It just hit home

Well friends, or myself who is the only one who really reads this, the fact that I am leaving in 6 days just hit home. I was sitting outside at Bar Spinnaker's with a San Miguel in my hand and looking out at the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. What a sight indeed. Today was my final Monday here which meant that it was my last buffet at Spinnaker (the curry chicken is out of this world). I almost cried. Almost. Ha I think this week is going to be a lot harder than I have been thinking. Wednesday is our "surprise" going away party and I'm sure that night will be full of tears. Plus Friday when I have to leave my kiddies :(
Today was hilarious though. We walked into class and only 4 kids were there. Yesterday was a big day for the 3rd graders. All but 3 or 4 of them celebrated first Communion yesterday and apparently they were so exhausted from their parties that they could not make it to school. These kids made bank though - 2 of the 4 kids at school today had Communion and they are now 600-800 euros richer. Ridiculous. It makes sense though that first Communion is a big deal. Confirmation is big too (like in Episcopal circles) but Communion is huge (not as big a deal in Episcopal circles - I do not understand why). So we chatted with them for 45 minutes about their weekend and then we all got on computers. The kids were so cute and excited to get to play computer games for so long! I did something pretty cool online - I decided to start a family tree and found my Kenion ancestry back to the man I think was the first settler of our family over here. Walter Davis was his name from Charles County, MD. He's not the Kenion name (which was once Kenyon and Kinnion) but he is definitely my ancestor. My dad's parents both have documented ancestries so hopefully when I get home, I will be able to get in touch with those people and see what there is in our history! Elam (my mom's mom) is a bit harder. But we'll see what I can find!
Let's see - funny things. Dave (owner of Bar Spinnaker) has a new electric fly swatter. He waved it over tables last night and you could hear it zapping little flies and actually see a bright flash whenever they got struck. It was hilarious how much he enjoyed it. The puppies today were cute as ever - still need to figure out how I am going to fit Ellie into my suitcase. She is adorable.
Now it is officially less than one week that I have here. I will never get tired of seeing our view of Aguadulce and Almeria across the sea, but alas the time is coming to an end. Tomorrow is my last day at the high school. Hopefully the tears will not begin tomorrow - I'm thinking they will.

A hike with a view

Yesterday, Stephen and I joined Guillermo, Pepe and Maite for a hike up into the mountains near Aguadulce. We finally saw mountain goats (!) and a bunny! Up at the top, we could see the entire coast of our towns and even the sea of greenhouses. It was beautiful and the first moment where leaving actually hit me. I live in a beautiful place. Beach on one side, mountains with hiking trails on the other.
After the hike, we all met at an Argentine cafe for tapas and I had a delicious lomo with chimichurri sauce - yum! Little Guillermo was there and kept throwing his little toy at the glasses on the table haha In other food news, today Asun came back and brought treats from Zamora - roquilletas del angel (angel halos) which were delicious little mini rings of flour and almonds. Mmm. We ate them while watching jota dancing, the traditional dance of her town.
Yesterday afternoon at school we were talking to the 6th grade about music. We asked them what their favorite type of music was and why they liked it. I thought about mine, country obviously, and came up with a few reasons:
1. it matches the pace of my life - i prefer the slow and observant lifestyle haha
2. no better choice than a good country song with the windows down during the summer
3. good songs to belt out to
4. songs about things that are important to me
5. reminds me of home
6. makes me think of farms - i love farms

Tomorrow I am headed to school - only 6 more days of working WOW - and am translating "We Go Together" for Amador. He wants his kids to learn the lyrics (half of which are made up) and a dance for their end of the year party in June. Nine days until my family is flying towards me :)

This just in...

Sarah just gave me one of the Dr. Pepper icy pops her Mom sent and it tastes like an ICEE! Delicious :) And incredibly refreshing on our warm Spanish afternoon!

A few days here and there

It's been a good few days recently. Today at school, we talked with the 5th grade for the entire hour about Harry Potter. It made me so happy! I showed Yolanda the puppet pals, of course, and the kids were nuts with all of the info they could remember! They started spouting out spells and they even said the name of he-who-must-not-be-named. It's pathetic how that makes me cringe. But it does.
Yesterday was an interesting day at the high school. The time actually flew by because I was doing work the whole time. I didn't have class with the kids, silent YES, because they were on a field trip. I started doing typing work for Carmen and had class in the cafeteria with Maria Angustias and just listened to music/typed all day. PS Jordin Spark's "Battlefield" is hot stuff.
Last night I watched the finale of One Tree Hill. It was a fantastic episode. I had given up on said show earlier because it had quasi turned to crap but that episode was a wonderful ending to a season, and possibly my viewing career.
Also yesterday, I started a devotional about leadership that should get finished right as I leave Roquetas. I'm excited to dig into it with upcoming YL leadership stuff and yesterday's lesson was cool.
To speak of cool, though, would be to speak of Monday afternoon when John Piper shook my soul with two of his sermons. The first was on Jesus being raised like Moses raised the snake on the staff. It was so cool to once again see the OT connecting with the NT and it got me fired up. Such an AWESOME message. The next one was about the recession. So necessary to hear people. In recent weeks I have become more and more aware of the sad state of our world and how easy it is for people to ignore others. If we love Christ, that is not what we are about. We are to bring light to the dark, to bring love to the lost, to give to the needy, etc. This sermon was baller status. It reminded me a lot of the Gandhi quote - Be the change you want to see in the world. I know I am sick and tired of reading about parents killing their children, sexual abuse, greed of corporate executives, hysteria over the swine flu that has killed 10000 people TOTAL but ignorance to AIDS which kills 6000 people EVERY DAY, etc. I'm saddened by how many people continue to turn away from love and turn to this world that is full of hurt and disappointment.
Oh my little soap-box blog. Gotta eat and rest up for a long hike this afternoon - possibly the last little prof hang-out we'll have. Crazy that I only have a week left of teaching. It still hasn't hit me. Probably a good thing. Bring on the fam!!

Cabo de Gata

Yesterday Sarah and I went to Cabo de Gata with one of the 2nd grade teachers from her school. She is hilarious! We drove over to the natural park, about an hour away from Roquetas, and headed to Playa de los Genoveses. It's a pretty secluded beach with beautifully clear water and palm trees :) We laid out for a few hours and then drove a few minutes to check out Playa de Monsul. The sand there was black, oh yes there was real sand at these beaches and not the rocky type of Roquetas, and Monsul was just a unique beach. There were rocks and cliffs surrounding it and people were camped out in the shade of them cooking BBQs and sitting out. There were tons of people there and it looked like a cool place to chill. Unfortunately, we were illegally parked so we just took some pics and left. Also, we were pretty hungry, so we headed into San Jose to a pizzeria. Man was that food good! I got a Hawaiian calzone that was stellar. And like true Italians, we were given complimentary limoncello before we headed off.
After 7.5 months of living here and hearing about how beautiful Cabo de Gata is (they filmed part of the latest Indiana Jones there!), I am happy to say that I finally went! It was a wonderful, relaxing day.
Today, I listened to Salem Chapel's sermon from last week on Romans 12 and it was incredible. Such a great message and something that has definitely been stirring within my heart. In all seriousness, it is great to be called out about things. No progress unless you call your crap and get a move on. Really great message on being a living, holy, acceptable sacrifice and what that actually means. Check it out here: My Understanding

SURPRISE PARTY

Wow what a day! And it's not even over yet!

Got to school this morning and after about 20 minutes of sitting in the computer room, Yolanda came and got me to come up to the 3rd grade room. Apparently, they were throwing her, Pepe and me a surprise "we love you" party! They were so cute! These 25 3rd graders had organized an entire party with drinks, food, t-shirts, etc. all by themselves! Incredible. So cute. We grabbed Stephen out of the 4 year olds class and all of the kids hid under their desks and surprised him too. It was truly a great surprise for all of us and meant a lot.

Then, Yolanda and I rode over to the high school so she could meet with one of the English teachers about some kids signing up for the bilingual program. It was fun to see people on one of my "off" days from the high school. They were confused as to why I was there. But I got to traipse around the school and figure out what signs still need to be made. Again, this was a wonderful break from the usual 2.5 hours of doing NOTHING on Thursday mornings. We got back to the school just in time for recreo and a trip to the grocery store!

When Stephen and I got home, Sarah and I headed straight to Bar Southern (the other British bar) for trivia and bingo. Wow we suck at British trivia. "Team America" was appreciated though for our attempt at familiarizing ourselves with our ancestors. Ha. Bingo was fun though. And their cajun chicken is 2 euros cheaper than Spinnaker so... I will definitely be there the last two Thursdays I am here! Now I am just waiting until Sarah's tutoring class gets finished so we can watch the 2 hour (unbelievable as far as I have heard) finale of LOST. We think we know who Jacob is. We'll see. Then it is a chat with two people I love and the day will be over. What a way to spend a day my friends :)

Tomorrow marks 2 weeks until I actually finish my job. That is unbelievable. As I sit here waiting for any new news as to plans for next year, this job is quickly coming to an end. I think the next two weeks will fly by (especially with a little beach/hiking trip this Saturday) and while I am beyond ecstatic to see my family, I know that the tears are a-comin. Wow I think I have blogged for a few days in a row now... that was about a month break. It's nice to get back into the swing of things - or I guess I am just starting to realize I want to record as many goings-on as I can remember. Toodles.

