Anhelar = to long for

Sevilla

I had a big envelope on the table for me when I came home for lunch on Monday. It was from Steve and Kay Veldhorst. It was this little girl called Olivia like Flat Stanley. It's from a 2nd grader in West Allis, WI. It's sent around between people to learn more about the cultures and different areas. I have to write in the journal and include a post card or something to help the students learn about the city. It's a pretty cool idea. Then I just send it on to the next person and it ends up back to their classroom in May. I'm the 3rd person to get it. It was fun to get it in the mail.

Teaching on Tuesday was great! I got to talk to Antonio and Fernando for most of it. Antonio is definitely in the teenager stage and not very willing to talk. I got him talking about soccer for awhile so that was good. Fernando is a lot more open and got back from Ireland not long ago so is more confident with his English. I found out they have 7 different houses in Spain! I cannot believe that. It makes me kind of sick. Then I got to teach Lucia more numbers. She has a writing test soon with them. I really really like her. She comes running into the room with the biggest smile and is so eager to learn all the time. She sits by me at dinner too and asks her brothers how to say things in English and then asks me. She's the cutest thing! Praise God for children and smiles and my opportunity to spend time with them!

I came home from teaching on Tuesday and Nacho had ordered Chinese. I planned to meet Cole, and when I was leaving, I saw Nacho on the couch with his shirt pulled up to his chest with his belly sticking out. He said it really good and he was super full. He said I could have some now or later if I wanted. I couldn't stop laughing at him. He looked so funny with his belly like that!

On Wednesday morning, Kate and I went to Nadine’s house, the woman with Students For Christ. We made banana pancakes and bacon for breakfast. We had leftover mushed bananas on top and real maple syrup from Michigan that 2 girls had left her from last semester. It was so good to have a real breakfast! Kate and I were able to share our testimonies with her, and Nadine shared some of her wisdom and past experiences. I’m so thankful God blessed us with that opportunity to have a little taste of home and use Nadine’s wisdom.

After class on Wednesday, Kate and I went to Encuentro which is worship with Trinity. We focused on, “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” 1 Peter 5:5-10. It was really great to be able to spend so much time focusing on just a few verses and allow it to become alive. Two parts that hit me were with clothing yourself to become humble and casting all anxiety on God. With the clothing part, I saw it’s relation to choosing what you wear. Most nights, I choose what I’m going to wear the next day and set it out so I don’t wake Kelsey up in the morning. In the same way, I can choose humility the night before, put in on the next day, and let others see the clothing of humility that I’ve chosen to wear. I was also reminded that God wants all my worries. I often fail and try to take care of the small stuff on my own. I forget that God wants the big things and the small things. I cannot do anything without Christ, and it was good to be reminded that God does care and wants it all.

I taught Miguel and Manuel on Thursday, but it was one on one this time. We reviewed the past simple tense, and I taught them different ways to say the time using quarter after, five to, midnight, etc. It went by pretty quickly. Then I had little snack dinners with Carmen, the mom. She said they always have that kind of dinner on Wednesdays. It was nice to be able to practice my Spanish with her. She said that I can stay with them this summer between the internship and Carmen's! At least I'm pretty sure she said that...haha. I hate that I don't know for sure. I think she said if I couldn't find something else to do, then I could live with them. I could practice my Spanish with her and English with the kids. She said Lucia really wants to learn more and Miguel was really glad to be working one on one with me. It was good to receive encouragement like that. Please continue to pray for me and my interaction with the family and with the decision of whether or not to stay longer in July.

On Thursday, I was able to meet up with a girl named Val who interned with World Team last summer in Italy. She was able to tell me a little about her experience and different things she did. She told me the one thing she could guarantee was that I would be meeting a lot of people. She’s a really sweet girl, and we hope to meet up again.

While I was having a quiet time in my room, Nacho came in and started talking to me. He asked me what I was doing, and I said I was reading the Bible. He asked what I was writing, and I said it was prayers and things that I learn. He said he started reading the Bible at one point, but it was too big. I told him it wasn’t meant to be read all at once. He asked me more questions about it, and I was able to share James 1:2-4 with him with my bilingual Bible. He was really stressed about his final exam, and things with his girlfriend weren’t going well. Praise God for opening the door with him! Pray that I would continue to be able to share with him and have the right words.
He passed his final exam on Friday and was extremely happy! Now, he’s done with college. I told him now he’s an adult now, and he just laughed. Concha has been doing a lot better lately. She no longer tells us about her headaches, and her backaches are getting better. She’s still very busy but much happier. Thank you for your prayers for her.

Thursday night, I was able to do a prayer walk with about 20 students. We split into 2 groups of Los Remedios and Triana. Since I live in Los Remedios, I went with that group. We walked and prayed at the river, the University, the busy intersection by a bridge, the church, and a park. Praise God for the freedom to do that and the fellowship too! I was able to talk to Rachel Jonker, who is from Brandon and knew Tom and Angi and now is here with the Trinity program. It was neat to be able to see another familiar face.

