Often times for the sake of team bonding and debriefing, one common activity is ¨highs and lows.¨It´s where you share the best and the worst. So here are my highs and lows for the day:
For my high, tomorrow I get to go with two of my friends to a city about an hour outside of Madrid called Toledo. It is a small historic village from what I´ve been told. Picture coblestone streets, charming old buildings, and a historic site wherever the eye goes. Granted this is all based off of what I´ve heard. There is even a monastary that has home made pasteries, yum! I´m definitely looking forward to taking a day vacation and doing some exploring and touring. Photos soon to come!
Now for the low. It´s pretty bad. One of the things that was holding me back from coming to Spain was the fact that I would be missing my youngest brother´s high school graduation. My youngest brother is more than just someone that I grew up with and am obligated to love. No, truely he is one of my best friends. We have a sweet friendship that I treasure so much. How I miss him. Well yesterday was his graduation and the plan was to watch it online. Here is the low: I slept through my alarm to wake up at 4:00 am to watch it. Yes I missed it and was so disappointed. Ignacio´s temper tantrum first thing in the morning didn´t help much with my emotional break down. Whew, what a morning. But in that moment of being so homesick and disappointed I found myself learning in a new way what it means to cling to Jesus.
I can take comfort in knowing that Jesus knows what it´s like to be homesick and that He can comfort me. This may sound elementary, but it is so reassuring that I don´t follow a way of faith that challenges me to set aside any aspect of who I am. I serve a God who sees and knows my needs and by the work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit intercedes.
I´m reading a book called ¨Coffee Shop Conversations.¨It´s been really good, especially for my time in Spain. Basically it´s a guide of how to see the world as Jesus did, and love other people in a manner that leads to worship. It´s been challenging and pruning.
More to come, hopefully with photos too!