Kids are hysterical

Today in class, the 5th graders had to make a flyer for a club they invented. Then, we put all of the flyers on desks and mixed them around and they had to find a club that they would want to be a part of. Next, the kids had to tell us about a day spent at their club and what kind of activities they would do. One kid was by himself and started explaining (in charades) what he did in his club. The thing he was trying to act out was "special food" (?) and no one could guess it. I mean, how do you act out special food? After a good 5 minutes of no one getting it, he shouted out (in Spanish) "Please someone guess and put me out of my misery!" We could not stop laughing. Hilarious.
I started a good book today... For Women Only. It's all about the secrets of men. Apparently there is a lot that men think we women should know that we don't (just like there is a lot we think men should just be able to get and yet they don't). I heard about it in a sermon a while back and have been really excited to read it! So far so good! Only 12 more days of work and Sarah and I are headed out of town on Saturday so the weekend should fly right by. Crazy, huh? Can't wait for June 1 :)

Hilarious

some funny happenings recently. a teacher was talking about coming to visit the USA in the next year and her choice location is "la gran manzana" - that made me chuckle. then in 6th grade we were asking the kids their fav music. 2 guys said eminem and yolanda asked them if they knew what he was saying in his songs. "he could be saying ´you are dumb for listening to my music´ and you have no idea." also, we asked them what they want to be when they grow up and francisco (thumb trick guy) answered "i want to be... harry potter." YES

today, just now at the high school, i told the group of kids that this would be my last time with them probably because i only have 2 more tuesdays here. they actually got a little sad! probably because they will no longer have an hour to goof off and listen to the jonas brothers while in school, but i am going to pretend some of their grief was over the fact that i am leaving. ha. crazy that in 2 weeks i will be finishing up. it will feel like the end of a long road. i will be so ready to see my family but sad too. the fate of my next year is being decided tonight btw. the asheboro committee is meeting - ah!

El Rebujito

Well the time is winding down over here in Spain. Some fun things that happened today...
The third grade class likes to plot all together and make special projects for people. Today they were plotting something for Yolanda and were so funny trying to keep it hidden. Gladys once again asked me to say her name with the English accent and they asked me to bring in some homemade aka Chips Ahoy cookies tomorrow. Then in 6th grade, Francisco did the "pretend I am pulling my thumb off" trick with some really funny sound effects and I couldn't help but laugh! He even drew fake blood on his hands which was maybe a step too far but I appreciated his enthusiasm for being a class clown. We also got cake from a girl in 4th grade - I love that they still bring cakes in for their birthdays! Everyone should do that.
Also, today is Wednesday, so we made our usual stop in at El Rebujito for mid-day tapas. I am finally a regular at a place!!! He knows exactly what I want and doesn't even have to ask me to order anymore - I have always wanted that to happen! Too bad I am leaving in 3 weeks. Oh well, I guess I will have to find a spot in Asheboro!
Something I realized I will miss - obviously my regular status at Rebujito. Also, the paseo and the feeling of actually enjoying running. I fear that I will turn to hate it again once I am back in the States and not running beside a beautiful sea every day. But who knows. I hope that is not true because I really do enjoy it right now! I'll also miss cheap fruit and veggies - seriously the health kick is starting up! - and the breeze when it's really hot. I have complained about the wind here before when it was freezing, but now it is truly an awesome feeling. So refreshing. A great reminder to me :)
Just met some crazy old French man out by the pool. I met his wife who is from Belgium a few times at Bar Spinnaker but had never met him. We had a broken French/Spanish talk and we were all invited to come eat and drink with them whenever we wanted. Might have to hit that up in these last few weeks. He told me the pool will be opening June 1, same day I leave. Ha. But it was nice to finally have some interaction with some neighbors!

CHUCK FINALE

Again with the CHUCK finale. Tonight is the night. Hopefully, tonight will not be the last episode of NBC's Chuck. It's been such a good show so far and all we keep hearing about tonight's episode is that it jacks up the storylines and the characters' lives like nothing before. I am pretty excited! Hope everyone goes out and grabs a $5 footlong and tunes in to NBC at 8pm for CHUCK.

Spider

This morning we were on our way to school, about a 15-20 minute drive, and halfway through I noticed a spider climbing on the car ceiling. I proceeded to watch it for at least 5 minutes making sure that it did not fall on Stephen's head and that it came nowhere close to mine. After a while, I noticed that it was making a web. It was really an interesting thing to see. While I am sure it is uncomfortable to have silk coming out of one's backside, it was crazy to see this spider take to the skies on its little invisible chain as I watched. Eventually, I decided that I could not kill such a creative creature but that I would sweep it out of the car once we parked. But then said spider decided to race down towards the ground. Down towards my seat. I began to panic (this was not a tiny spider). I had my napkins out ready to kill it but the thought of getting in close enough proximity to a live spider terrifies me as well so I was in a pickle. In my angst, Stephen heard me whimper sort of and he turned around to see the spider. I reached out my napkin to stop it from scaling down the middle of the car. When it landed on my napkin, Stephen literally took his thumb and smushed the spider against the napkin. He did not use the other side of the napkin! It was skin-to-spider contact and now the spider is dead. GROSS. I cannot believe he touched it. I said that a few times the rest of the car ride and once or twice once we got to school. Sick nasty seriously. (Warning: guts discussed in this sentence, skip ahead if easily queasied or offended on behalf of spiders) The spider looked like it had some juices come out of it from the squishage and so I asked Stephen if he needed a napkin for his hands. He looked at his thumb, rubbed some fingers together and said 'Nah I am good.' EW. He had spider guts on his hand!
This probably seems like a child's blog but ew spiders. Just another interesting sidenote as to how completely different things freak everyone out.
On tap for today... re-run of the HSM dances and maybe getting some Footloose going or some THRILLER.

Easter Sunday... He is Risen

Something silly I came up with...

Bunnies might be pulled out of magician's hats, but Jesus was pulled from the grave. Let us not confuse the surprising for the stunning, the remarkable for the miraculous, the illusion for the power of God!

Happy Easter! He is risen!

Nicolas Cage

I am back in Spain! And technically this is the last night of my "have-to" blogging. Weird. Last night I watched "Knowing" - the new Nic Cage movie - and it had quite a twist there. Anyone who has seen it and who also reads this, hit me up because I have questions. Mr. Cage hasn't made a movie yet that I do not like but boy this one has me thrown a bit. I also noticed that he has a funny run. Anyway, that was the movie experience. One observation from my theater days of Birmingham... people are nasty in movies. I mean really. Hands should stay in plain sight of everyone. I do not tolerate talking while I am watching a movie, let alone whatever it is you are doing two seats next to me. Gross. Is this a new thing? Have kids always done naaaaasty stuff in movies? Probably.
Just got off the skype-phone with Joy about our little Adventurous Prayer business. I am super glad that this started up and we get that time to talk and to talk about Jesus and all that is going on in our lives! Boston 09 is going to be a blast!
This is starting to seem incoherent and that is probably because I am super tired. The flight today was entirely uneventful, anything is compared to the last flight with the lavatory smoker, and now I am going to watch The Office and some shows before hitting the hay! Tomorrow is Easter :) Going to talk to Jesus and eat a Reese's!!

Last Full Day in the UK

Ha I am writing this from an Apple store in the huge mall. So far today I have seen "17 Again," "Fast and Furious" and spent some time reading/writing in Starbucks! A pretty fun day if I do say so myself. I am thinking of going back to see the Nic Cage movie at 8:15 but we'll see. I have quite some time to kill before then and I might just head back. Probably not though haha Today is, of course, Good Friday. The day to remember the death of Christ. Pretty insane to think about something that happened 2000 years ago but something that feels so close in the past. Maybe that's just me. I am trying to find moments of stillness to reflect. Hopefully more of that is to come later on this evening. Man, these Apple computers are sick. Compared to the WFU issued Crapper 2003 anything feels nice/runs smoothly. I shouldn't complain. It is still working. This MacBook Air is one of those thin ones in the commercials. It fits in an envelope right? I think I remember that correctly. Ok well posting from Spain tomorrow and then only one more day til Easter. I must say, I probably will not be such an ardent blogger post-Lent. But we'll see. Toodles!

Birmingham

Well, unfortunately, today I left London. I had an amazing time there and got to chat some with Mary Nell and Bill last night over some Thai food. I got a pretty good, cheap seat for Wicked last night - in the expensive section but thank you student card from Spain! It was incredible. Ah I am in love with that show!

This morning I got up, took one last shower in non-salt showers!, and headed to Euston train station. I got to Birmingham at about 11:10 and made it to the hostel about 11:30. I dropped my bag and headed off to Cadbury World. It was such a cute little town that the Cadbury family built around their factory. And it smelled delicious once you got up into the factory! They gave us a sample - my one possible fast break - and it was like scooping out hard pudding. It was delicious. And mine had marshmallows! Then I came back to Birmingham and caught up on some movies. I went to Paul Blart: Mall Cop this afternoon and just got back from The Boat That Rocked - a great film! In between I had a peppermint mocha at Starbucks and finished the book I've been reading. Tomorrow, depending on what theatres are showing, I am at least headed to go see Knowing, the new Nicholas Cage movie. My last chance to see a film on the big screen in English for a few months!

Now I am having my delicious and cheap dinner from McDonald's before calling the parents and heading to bed! Today was my first day of rain in the UK as well - surprising that I went a week without it! Oh how I already miss London!

Last full day!

Man. I can't believe today is it here in London. My plan to wake up super early and hit up the Wicked ticket office was thwarted by exhaustion. I am just now getting up and leaving at 10am. But I will go by there just in case there are cheap tickets! Then I am off to the British Library (YES I LOVE LIBRARIES!!!!), Charles Dickens' house, Handel's house and hopefully Sir John Soane's Museum and the British Museum. We'll see how it all goes. And the Subway sandwiche of the day is turkey so I will be hitting up that £2 special :) Cheerio! OH today is also Harry Potter site day!!

