Europe. I wish that all believers could visit this continent so that they could understand why so many people want nothing to do with God or any religious institution. Last week, when I was at the language exchange, I talked with Carlos about the existence of God. Remember that Carlos does not believe in God or in his existence. He wondered how God could allow humans to make mistakes or be tempted. So I presented an analogy to him. "Pretend that there is a girl that you love and want to marry. She is commanded or made to love you. Now, do you want to marry her?" He replied that he did not want to marry her and when asked why he said that if she was made to love him then it would not really be love. How interesting... God feels the same way. Why would he want to create something that was made to love him? If we had the choice to choose to obey him to convey that we loved him then he would know that we truly loved him. Unfortunately, Carlos argued that it wasn't the same...how sad. I wish people could see how real the Lord is and how much we truly are a reflection of who he is. Please continue to pray that this young man's eyes would be opened to a life he has never known before...a life set ablaze with freedom and passion for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today, we celebrated Anita's, Hank's, and my birthday. Since we all have birthday so close together we decided to celebrate together. It was a wonderful gift and I loved spending with people I love so dearly. Anita made a carrot cake for all of us- candles and all! Unfortunately, I cannot post picture of Hank and his family who were there with us for their protection. This is a picture of Anita and I with our cake and the blue roses I bought her- she loves blue. I wish you all could have been there but somehow I don't think it would have meant as much to you as it did to me. It really is the simple things in life that bring so much joy. Thank you, Lord for the beauty of friendship and fellowship that can only be truly known and experienced when we share the gift of your son.