Friday before dinner, Kelsey and I went to a cafe together. It was really relaxing. We came home and had dinner just us because everyone else was gone. We got talking about her high school and what it was like. It sounded awful! We also got on the topic of the Catholic faith. It was really interesting to learn more about it and hear her views on it. I hope to continue to learn more as it is important to her and most people in Spain are Catholic too. Then around 12 we went out to meet her friend Lucia, who she knew when she lived in Turkey and now lives in Sevilla. We met up with Lucia's brother and his friends. It was way more fun to go out with them than the American students. It was nice to be able to use my Spanish too! It was 3:30 and we were going to another bar, but I said I couldn't. They tried really hard to convince me, but then luckily Kelsey didn't have her id so Lucia and her walked me home and got her id. The rest of the group ended up leaving and Kelsey came back home. We stayed up talking and thinking of games we could play like teacher, store, and airplane because we played office the other night and had a lot of fun…haha. So I last saw the clock at a little after 4:30 and got up at 7:00 for the next day. Oh boy! I thank God for a fun night, the opportunity to meet new people, and the chance to learn more about my roomie.

God really provided energy for me for the next day as Cole and I were supposed to go on our day trip. We bought our tickets but missed the bus. The tickets said bus 1 so we thought it left from spot 1, but then 20 minutes after it was supposed to leave, we asked someone, and they said it left from 12 or 13. I was so confused! I asked how we're supposed to know, and he said we're supposed to ask when we buy the ticket. Wow! No way we would have known. So we switched our tickets to Sunday, and then walked around Sevilla and just relaxed and took pictures. It was really nice to be able to relax. In the afternoon, Kelsey, Cole, and I got ice cream from a place called Raya; it was so good! Praise God for a relaxing day in Sevilla.

Sunday morning, Cole and I made the bus to Aracena. I got a little motion sick on the way there, but I was alright after I got some fresh air when we got off. The bus drivers go so fast around the curves. It felt like my dad was driving again…haha, you know I love you Dad! We didn't have a map or anything at first and just wandered around. We eventually got one and saw lots of different things. The city has these nice little signs by their buildings that are important, and it’s super helpful. The customer service that we experienced there was great! People actually smiled and were happy to help us. I haven’t experienced that since I’ve been in Spain. We went to la Gruta de las Maravillas, a cave. I was amazed with God's creation. It was so beautiful. We weren’t allowed to take pictures, but I would highly recommend looking up pictures online. Then we went to the Ham Museum. We had to watch a video that wasn't even about pigs before we could look at stuff. It was comical. Then we went up this hill to an old church and castle ruins. It was so beautiful and the view was incredible! We sat on the wall overlooking the hills and had our packed bocadillos; it was great. We saw sheep on the side of the hill and a real shepherd too. It was really nice to see grass and trees and hills and just be in God's creation. I loved it! It was a really fun day together, and I'm so thankful God has blessed us with being here together. Praise God for a great day!

Kelsey and I had dinner alone again Sunday night and I found out she didn't know what cheese curds were. She never heard of them. She hadn't heard of the cold or the fried ones! I'm going to have to send her some when we get back to the states!

I’ve been reading the book Seizing Your Divine Moment by Erwin Raphael McManus and have been learning a lot of really neat things that I want to share. I’m going to share the quotes with you from the book that really hit me.
“You cannot follow God in neutral. God has created you to do something. It is not enough to stop the wrong and then by paralyzed when it comes to the right. God has created you to do good” (35).
This is from the author’s conversation with another man. “I asked him if he thought that Hitler and Stalin had been capable of thwarting the sovereignty of God. He said, ‘Of course not.’ I pointed out that if men and women who gave their lives for a purpose counter to the will of God could not stop God’s purpose in history, how could someone who longs to do God’s will and chooses to do something in line with God’s character? I told him I had too much respect for the sovereignty of God to think that he or I could mess it up” (42).
“What God makes clear is that when we’re committed to seizing His divine moments, He’ll make sure He gets us to the right place at the right time. What God can do through a person who’s willing to act is limitless” (43).
“Here’s where the dilemma lies: this can actually be paralyzing for a sincere follower of Jesus Christ. You don’t want to passionately do the wrong thing. You desperately want to do what’s on God’s heart, not just on your heart. Here’s the liberating reality: when you are passionate about God, you can trust your passions. God uses our passions as a compass to guide us” ( 47).
This last quote is probably the one that really spoke to me the most. I think I can often be too preoccupied with worrying about whether or not something is in God’s will, that I don’t even do anything. I was too fearful to go against God’s will, but what a reminder that when we walk with God, we can trust that He’s guiding us. Praise God for using other people like this author to speak truth into my life.

Today is El día de Andalucía so we don’t have class today. It’s sunny and beautiful so I hope to be outside after lunch. This week, I’m going to visit Carmen after class on Thursday and will be coming home after midnight on Monday. I’m really excited to see her and meet her family and friends!