Tuesday

well it looks like the heels have won. my sister was on the front row at that game last night... i cannot wait to hear stories! last night i went to We Will Rock You - the musical with Queen music. it was rockin! so much fun!! i realized that Queen sings a lot more songs than i thought. tonight i am going to see Dirty Dancing!!!!!! YAY!! i headed down to the imperial war museum this morning. it was pretty cool. they have a Holocaust memorial there now and an exhibit on it and despite tears and feelings of intense anger and hatred, it is was a very informative exhibit. i really cannot describe the emotions i feel when i see videos and images and read accounts from that time. really makes me question the grace of God and the fact that yes, Hitler might be in Heaven.
then i went to subway and had a delicious sweet onion teriyaki sandwich! then i went to the Florence Nightingale museum which was super cool. then the temple church - built by the Knights Templar, and finally to Dr. Johnson's house, the dude who wrote the first legit English dictionary. he wrote it in 9 years and the French dictionary took 40 men 40 years. he said that 40x40 is 1600 and 3 (what he first hoped to write the dictionary in) to 1600 is about the proportion of an Englishman to a Frenchman. ha.
still going to try for wicked tickets in the morning. only if they have the front row ones though. gross. i can't believe tyler hansbrough got his national championship.

Monday!

Today I tried to find the Whitechapel Bell Foundry (they made the Liberty Bell and Big Ben) but was unsuccessful. Then I climbed the Tower Bridge and went to Barking by the Tower, the city's oldest church! Then... I ate lunch at Subway. It was so delicious. I am going there tomorrow I have decided. Then I trekked over to St Paul's and the Museum of London. Pretty cool day. Got a peppermint mocha at Starbucks - yessssssssss they have peppermint flavor shots! - and then ventured down to Covent Garden. I thought my play tonight (We Will Rock You) was over near there but it turns out I was a few tube stops away. I had a delicious Indian meal there and all the waiters were so nice to me! Then I walked for a bit until I found my theater! Now I am sitting here writing before it begins! I also found a pamphlet for WICKED that says that every day there are 24 front row seats sold at the box office for 25 gbp. That is what I will be doing Wednesday morning. ARE YOU KIDDING?? Heck yes!
We Will Rock You tonight, Dirty Dancing tomorrow night, and hopefully Wicked again on Wednesday!
So being here I have been out of the loop and apparently UNC won on Saturday and is playing tonight in the tournament championship... and my sister is there. THAT IS NUTS! Apparently she has met lots of celebs... and taken lots of pics! Hope they win just so she can go crazy haha safe crazy I hope. Well, got to head to the theater! Can't believe it's only a few days til I leave Londontown! I like it so much!

real quick

what i did today... benjamin franklin house - so cool! then the apsley house, home of duke of wellington. then went to CHURCH at HTB!!!! so good. and then saw thriller live. tried to see james mcavoy afterward but there was no performance tonight so i'll have to try another time! peace out!

Friday-Saturday

Notes from Friday
- westminster cathdral is gorgeous, has st andrew of scotland, st george of england, st patrick of ireland - his little nave was all green with shamrocks everywhere. the thistle, the rose, the shamrock are the symbols of scotland, england and ireland.
westminster abbey - william wilberforce buried there! right near the audio guides, kind of gets no attention, but what a man! truly seeing one of my heroes there!
oliver cromwell was buried there but was dug up when kings were re-established and was hung, decapitated; henry viii's kids buried there too
1 peter 2:21- on tomb of mary queen of scots - To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. - she was killed by Queen Elizabeth I - her son made her tomb as elaborate, if not more so, than QEI's
1300 - throne chair built - still used today. stone from scotland taken in 1296 and is now back in scotland but returned for coronations
trinity church nyc
britain's oldest door in the cloister - 1050s
prayer of saint benedict -

Gracious and Holy Father,
give us the wisdom to discover You,
the intelligence to understand You,
the diligence to seek after You,
the patience to wait for You,
eyes to behold You,
a heart to meditate upon You,
and a life to proclaim You,
through the power of the Spirit of Jesus, our Lord.

poet's corner - geoffrey chaucer, browning, ts eliot, george eliot, henry james, lewis carroll, lord byron, jane austen, william wordsworth, keats, shelley, lawrence olivier, henry irving,
samuel johnson who wrote dictionaries, charles dickens, rudyard kipling, handel (were 3000 mourners at his funeral), william blake
chapter house - paintings of Revelation - dromedary, kameyl, crocodile, horses, etc. - tile floor
sceptre with cross - great star of africa diamond, over 530 carats
2 crowns used in coronations - imperial state crown is wow - ruby of black prince, sapphire from coronation ring of edward the confessor, pearls from earrings of queen elizabeth i, other stones
black prince - song of edward iii
sword from 14th century is over 5 feet long - how they carried it i have no idea
edmond halley - comet
isaac newton, charles darwin
clemente - father of the piano forte
beautiful nave gate
francis drake, james cook, chichester plaque; there is also a memorial to fdr and churchill.

william wilberforce statue - what a thing to have on a statue in your memory: TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIAM WILBERFORCE (BORN IN HULL AUGUST
24th 1759, DIED IN LONDON JULY 29th 1833;) FOR NEARLY HALF A
CENTURY A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, AND, FOR SIX PARLIAMENTS
DURING THAT PERIOD, ONE OF THE TWO REPRESENTATIVES FOR YORKSHIRE.
IN AN AGE AND COUNTRY FERTILE IN GREAT AND GOOD MEN, HE WAS AMONG
THE FOREMOST OF THOSE WHO FIXED THE CHARACTER OF THEIR TIMES;
BECAUSE TO HIGH AND VARIOUS TALENTS, TO WARM BENEVOLENCE, AND TO
UNIVERSAL CANDOUR, HE ADDED THE ABIDING ELOQUENCE OF A CHRISTIAN
LIFE. EMINENT AS HE WAS IN EVERY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC LABOUR, AND A
LEADER IN EVERY WORK OF CHARITY, WHETHER TO RELIEVE THE TEMPORAL OR
THE SPIRITUAL WANTS OF HIS FELLOW-MEN, HIS NAME WILL EVER BE
SPECIALLY IDENTIFIED WITH THOSE EXERTIONS WHICH, BY THE BLESSING OF
GOD, REMOVED FROM ENGLAND THE GUILT OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE, AND
PREPARED THE WAY FOR THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN EVERY COLONY OF
THE EMPIRE: IN THE PROSECUTION OF THESE OBJECTS HE RELIED, NOT IN
VAIN, ON GOD; BUT IN THE PROGRESS HE WAS CALLED TO ENDURE GREAT
OBLOQUY AND GREAT OPPOSITION: HE OUTLIVED, HOWEVER, ALL ENMITY; AND
IN THE EVENING OF HIS DAYS, WITHDREW FROM PUBLIC LIFE AND PUBLIC
OBSERVATION TO THE BOSOM OF HIS FAMILY. YET HE DIED NOT UNNOTICED
OR FORGOTTEN BY HIS COUNTRY: THE PEERS AND COMMONS OF ENGLAND, WITH
THE LORD CHANCELLOR AND THE SPEAKER AT THEIR HEAD, IN SOLEMN
PROCESSION FROM THEIR RESPECTIVE HOUSES, CARRIED HIM TO HIS FITTING
PLACE AMONG THE MIGHTY DEAD AROUND, HERE TO REPOSE: TILL, THROUGH
THE MERITS OF JESUS CHRIST, HIS ONLY REDEEMER AND SAVIOUR, (WHOM,
IN HIS LIFE AND IN HIS WRITINGS HE HAD DESIRED TO GLORIFY,) HE
SHALL RISE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST.

Saturday notes

- went and toured Stamford Bridge Stadium, Chelsea football club's stadium! got to see the locker rooms, press room, walk out of the tunnel, take pics, etc.! learned some funny tricks that teams do for opposing locker rooms as intimidation

- went to the science museum. there was an internet media thing that spoke to you using live web chatrooms. warnings for raciness were posted before entering haha

- toured the SHERLOCK HOLMES museum! now really pumped for that movie to come out. speaking of movies, april 10 is a big day for movies here in Britain as Fast and Furious comes out as well as 17 again - I might be spending april 10 in the movie theater of Birmingham

- walked all across London, through beautiful Hyde Park, and made it just in time for Jason Mraz at Hammersmith Apollo. he puts on such a good show! not as good as Wake's spring concert last year but still good!

- now back at the house and looking up directions for stuff tomorrow! love and peace.

Flying... a new anti-drug.

Last night was ridiculous. Who says late-night flights aren't interesting?? I got onboard at about 9:10 and it's a Ryanair flight so there are not very many people onboard. Not a lot at all. We take off and get going when the man across the aisle from me (we are the only two people in our row) leans over and starts to talk to me in Spanish. He says he is from Lithuania and does not know English so he needs some help figuring out how to get around the London Stansted airport. I explain that there will be tvs showing him which gate his connecting flight is at and that there will be people around if he gets in big trouble, he can just show his ticket to them. Then he goes back to his side of the aisle and I keep reading.
About 30 minutes later, and a few alcoholic coffees in him, he comes back. This time he asks me a bunch of random questions and holds onto my hand when he shakes it goodbye. That is when I start getting a little freaked out. But he leaves again and no problem. He keeps going to the bathroom I notice but maybe the coffees are getting to him? About two hours into the flight (a 2 hour 40 minute flight), the flight attendants at the bathroom near the cockpit start circling the bathroom. The Lithuanian man opens the door and they all go crazy because... he has been SMOKING IN THE LAVATORY. What a no-no!
I have always wondered what happens if someone gets caught doing that. Here is the answer. You get your passport taken by the police, you spend a night in jail at the cost of a hefty fine, and you are essentially banned from air travel for life because no one will let you book a flight on their aircraft. The fligth attendants kept freaking out because they didn't know where the cigarette butt was and I started thinking... well great, if he threw it down the toilet and some mixture of fire and whatever is down there blows this plane up... I'll be pissed. Ha.
The flight attendants were great at handling it, especially when the Lithuanian man pretended not to know Spanish or English (he doesn't know English) and we were met with policemen at the Stansted gate. They were carrying the largest weapons I have ever seen with my own eyes. So I assume they took him in and he is somewhere in London at this moment.
Getting from the airport to the hostel was quite painless and now I am about to head over to the Brownings and then start off the siteseeing! Today is Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Jewel Tower, changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and a Dali museum all before WICKED :)

Off to London

Well, Semana Santa break has officially begun! I am off to London for a week and tomorrow night is going to be WICKED!!!!!! As in I am finally going to see Wicked! Can't wait! The parents got away safely and should be about an hour or two away from landing in Atlanta. The kids today asked about them and want them to come to class every week until I leave. Sadly, that won't be happening. But they love them nonetheless! Can't wait to get to London and explore; also, hopefully all of the G20 crazies will be gone. It will be interesting navigating the streets of London late tonight but we will see how it goes! Not too too late thankfully1

BTW letting go feels so nice. Truly.

I saw green monkeys today... and AFRICA :)

What a fun day with the parents again! We woke up at 6am and started out (in the dark for 2 hours) on the route to Gibraltar! It took us along the Costa del Sol, a beautiful beach-view highway. The time getting there was 5 hours but we had a fun time talking and reading up on Gibraltar. We got there and made the trip up the cable cars and saw the GREEN MONKEYS. The whole time in the car I felt like I was waiting to see Prince Ali (cause, you know, he's got the monkeys). We also saw AFRICA. The distance between Gibraltar and Africa (Morocco) is only 15 km and we could see the little bottleneck of Tanger and Tarifa (where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic). So we saw simultaneously: Europe, Africa, Atlantic Ocean, Med Sea! Crazy.
We ate at good ol McDonald's on the way back and that drive only took us 4 hours. We are now in Almeria spending the night because they have an early flight. We just ate fantastic Italian and are going to pack/organize, watch the new Big Bang Theory, and then tuck in. I am definitely going to be sad to see them go. I am so so happy that they got to come over and see what has been "home" for the past six months, meet my friends, see where I work, take me to the places I have wanted to go most since I got over here, etc.! And it is only 2 months until they are back over here with the sisters! The time will fly.
Especially with my trip to London which starts tomorrow night! I can't believe it is here already. Semana Santa. Sweet day. Parents. Africa (one day I will be there!). Monkeys. Thank You Lord for the blessings in my life.

Ohhhh funny joke the dad told a few days ago. We had been in Cordoba the day before seeing La Mezquita, the really old and beautiful mosque. So we are walking through their hotel in Roquetas and my mom asks if there are mosquitoes here and my dad says, "Yea... we saw one yesterday." And about 45 seconds later I got it... yea slow I know... but it was funny. I enjoy the corny jokes haha!

Tapas!

We just had such a fun night here in Roquetas! At 7:30, some friends came over to show my parents what one of our tapas dinners looks like :) We had chorizo (spicy and sweet - btw a future dog of mine will be called chorizo), olives (stuffed with pimentos and jalapenos), tortilla, bacon-wrapped dates, ham/tomato/cheese sandwich bites, manchego cheese, almonds, peanuts, crab and pineapple dip and sangria! For dessert, Sarah made angel food cake and we had some napolitanitos! It was so fun and I think the parents really enjoyed getting to meet the people I've met and get to eat some delicious Spanish food! Jeanne, Paul, Necole, Sofie, Emilie and Sarah were there - just for my memory later on haha
Earlier today we went back to Bar Spinnaker and my parents absolutely love that place! Dave and Jan are of course so much fun to be around and Millie/Ellie the gorgeous English Spaniels. They are so cute :) I am really glad my parents got to enjoy some time in the "British pub." Also, today, we decided to go to Gibraltar tomorrow! I am so pumped! And Jessica apparently got Final Four tickets from UNC... lucky dog! She is driving the 12 hours (well worth it!) to Detroit and they are staying in Ontario with Witmer. SO FUN! They will have a blast and my sister's stalkage of Tyler Hansbrough can continue. yuck. ha!
Time to watch Heroes, then Chuck, and then sleep/packing for tomorrow :) I love road-trips with the parentals. A great way to spend our last day together here in Andalucia!

Much love to my family and friends at home and especially SSS!

Another Splendid Day!

Today, the parents got to check out Angel Frigola! I went into school at 8:30 as usual and was with Yolanda and the 3rd grade! We checked their science homework and then I spent a while teaching them one of my favorite camp songs as a kid... LITTLE CABIN IN THE WOODS! It is such a good song and they loved getting to talk in a baby voice and a big booming voice. The motions got them pretty excited too. We practiced and when my parents came over at 11:30, they got a special performance! Then the kids asked all of us for our autographs hahahaha
They met the teachers who were all so sweet to them, then we went to Rebujito so they could have their infamous chilled glass. The iciest glass I've ever seen. We split calamares, jibia and lomo! Then we went grocery shopping and stocked up on water (8 liters for 85 cents!) and food for tapas dinner tomorrow night. By the time we got back to Roquetas, the temperature had dropped at least 7 or 8 degrees and the sun had disappeared. They went running while I dragged their porch chair into their room and read/napped haha
We went to the British bar and split some fries, a chicken sandwich and a burger. Delish. They stayed and chatted with Dave while I went and showered. The sisters called after that and then we headed back out to try the Indian Restaurant again with Sarah. There was no birthday party there tonight so we got to eat and it was delicious! The pom-whatever things that are like crisps you can spread chutney on were delicious. The spicy sauce at this restaurant did not make people want to vomit like the one on Stephen's birthday. I had a cobra and Sarah and I split a spiiiiiicy chicken and rice. We all split some curry veggies and garlic nan - so good! Then we came back and watched the Christmas episode of "Big Bang Theory" - my parents' fav show and one of my rising favorites. Sheldon is so funny. Then they left because my dad was pretty sleepy and Sarah and I finalized the tapas menu for tomorrow. I finally figured out how to delete things from my IPOD and then went to bed! Debating getting up for Chuck at 2... ha.

Mama's Birthday

What a fantastic day! Woke up and thought the day would be raining and cold as predicted but it was sunny as ever! The wind was strong but it's Roquetas... that's normal!
Went and had breakfast with the parents in their hotel and then we walked down to check out a restaurant for later tonight to go out for Mom's birthday. I also wanted to walk down there to get their birthday cake! Since I won't be home for Dad's bday in May, I got the cake made for both of them!
Then we walked back and sat out by the pool. We were the only ones out there but it was warm and wonderful! I got to listen to a fantastic sermon on David and Bathsheba by Josh and just hung with the parents! Then we got dressed and went to Bar Spinnaker for a drink and to meet Dave and Jan. Stephen went with us and I think my Dad liked having a guy to talk to haha
I showed Mom and Dad how to get to La Mojonera (they have to make it there on their own tomorrow - ahhh we'll see how that goes!) and then we picked up the roomies and headed to dinner.
Apparently, someone else's birthday was being celebrated at the Indian restaurant we were planning to go to... Mom's eyes got so big and terrified when she saw "Happy Birthday" banners and balloons haha Instead, we went to La Grappa (gross name - ha) and had a wonderful, wonderful Italian dinner! Sangria, bruschetta, mozzarella and tomatoes, garlic bread, bread with some blue cheese butter, pasta - goodness!
We came back to the house and pulled up the bball games and got the champagne and cake ready for Mom and Dad! Got to surprise them and sing Happy Birthday and they liked it! Sarah actually made a chocolate cake as backup just in case something had happened with the bakery one - SO NICE OF HER TO DO! - and so we had two bits of cake haha It was fun!! Then we watched basketball and they headed out just a few minutes ago! I really had such a fun day with them and can't wait for tomorrow. Stephen left tonight for his trip with Antonio and the 6th graders - won't see him for about two weeks which is crazy! I'm sure they'll have a great trip though!
Tomorrow I am teaching the 3rd graders "Little Cabin in the Woods" - my all-time favorite camp song! It should be fun and it's got great motions to it so I am really excited haha

Cordoba!

Wow. The mezquita in Cordoba is beautiful. Truly beautiful. We headed there with a little late start... the rents woke up at 4am to watch the 2nd half of the UNC game. It is nice to know I get that from someone haha It was funny to see them over in the corner of the hotel room sharing ear plugs and quietly applauding whatever "magnificent, marvelous, spectacular" thing Tyler Hansbrough did. I'm glad they got to see it!
We headed out and took the 2 hour drive to Cordoba through beautiful hills and landscapes. We passed a bunch of man-made forests that we are not sure why they build them... And we passed lots of solar and wind energy - go alternative energy! We got to Cordoba a lot more easily than Granada and found good parking and headed to the old quarter. We passed the old fortress and found the jewel of the town... La Mezquita. Originally a Visigothic church, the Moors built the Mezquita over this church site in 784 (?) AD. In the 1200s when Christians re-took Cordoba in the Reconquista, Charles V had a church built right smack in the middle of the Mezquita. Later, when he actually went and visited the site, he said "You have destroyed something unique in the world and built something that can be found anywhere." True, the church is an eye sore in the midst of the red arches, but the church itself is quite beautiful. It was a remarkable place and the mihrab was so ornately decorated it was just gorgeous. It was worth the drive!
We grabbed lunch and walked a bit more but by 4pm we were back in the car ready to head to Roquetas!!! I felt bad sweeping the rents off straight from the airport but they were happy to see what we saw and now can just sit back and relax! I am very happy I waited and took in Granada and Cordoba with them - they will definitely be memories that will stay with me :)
We got them checked in at their hotel in Roquetas and we grabbed dinner at the pizzeria near my house. The man gave us so many tapas before our pizzas came that we couldn't eat all of them (my Hawaiian was DELISH)! After dinner, he gave us each a goodbye drink and mine was pink lemonadish. I asked him what it was and he said it's a home secret so I must come back to have more haha Cute little old Spanish man! Then we came back to the house, gave them the tour and they met the roomies and we checked the bball schedule for tomorrow. Looks like we'll be watching the UNC-OK game here tomorrow :) I am pumped! We have daylight savings time tonight too so the time change will go back to 6 hours :( Tomorrow is the mom's bday so hoping to make it a special day for her (and a little celebration with the pops as well since he'll be at home for his)!
Lovin' life - so happy the parents are here :) Can't wait til June 1 when the sisters will join in as well!!!!!

THE PARENTS ARE HERE!

Greetings from Granada and a beautiful hotel with fresh water showers haha! I picked the rents up at the airport this at 11:30 this morning and we have been non-stop! We made it to Granada and then finally to our hotel (right near the Alhambra!) and then we spent the day exploring the big, gorgeous Alhambra palace! Now we are going to go eat and then sleep, sleep, sleep! I will write more tomorrow about today's excursions - we are all exhausted. Oh and Duke lost last night by 23 points! And UNC plays tonight... at 3 am... my dad says he's getting up but I have a feeling that won't be happening ha! We'll see!

The Waiting Game

Well it is just about 13 hours until I will be hugging my parents :) Then we are off to Granada and the Alhambra!! These next two days will be whirlwind with a quick stop there and then on to Cordoba and the Mezquita on Saturday! I am so excited to see these two cities (the two I have been waiting to see since getting here!) and to get to share that with my 'rents!

Today was another winner for the allergies. I thought I would have been so out of it and impatient in my last hour's class with two teachers (Amador and Asun). They tend to get into arguments and I was not wanting to have to sit in the middle of those haha But it turned out to be quite a good time and a good hour of communication! Also, my director told me yesterday that I do not need to bother coming in on Wednesday for my one hour of work so yahoooo another day to spend with the parents!!!

I have posted once before about Club Trillion and I do not think I explained what that is excactly. Mark Titus is a player for the Ohio State basketball team who rides the bench and has a blog. That's about it. Oh, and he's HILARIOUS. His most recent blog is one for the ages so check it out!

If you want to cry (tears of joy I might add), watch this video.

Exhaustion

Allergies. Gross. They just drain every ounce of energy out of me. So today has been full of siestas!

Got a call from home with some bad news. Dr. Griffin has a brain tumor and his surgery yesterday could not remove it all. Things don't look too good. If anyone reads this, please pray for him and his family. That he knows Jesus. That they feel His comfort. Dr. Griffin's got two kids - one my age and one a few years younger. It just made me stop in my tracks and think, "Goodness it could have been me." Times like that make me so anxious about friends and family but Paul's words "do not be anxious about anything" reminds to be thankful for the time I have each day. And it makes me so very happy and excited about my parents coming. I am even thankful that I now will make sure not to take this time for granted. Any day could be our last... live it like it is. Tell people how much they matter to you. Hold on to a hug for a little longer.

I'm finishing up Shame Off You and it's definitely packing the punch at the end. Wright goes into the difference between the old covenant with between God and Israel and the New Covenant of which we are heirs. This covenant, however, does not involve us. It is between God the Son and God the Father. What great day to realize that the covenant "is finished" and nothing can change that. Nothing I do can effect that. Something he challenges readers to do at the end of the chapter:
A Commitment to Keep - I choose today to focus on what Christ has done for me rather than all that I have yet to do for Him.

Rest in the Lord. Let His joy fill you - fill you with grace and truth. Fill you with life :) Love and blessings!!

The Colbert Space Wing

Hahahaha Colbert Nation has gone universal! NASA held a contest in regards to naming the newly finished wing of the space station and who came in first? None other than "Colbert" Fantastic!
Today I got a crash course in Easter celebrations in Spain. It's quite unlike the Episcopalian way of doing things that I have grown accustomed to (aka a service every day, one even involving washing each others feet - check it out!). Processions and parades of statues are huge here. Semana Santa is definitely a week of celebration, and with what we commemorate on Easter Sunday, how can you not celebrate??
Sevilla is a big spot to head to for Semana Santa. Same with Malaga. In Almeria, they apparently have a procession at 1 am on Tuesday night that is completely silent. People dress in black and walk around barefoot in complete silence, contemplating their sins and the walk that Jesus made to the hill of Calvary. I can only imagine how powerful that would be to see. On the other end of the spectrum, there are men called Nazarenos who dress up in tall capes. These costumes vary depending on where you go, but make no doubt that these costumes are probably older than our country. Not the exact costumes but the idea behind them... One style is a long robe that drapes down to your feet. The other is knee high and requires the man or woman nowadays to wear bright stockings! Then, the belly of the robe is stuffed with caramels that the nazareno will throw out during the parade! How fun is that?? Here's a video of Malaga 2008.
Another traditional party they have here (not Easter week) is towards the end of June on Saint Juan Day. Everyone goes out on the beach, makes bonfires, and at midnight everyone heads into the sea! It's tradition to bathe in the water and then spend the night around the fire with family. I would like to bring this back to the States haha! That would be so fun :) Until a shark eats you.
Not too much else today. I stayed up and watched Chuck live again and it's just not as fun with commercials. So thankfully I think I have talked myself out of having to do that again haha
TWO days until the parents will be on their way here :) :) :) Can't wait! And I just got assigned a project on William Shakespeare at the high school so I might end up stopping by the Globe Theatre in London after all.
BIG NEWS for any soccer fans - Chelsea and AC Milan (hopefully with Beckham still?) are coming to the USA! The World Football Challenge is coming this July!

Going Into Battle

Today has been a pretty incredible day :)

To start, last night as I was falling to sleep, random memories from college came flooding to mind and one involved four ladies at around 3 or 4 am on the Quad... the feeling of that moment and the utter, jaw-dropping realization of being found out came rushing to mind and I burst out laughing. Priceless! And Stephen probably thinks I laugh in my sleep. (Our walls are super thin!)

Then today, in 3rd grade, I got a snapshot view of my time as a 5th grader at Jefferson Elementary School. In 5th grade, my best friend's name was Drew Hinkle. We hung out all the time in school and were in charge of our class' garden scarecrow-man. This means that we got to miss class for a few minutes every day going to set him out and check our garden patch. We also became trash duty and would take the trash out to the dumpster at the end of the day and waste time just goofing off. One day, we got a trash bag stuck in a tree and that was hilarious! Also, Drew used to tell me that I could sing so well that I used to "sound like that girl who sings MmmBop." Good, good times. Two kids, Jose Antonio and Gladys, in the third grade at Angel Frigola remind me so much of Drew and myself back in the good ol' days. They laugh and try and steal small chatter behind a computer thinking we can't see them but we totally can. It was such a cool feeling to remember those moments and the fun I had growing up and hanging out with Drew in Ms. Gillis' class!

The last bit of today was just an insight into how much time I have been getting to spend in the Word. It has been incredible and this weekend was no different. I am getting so filled with messages of love and grace and hope! I've gotten a crash-course in Heaven that has been so amazing. I'm once again reminded that the physicalness of Heaven pales in comparison to the emotional and spiritual fulfillment that will exist on the day we are reunited with Jesus Christ :) No more guilt, no more shame, no more suffering or pain, no more rejection, no more loneliness... doesn't that sound so sweet? It's making me pray that God literally starts scaring the Hell out of people more and more. A powerful thing I heard recently: in the end, you either stand alone or you stand with Jesus.

Also, I have been getting reminders to call myself into battle over my soul day after day. It's an ongoing battle. Some things I read today in Shame Off You:

You may have your moments of miraculous accomplishment. You may stand on the platform with the Olympic gold upon our neck. You may become the president of your kindergarten class, the president of the PTA, or the president of the United States. You may win the lottery, win the hand of your beloved, or win the admiration of a whole society. But this side of Heaven, there will never be a season so sweet, nor a platform so high that you will be exempt from the attack of the enemy. (p 146)

Never be tempted to excuse yourself from the battle. Never, while you live in this broken world, imagine there will be a day when you can safely shed your spiritual armor and declare the war to be over... No matter what level of spiritual maturity you might attain, the enemy of your soul will fight and contend with you until your last breath. Why should you find that encouraging? Because once you realize that the battle will never be won in this life, once you realize that you will always be in process, yet never achieve perfection, then you'll be ready for the Jezebels. (p 149)

In some of the sermons I have been listening to, the pastor spoke about Galatians 5:16-26 (the fruits of the Spirit). In it, he highlights that there is a choice that must be made. In verses 16, 18 and 25, the choice is to: live by the Spirit or gratify the desires of the flesh; be led by the voice of the Spirit or be led by the flesh; be in step with the Spirit or go my own way.
So how do we go into battle for our soul? Prayer, pruning (John 15), power and partnership with God! Prayer helps us in moments of choosing whether to respond in the fruits of the Spirit or in the flesh. It reminds us that we need God's help in attempting to act like Him! Pruning puts the shears in our hands and allows us to cut out the sin that is taking grip in our souls. The power of the Spirit reminds us we cannot do this alone: if we go to spiritual battle without God, WE WILL LOSE. We must have the power of God to help defeat the enemy! And finally, partnership. He leads, I follow. He instructs, I obey.
Every time I say no to the flesh, I up the power of my armor against the enemy. Every time I give into the things of this world, I turn my heart a little further from God. That message has been sobering and it's going to lead to a very cool, hard, interesting next few weeks or months or years as I try and remain conscious of the battle raging, of the fact that there is so much more going on than what my eyes can see.

Have hope in Him - He will not lose!

Yay for Days like Today

To start, a beautiful sunrise. Though I did not technically get to see the sun, and I am pretty sure that I woke up 30 minutes too early so was not the happiest camper in the beginning darkness, the color change of the sky was worth every second of sleep I was not getting.

the sea turns a little greener
loses its dark blue
the sky goes from red to fire
i think You use every hue
what a triumphant waking
it shows the power of Your hand
how with just a beam of sunlight
You illuminate the land
now Jesus tell me something
as i turn and fix my eyes
is this how You felt
when You Yourself did rise?
i imagine the sun says
"hold on and just you see=.,
those in darkness i am coming,
just you wait for me.
i will wrap you in my presence,
i will warm you through and through.
just imagine my beaming face,
as i come to meet with you."

Next discovery of the day... Bethany Dillon is married. She is married to Shane Barnard and has been for a year. I did not know this!

I was chatting with Stephen today about how fun I think a guy roommate is and how I will honestly miss having his perspective and get to see life through the eyes of someone so completely different than me. We were talking about our time over here and I was saying that I really do believe that I will look back on this year and go, "THANK YOU God for that year of relaxation and for the preparation You made in my heart!" Stephen made a cool comment saying that time like this makes you more aware of what makes you happy and what you want in your life. I couldn't agree more. Here is what I have found so far:
1) I am so excited to start my job. Even if this fall I am not going to be going into YL as I hoped (don't know yet!), I know I am called to work with high school kids and to pursue them for Jesus :) I am so ready to get back there and get after it! A quote I just read on my friend Nora's facebook wall sums up my feeling exactly: Be a warrior! Desire something powerfully! Saddle your horse and get ready for the quest! - Sanai.
2) I want to be in civilization. I feel like I have escaped from the "real world" somehow but all I want is to get back to it. Maybe in a few months of being back I will wish for the opposite, ha!
3) I want to make time with my family an absolute priority and set aside certain weeks every summer for time with all of them. They are what matters most to me in this world and I cannot wait to get back to being in close proximity to them.
4) I want to take a trip to Ohio.
5) I want to be able to go to sporting events on a regular basis. Wake Forest events if I'm lucky, pro baseball if I am doubly-lucky. Maybe throw some hockey in there too.
6) I want to spend much less time watching TV and much more time having conversations with people. (the unfortunate cancelling of Chuck will help reduce my TV viewing time for sure)
7) I want to do battle for my soul every day - I want the good fruit.
8) Reading makes me happy.
9) I will one day watch a space shuttle take off in Florida.

One change I have certainly noticed during this Tourney is that my hatred for Duke has decreased dramatically. I caught myself admiring Coach K the other day - WHAT?!?! I think Tyler Hansbrough has definitely received the brunt of my bitter scorn this year, but even he has received less than normal. Maybe, hopefully, my "hatred" is lessening and I am more concerned in my team doing well than tearing down another team. Can't say my sentiments towards the Patriots have changed at all though... sorry Steph.

SIX DAYS

That's right. Six days til the parents get here! Dad surprised me with a call last night - so cute to see him reaching out in small ways :)

So I have been continuing with the Knockin' on Heaven's Door series and it has been such a blessing!! A few highlights so far:

- the only things we can take with us to Heaven are people!
- Heaven isn't a place, it's a reign; follow a new way of life; if it's a reign, we can experience some of it NOW!
- as far as the whole, what will we look like thing... if God made us in His image, with my own God-infused personality, THAT part of me will remain when He restores. Luke 16 - rich man recognizes Abraham and Lazarus, disciples recognize Moses and Elijah during transfiguration, 1 Corinthians 13 - we will KNOW as we have been KNOWN; disciples saw Jesus and Jesus' new body following His resurrection - 1 Corinthians 15:20 - He is the firstfruits, He is our prototype
- all of what God did through Jesus in the resurrection is He defeated our worst enemy, death; that death is working its toll on our lives right now, every day, and all of that is swallowed up in victory, so we get new bodies when the curse is reversed, when Heaven is our home (1 Corinthians 15:42-44)
- do people in Heaven see us down here on earth? Hebrews 12 - as we run our race, there's a cloud of witnesses watching us

And a joke he said when talking about our new bodies in Heaven:

Ole, Lena, and little Ole went to the big City for the first time. They were walking down the street and looking in the windows of the big buildings. Little Ole spotted something that caught his eye and ran into a building. Big Ole and Lena followed him. There they all stood in front of a shiny metal door that was cut into a wall of black marble. A chubby, elderly, gray haired lady walked up and pushed a button on the wall next to the door. The door opened and she walked into the little room behind the shiny door. The door closed and the numbers above the door counted up and then down again. The shiny doors opened and a beautiful, well built, young lady walked out.

Little Ole said, "What kind of machine is dat, Dad?"

Big Ole replied, "I don't know little Ole, but push dat button and shove your Ma in there."

HA! I'm also getting into the book Shame Off You which is so far so good. It is incredible to see how strongly today's culture, even parents without knowing it!, rely on shame to encourage someone to succeed. Why do we feel the need to be successful to feel loved? And it seems that shame has been around ever since humans existed... After the fall in Genesis, 3:7 says "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves" - they were ashamed of their appearance. aSHAMEd. Everyone has their demons, everyone has their reasons for feeling shameful, but what a day in Heaven when all this shame will be gone!

And to avoid casting shame upon someone, I have admitted any comments regarding last night's basketball games... LOVE.

Workin for a Livin

Today I headed into school - it was a lonnnnnnng day. I don't know if it is because I am used to the older, more respectful kids now or what but I headed back to the first grade and it was almost too much! ha! It was computer day and maybe that is why they were CRAZY. I don't remember them being that crazy. I was pretty pooped after 2 hours of that though so I came home and slept a bit out in the sun :)
I'm looking forward to saving some money by doing absolutely nothing this weekend (only a 2 day one this week!) and besides... the circus coming to town has no animals. Usually, I am against the treatment of circus animals. All the time they spend in TINY cages is ridiculous. But let's face it, what is a circus without tiptoeing elephants or tigers in a circle that follow the command of a whip. Those poor, entertaining animals.
Speaking of animals, check out this lion cuteness! My friend Lauren sent me this link today and it is such a remarkable story. So precious.
Also in the news, I don't know if it's been made a big deal elsewhere but an earthquake near Tonga caused an underwater volcano to erupt and it spit ash and dust 13 miles into the air (a plane normally goes around 7 miles up)!!! Here's the link to the story and pics and VIDEO: tonga volcano
That is nuts.

Highlight of day: got to chat with Jamie :) less than 2.5 months til I see my sisters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It Begins.

So far... 3 for 3. We'll see how the rest of the games continue. THE MADNESS HAS BEGUN :)

Finally, Club Trillion had a new post up and this hilariousness was on there!

It's been an interesting 24 hours. I finished a book that had a heartwrenching ending. Then I got the news that Natasha Richardson died. Obviously I did not know her but hearing that someone who I have seen before (granted that was in the newer version of Parent Trap) and someone with two children and a husband has died is heartbreaking. What a horrifying future to face as a child who has lost your mother. Who has lost the feeling of her wrapping her arms around you in a hug. And for a husband to lose his love. It really hurts my heart to think of that.

In thinking today after that rough end to the night, I was thinking about the stages of grief:

shock and denial; pain and guilt; anger and bargaining; depression, reflection, loneliness; the upward turn; reconstruction and working through; acceptance and hope.

In thinking about certain things that have happened in my life, I can see that yea, these are actually true. And it all happens without you even thinking that you are following some pattern that actually exists. Random. But the thoughts that were running through my head today.

I am heading into work tomorrow (Friday - supposed to not work). But I am really excited because I get to work with the older kids and the 1st graders with the computer (my babies!!!). I am pumped. And tomorrow will be one week until my parents will get here :) Only two weeks til London!

I started a sermon series today: Knockin' on Heaven's Door. It's all about Heaven and what the Bible tells us about it. Today's sermon said that Heaven is three things: Hope, Home and Him. Heaven is Jesus. A quote a liked that the pastor quoted was "Jesus, if I could have Heaven without You, it would be Hell. If I could be in Hell and still have You, it would be Heaven. For You are all the Heaven I want." Someone who has had a recent little scuffle with the thought of death and wondered about the promise that is Heaven, I am pumped to hear the rest of this series. And to remember that I am a citizen of Heaven.

Happy basketball watching :)

Wednesday

I started a new book yesterday... "My Sister's Keeper." It's a pretty crazy story about a baby girl being genetically picked out to be a capable donor for her older sister with leukemia. Apparently, a boy was born in Spain recently and is essentially making this work of fiction a reality. Crazy.
Today was a fun day! We played telefono roto (telephone) in 5th grade and the kids were hysterical. I started it and one was "the tiger eats dogs" and it ended up turning into one word that sounded like something in the French language. Ha! It was fun!
A fun idea I read about: trying to have a conversation with someone without using the letter "s" - also getting in a car and making random turns until you reach a destination and spend the weekend there. How FUN would that be!!!!
Something Stephen found today that is HILARIOUS!!!

Asun came over today to work with Stephen and she is so funny! Her laugh is hilarious! Still pondering whether or not to go into work on Friday (not required but the weekends are SO long haha) - TOURNEY STARTS TOMORROW :)

Oh! Today was a fast day - the best one I've had yet. Meaning the most I have been hungry and the most conscience I've been of why I am fasting!

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY :)

Well, today has been one of the best Tuesdays I have had yet. No, I am not strange in picking out my Tuesdays especially, but Tuesdays are high school days and they tend to stand out as not the most stellar of days. BUT today was fantastic! I think the kids are really loving getting to miss normal class and listen to Jonas Brothers music while filling in blanks to their lyrics. Ha! I find myself loving "Burnin' Up" more every day as well haha
I got to pinch some folks today... silly non-green wearing Spaniards. This afternoon I went to the Aloha cafe with the guys (Edgar, Paul and Stephen) and we had a mini St. Patty's day celebration! I had my first mojito which was surprisingly good. The biggest straw I have ever seen came with it as well as a fake bird... It was a fun little acknowledgment to the ol' Irish either way! I saw a clip of Chicago's river getting dyed green and it was crazy!! So pretty :) One day I'll have to check that out, as well as the Irish Pub restaurant in downtown Richmond! I still have not forgotten about that place!
I read some cool stories today in 1 Samuel (David, Saul, Jonathan). It's fun to see some sayings that people reference later on in the Word. And it's always crazy to read about David STEPPING UP and GETTING IT DONE with Goliath. Also, the friendship between Jonathan and David is inspiring and always makes me smile and think of how lucky I am to have the friends I have :)
Tonight I am starting a devotional with a friend entitled "Adventurous Prayer" and I am PUMPED! I am truly so excited to get into the material and get to go through it with her! I certainly try and take any chance to delve deeper into my time spent in prayer and I am hoping for some good changes coming my way.
Only 10 days til the parentals make their way across the Atlantic!!! And today I found some cheap tix for James McAvoy so maybe I will get to see his play before I stalk him at the stage door haha Then it will be about 4ish days before I hear about Young Life - goodness is it already here?? Time is flyyyyyyyying by. Incredible. I'm excited to see what is going to come about concerning YL - we'll see where God takes me :)
I'm listening to the new Rascal Flatts single "Here Comes Goodbye." I watched the video this weekend and I almost cried. I bawled when I first saw their video for "What Hurts the Most" - seriously, so sad - and this one was almost there. But good to hear a new single from the Ohio boys! ALSO, in bigger music news, Brad Paisley will be coming out with a new album this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! His new single is called "Then" and it is a cute love song!
Well, halfway through the week just about! Here's a new invention that is sure to get your heads spinning!

P.S.

another random but goody:

Manliness at its core

What up.

I got to watch the space shuttle take off last night and it was quite stellar. My aunt and cousins got to watch it IN FLORIDA off their hotel balcony!! One day I will get to see it live :)

The parentals and Jamie got back safely from their trip and was so excited to get to chat with my parents! Hopefully at some point this week Jamie and I will get connected in some way!!! Always good to catch up with the grandparents and High Point's best RD as well!

Today was a fun day at school. Mercedes was back - she had been out for the past 3 months after thyroid surgery! It was a great surprise and made my day :) I've decided that I have too much free time (something I am sure I will crave once I'm stateside again) so I am going to start working on Fridays. Or at least this Friday. Next Friday my parents will be here! Then I will be on Easter break for the next two Fridays... so come April I will work on Fridays haha Not only will this let me spend more time with the babies, but it will also keep me from spending pointless amounts of money. Holla!

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day - a day that the Spaniards do not celebrate. I will be pinching, they will just not know why... I will very possibly have some awkward stories written up here tomorrow ha! Also, sad news... I think CHUCK might be getting cancelled. It's so sad to see such quality television go unappreciated. What will I do without my weekly dose of the NerdHerd?

Random findings:

I want to fly on this man's plane.

This is wrong... but plane-related as well.

BRACKETS

Another beautiful day here in Spain! I woke up for the sunrise and it was cool to see because I could also see the moon. Such a comforting thought to know that I'm looking up at the same moon as people back at home... makes 6 hours (now 5 until March 29 thank you daylight savings time!) and an ocean seem like not so far away at all :) I could see bits and pieces of the sun through clouds and finally it burst into the sky with what looked like a crown of glowing clouds above it. Pretty!

This weekend I read "What's So Amazing About Grace?" and it was a really powerful book. I think I am going to reread it in a few days. Simply an incredible reminder about the beauty of grace and how grace is the one thing that sets Christianity apart from any other religion. There are some good quotes from there and I'll put those up soon. One idea it mentioned was that every year, Fortune magazine lists the 500 richest people in the world. What if one year they listed the 500 poorest? Would that get people's attention?

The author, Yancey, talked a lot about how far grace extends and this, of course, brought up Hitler. When I visited Berlin, I went on a WW2 tour that included standing over the site of Hitler's bunker aka grave. I like to think I am a person who does not hate. But I tell you, the feeling I felt standing in that spot weree the strongest feelings of hate I have ever experienced. Having to suppress the desire to spit on someone's resting place is something I'd never had to do before and have not had to do since. The truth is though... Hitler was one of the lost just as I am. Grace is given to him just as it is given to me. The apostle Paul - a terrorist against Christ - was saved by grace and grace alone and he lets you know it time and time again in his letters. Grace. Such a beautiful, beautiful gift. Something that goes against every single notion that exists in this world. What's so amazing about it? Absolutely everything.

In honor of tonight's space shuttle launch (7:40pm EST), here's a video! I apologize for some of the language but HOLY SMOKES this is a video of someone on an Air Canada flight seeing a space shuttle take off!!!!! AHH!!! COOL!!!

Happy Pi Day!

Well yesterday did not end the way I had hoped... UNC and Duke won while Wake made an embarrassing attempt at playing the game of basketball and therefore lost. It was still a fun day thought! My roommates can't really understand why I'd want to watch 3-4 basketball games and they just don't realize that it's pretty much what everyone does in Winston or NC when the ACC Tourney rolls around. I remember in school when we'd have class going on and the tv would be turned on but muted for the early ACC games. It's a way of life haha and I love it!!!
I got an email from YL yesterday and should be hearing about placement by April 15 (less than 1 month!!!!!!!!!!) AH! I am excited. And now, the countdown officially on, my parents arrive in 13 DAYS :) I am beyond excited!
Sarah and I walked to a British grocery store today and found one of the most sought-after women in the world... Betty Crocker. We will now be treating ourselves to scrumpcious brownies! I seriously hit the jack-pot with roomies... one would love to start his own restaurant and one loveeeees to bake! Yay for Ashley haha
In other sports news, although there is really nothing else worth mentioning when it is March Madness, Tiger's return has gotten some interesting reactions in the golf world. One player even stripped naked! Awkward... Jeff Gordon is at the top of the Sprint Cup Standings (gross I think I just vomited a little) and Junior is coasting a slim 237 points behind. We've got a long season ahead of us. Let's see what else have I discovered - oh! duh! only 23 more days until regular season with the Red Sox starts!! Things are starting to get going :)
Well back to basketball... let's go Noles, let's go Buckeyes and let's go Terps!!!!!

Today is a Great Day :)

I am writing this post from my prime-ACC Tourney viewing area aka our garage! Set up around the ping pong table, I have been able to yell without reserve and relax comfortably into my porch chair. Only thing wrong so far is UNC coming back and beating Virginia Tech.


The Deacs play in a few hours and I cannot wait! What better way to spend the weekend than watching some good basketball? I feel like I'm at home :)
Yesterday I read something pretty cool that I thought I'd share. It's a quote from the book "What's So Amazing About Grace?" --

"If John were to be asked, 'What is your primary identity in life?' he would not reply, 'I am a disciple, an apostle, an evangelist, an author of one of the four Gospels,' but rather, 'I am the one Jesus loves.'"

What would it mean if I too came to the place where I saw my primary identity in life as "the one Jesus love"? How different would I view myself at the end of the day?

Isn't that a great little reminder of how much our Creator loves us?? It is my goal this week, and hopefully from here on out, to remember this and see myself through the eyes of my God, through the eyes of the One who loves me best... to remember what has been done for me and that I am called to do more in this life than I am currently doing. Also, to remember that someone is there for me and gives me strength in all that I attempt!
I just listened to a sermon from Mountain Christian entitled "Walk Across the Room" and one point the pastor was making is to "be obedient to His nudgings." How much easier and inspiring is it to be obedient to the one who loves me, for I am "the one who Jesus loves." Cool little tie-in there. God is good about those moments. I'm excited to see what is in store in that regard this weekend and week.
I still don't think anyone reads this, but if you are reading it and are near Asheboro, NC in May, check this out! It's going to be really special and a great way to really feel connected to people around the world who are in need of help! My good friend Allie B spent some time in South Africa at the end of last year and is really passionate about this upcoming event at her church! So if you are around, check it out!

The games are on - I'm going to watch - click here for a laugh!

be obedient to His nudgings.

A Lesson in Camels

Wow... has it really been another week of work? Time is flying by so quickly. Real quick... last night Stephen and I went to Charro's apartment for dinner with some teachers! Her apartment was huge and has rooftop access which we sooooo desire. She had a ridiculous amount of food for us. To start, we had more meat than I could ever imagine in one meal. We had jamón, lomo, pato (DUCK!) and chorizo that was made by Yolanda's grandmother! On Tuesday I got the lowdown on the pig and how Spaniards are particularly prideful in their love and use of said pig. I was told that homemade chorizo involves making sausage and then cleaning the linings of the intestine (cleaning very, very well) and then using the lining as the casing for the sausage. However it is made, it is delicious!
So we had those meats with cheese, bread, some weird tuna fish thing I did not try and ensalada rusa (some cheesy potato salad looking thing with pineapples, shrimp and crab - yum!). Then she brought out a seafood tortilla (potato cake with shrimp). Then she had the best porkchops this side of the Atlantic and a chicken dish with mushrooms. I'm not a huge funghi fan but these mushrooms were la bomba. Then we had some wine from Asun's village and it was just a fantastic way to break my fast :) Really fun. We were over there for 3.5 hours and when we left at midnight, two other teachers stayed until FOUR IN THE MORNING. They couldn't believe I try and get 8 hours of sleep a night... they average about 4. How Estrella works with 3 year-olds on 4 hours of sleep is beyond me. Power to her!
Okay, now on to the camels! Some of you may know this little fella who hails from North Carolina:

But he is not the camel we will be talking about. This camel looks more like this:

He lives in the Middle East as is called a dromedary camel. The Bactrian camel is typically found in Asia and has 2 humps. Dromedary has 1.

Now for the camel lesson! (These facts are straight out of "Walking the Bible" p 252-253)
1) the camel is the only mammal capable of surviving without water for as much as two weeks in the summer and TWO MONTHS in the winter
2) unlike most people think, the hump of the camel does not store water. the camel stores water in its tissues and cells and conserves water by constantly increading its body temperature to match the climate (as much as 12 degrees farenheit) AKA it does not need to use water to cool itself down like humans (who must maintain a steady body temperature)
3) the hump of the camel is filled with fat - as much as 80 pounds of fat - and allows the camel to live without food for long periods of time
4) camels have broad feet so that they do not sink in the sand and they have tight nostrils to block out sand during sandstorms
5) the camel's forehead has thick bone visors that block the sunlight from the camel's eyes
6) by far the coolest... the camel has extra eyelids that move from side to side like a windshield wiper to remove sand from its eyeballs. the camel can actually close its third eyelid and see through it during a sandstorm - ridiculous.

Other interesting quotes from this book (there are LOTS so if you don't care, scroll down to the bottom for a funny video!):

• Agatha Christie (who was married to an archaeologist): "The great thing about being married to an archaeologist is that the older you get, the more he loves you."

• A proverb in Giza: "Things dread time. Time dreads the pyramids."

• I learned the terms "Egpytmania" and "Pyramidiots"

• "Earth collapses with the engineering of the ants; lizards smack the pebbles with their tails; the sun fires seeds in salvos from their pods; pigeons misconnect with dry branches; and stones, left loosely to their own devices, can find the muscle to descend the hill. The desert may be empty, but it's the least quiet place I've ever been."

• When your god is self-reliance, and you let yourself down, there is nowhere else to turn.

• And whatever route they may have taken, this terrain would have been ideal as a place of revelation. Come face-to-face with the high mountains of southern Sinai, and whatever one's orientation, one pauses with anticipation. The Bible says that when the Israelites beheld Mount Sinai, they "trembled." At the moment, I could understand why.

• Water becomes wisdom. Food becomes salvation. And sandstorms become poetry...

• Bedouin philosophy of hospitality: host first, ask questions later (like Abraham when he invites 3 unknown visitors into his tent)

• "So what feature of this house are you most proud of?" "If you have such a house, your wife is pleased, so you are pleased. I think it's the same everywhere you go."

• the origin of the term "stiff-necked" - reference to an ox that refuses to lower its neck, which it must do to be properly fitted into a yoke

• "For as long as we were in the Sinai, we talked about food. We talked about the food we were eating. We talked about the food we wanted to eat. And mostly we talked about how we couldn't complain about the food we were eating because that would make us too much like the Israelites. Misspeak and we'd be eating manna for forty years."

• Science is never going to prove the divine, but it's never going to disprove it either. We can explain many things, but we can't explain what's inside the human soul. That's God.

• Most Muslims don't know why the Jews care about the Holy Land. They don't know that the Jews believe it was promised to them (in reference to the fact that Moses in the Koran has no sense of purpose for leading the Jews to the Promised Land - in fact, there is no Promised Land at all)

• Just like the Israelites had to go around Gaza to enter Israel from the Sinai, the British in World War I could not capture Gaza either and had to go around as well. - this is a pretty cool story, you'll have to read the book to get the whole picture!

• Ben-Gurion "My whole philosophy is strongly influenced by the Bible. What is clear to me is that there is a physical world and a spiritual world, and I am saddened that our perception of the spiritual world is very primitive. It hasn't evolved at the same rate as our perception of the physical world."

• King Abdullah II of Jordan was a 43rd generation direct descendant of Mohammed, the founder of Islam

• The Bible lives today, not because it's untouchable, but precisely because it has been touched - it has been challenged - and it remains undefeated.

• The Israelites begin their trek to the Promised Land, but at each step along the way, they resist putting their faith in God. Finally, after the spies, God gets so fed up that He lashes out. And what punishment does He levy? He doesn't kill them. He doesn't send them back to Egypt. He doesn't even rescind His oath of land. Instead, He banishes them to four decades in the desert. Only by spending that additional time in the wilderness will they fully purge themselves of their past and become a nation of God.

• A leadership lesson from the life of Moses: Moses could easily have gone to the Promised Land with God, but without the people. He could easily have gone with the people, but without God. Instead, he chose to go with both, and the only way to do that was to stay in the desert until both sides learned to get along. That's why they stuck around for forty years.

• When you live in the city, you can control everything. You control the temperature, you control the food, you control the water. In the desert, you have to take things as they are. So why stay? Because we don't control everything. When you live in the bubble, you see just what human beings make. When you live here you see things other people don't. It's difficult. Sometimes you get frustrated. You want to press a button and make things better. But you can't. I invite you in the winter, to see a flood, and you will see that we are not masters of the world. It's the most destructive thing I've ever seen, and the most beautiful. It comes out of nowhere. No signal. No warning. Just suddenly the skies open and the water starts to fall... when I saw it for the first time, I almost cried. I know all the things it was washing away. But I also knew what it would bring in the spring.

• In the end, I believe the essential spirit that animates those places also animates me. If that spirit is God, then I found God in the course of my journey. If that spirit is life, then I found life. If that spirit is awe, then I found awe. Part of me suspects it's all three, and that none can exist without the other.

• All I had to do was remember, for what I was looking for I somehow already knew.

And that's a wrap.

And in closing, I offer this blessing found in Numbers:

"May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord shine His face upon you and favor you. May the Lord lift up His face toward you and grant you peace."

Tourney Time :)

I read today that Ty Lawson's toe is swollen and this might bench him for a game or two of the ACC Tournament. I'm all about playing teams at their greatest strength because then when you beat them you really beat them, but... Mr. Lawson not playing would greatly change the dynamic of this year's ACC Tournament. I guess we will see what happens on Friday! I am beyond excited for brackets to come out!!!

Countdown til parents arrive: 16 days! WOOOOT!

The sermons from the church I was talking about last night have, again, been good so far! I'm about to listen to the third part of the Pure Sex series and it's all about the inner lives of women... maybe some real insight into the ever-changing minds of us women! Ha!
In other news, today is the second day of fasting with my sister and so far it's going pretty well. I am still doing fast-lite by not eating between sunup and sundown. Tonight we have a big teacher dinner so I'm glad that this week is still a fast-lite and I can participate in that! My roommate, Sarah, made cookies recently though and they have been staring at me all afternoon. Around 8:00 I will scarf one or two down and it. will. be. delicious! The fasting thing has taken me by surprise. I really had no idea what to expect and it is a pretty cool experience. We are doing it to consciously spend time praying for our family and it's really cool to have that connection with my sister and also to feel a bit of sacrifice for the ones I love.
Last night, for the first time since sophomore year of college, I had a freak-out moment about dying. I used to have these all the time back in high school where I'd literally have to pace around my room and bathroom trying to get my mind into something else. Last night, I was reading Isaiah 35 which is subtitled "Joy of the Redeemed," when it happened. I'm still not sure why I had one of these moments, but I pretty much jumped out of my bed, ran down the stairs to the other side of the house and finally knelt on the ground and prayed. It was an odd experience because, as a Christian, you would think that my hope and my desire would be to leave this world as quickly as possible and be with my King. I'll say now that that is not the case in my heart (at this moment). I'm praying for a faith like Paul's, Philippians 1:23 - I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.
I try and live my life and communicate with people as if today is my last. I cannot stand the thought of departing this world without first being able to tell everyone how they make me feel. This "freak-out" was a little different though in that it had nothing to do with this. Thankfully, I felt love and assurance sweep over me as soon as I brought my heart to God. Maybe all the reading I am doing about burial places and archaeology is seeping into my unconsciousness...
Well, off to the sermons!