Stopped to smell the flowers...really just posing for my own camera...grin!! Fun times though!
The three of us were sitting on an old war machine...though the end of the barrel was unfortunately closed up!! Oh man!! smile....
A lot has happened since my last post on this blog, which I guess was the first of last week. So, I'm going to do my best to update you all..
I don't remember much about the first part of last week...I guess it was rather usual with nothing outstanding that occurred. But starting Wednesday things began to change. I was chatting on skype with the previous aupair of the girls, who I've been sharing about Christ with. She is seeking and I believe that she has finally made her decision to follow Christ!! Woohoo!! That's very exciting news... She is now eager to share her new experience with her friends and loved ones, so we were discussing sharing Christ with the family I live with. Though I have shared here and there where the opportunity has arisen, I haven't been extremely bold in trying to share the gospel with this family. I've spent much time in prayer for them, hoping that my actions would reflect Christ and He would draw them to Himself. I don't know that this isn't still the best avenue, because who wants something that's shoved down their throats. Nonetheless, I was challenged in talking with Kari on skype that night and asking the Lord to help me share the love of God with the Doval family in both word and deed, not just actions and lifestyle. Thursday morning I met up with my friend Susana to go shopping in an outdoor market. She has continued to be such a blessing to me, calling me to do this or that with her and being very patient with my communication limitations. 
Anyway, over lunch, we got on the topic of sharing Christ with the Doval family, inviting them to church, etc... WoW, two people in less than 24 hours challenging me to be bold in words as well as actions! Thursday afternoon was going relatively well, until right before swimming lessons. One of my girls decided she did not want to go. To keep things short, I was alternately furious & frustrated and tired emotionally & physically. When we finally got home from swimming lessons, I was hurting and unsure how to deal with the situation. I finally ended up in my room in tears, pouring my heart out to God. Before long, the Lord turned my tears to near laughter and my prayers from my pain to the little girl in the other room and her need for Christ. As I prayed, the Lord totally restored my peace and joy (The joy of the Lord is my strength.). While making dinner, my little girl came into the kitchen still frustrated, but seriously thinking over something I had said to her earlier about loving people who had hurt me and about loving her even though she was hurting me as well. She finally asked me how I could love someone who had hurt me (it's not something she can relate to in her life) and I told her one because I chose to and two that I couldn't do it without Christ in me. What followed was at least a 15 minute conversation about the love of God...with her asking many questions. This was the only topic at dinner that night and so one of the other girls (the youngest) also overheard the conversation. I was asked questions that I can only pray that the Lord reveals to her the answer to, because I felt my answers were inadequate. The one phrase that excites me from the conversation is when she said, "I want to believe in God." She isn't sure there is a God or if there is only one God...and if there is only one God, which one is it. Please keep my little Irene in your prayers as she is hungry for God, someone who loves more than she can understand. Please continue to pray for me as well...I have extended and open invitation to her to come with me to church if she ever wants to. Their concept of church is a Catholic church, so I don't think she's very excited about the idea, but I was wrong once about her being the one interested in God...so maybe I'm wrong about church as well. Anyway, you could say that my mourning was turned into joy and my heart ache into something entirely worth it and rewarding!! PTL!!!
Anyway, over lunch, we got on the topic of sharing Christ with the Doval family, inviting them to church, etc... WoW, two people in less than 24 hours challenging me to be bold in words as well as actions! Thursday afternoon was going relatively well, until right before swimming lessons. One of my girls decided she did not want to go. To keep things short, I was alternately furious & frustrated and tired emotionally & physically. When we finally got home from swimming lessons, I was hurting and unsure how to deal with the situation. I finally ended up in my room in tears, pouring my heart out to God. Before long, the Lord turned my tears to near laughter and my prayers from my pain to the little girl in the other room and her need for Christ. As I prayed, the Lord totally restored my peace and joy (The joy of the Lord is my strength.). While making dinner, my little girl came into the kitchen still frustrated, but seriously thinking over something I had said to her earlier about loving people who had hurt me and about loving her even though she was hurting me as well. She finally asked me how I could love someone who had hurt me (it's not something she can relate to in her life) and I told her one because I chose to and two that I couldn't do it without Christ in me. What followed was at least a 15 minute conversation about the love of God...with her asking many questions. This was the only topic at dinner that night and so one of the other girls (the youngest) also overheard the conversation. I was asked questions that I can only pray that the Lord reveals to her the answer to, because I felt my answers were inadequate. The one phrase that excites me from the conversation is when she said, "I want to believe in God." She isn't sure there is a God or if there is only one God...and if there is only one God, which one is it. Please keep my little Irene in your prayers as she is hungry for God, someone who loves more than she can understand. Please continue to pray for me as well...I have extended and open invitation to her to come with me to church if she ever wants to. Their concept of church is a Catholic church, so I don't think she's very excited about the idea, but I was wrong once about her being the one interested in God...so maybe I'm wrong about church as well. Anyway, you could say that my mourning was turned into joy and my heart ache into something entirely worth it and rewarding!! PTL!!!
Thursday night, I went with Susana to a Bible study, where I had previously asked for prayer for Irenita...now I was able to give them the wonderful news about how the Lord was at work in answering our prayers. PTL!!!
Friday was another enjoyable day... Susana and I cooked ourselves some lunch at her house after taking an exploratory walk around the surrounding countryside. Good times...and restful. Friday night, I was able to spend some time with the oldest of my girls, Celia...watching a movie in my room while the others were otherwised occupied with friends or sleeping. I'm thankful for every opportunity I get to spend with Celia one on one, as she is older and has many activities that take her in a different direction than the rest of the family...as well as she is often studying. Today, Monday the 25th, is her 14th birthday...we began the celebration with a birthday breakfast of chocolate cake and gifts...grin!! There were conffetti bombs, streamers, and other decor... The Lord gave me the idea of a sign for her door from a picture I had taken of a sign reading, "Cafe Bar Celia"...so I had it blown up and printed and gave that to her this morning. I think it was a hit!! PTL!!!
Saturday afternoon, I helped out with a marathon in a nearby town...working with some of the youth from the church to direct traffic away from the route the runners were taking. It was quite an interesting experience. 
We weren't given the greatest of instructions and things were a bit confusing, but the best part was watching the runners.. They had a childrens run first, followed by older kids, then the adults, and finally adults with their dogs.. Susana and I were in fits of laughter watching the runners with their dogs attached in the front at the waist. The dogs were supposed to run in front and be a pulling team member with their owner, but some were running behind their owners, with the owners coaxing them along...others were running beside their owners and were no help at all. It was quite hilarious really! Wish I'd taken a picture, but you'd probably have to see it for yourself still. Then there was an 89 year old man who ran the entire marathon and everyone cheered when he rolled across the finish line...He wasn't the last one either!!
Saturday afternoon, I helped out with a marathon in a nearby town...working with some of the youth from the church to direct traffic away from the route the runners were taking. It was quite an interesting experience. We weren't given the greatest of instructions and things were a bit confusing, but the best part was watching the runners.. They had a childrens run first, followed by older kids, then the adults, and finally adults with their dogs.. Susana and I were in fits of laughter watching the runners with their dogs attached in the front at the waist. The dogs were supposed to run in front and be a pulling team member with their owner, but some were running behind their owners, with the owners coaxing them along...others were running beside their owners and were no help at all. It was quite hilarious really! Wish I'd taken a picture, but you'd probably have to see it for yourself still. Then there was an 89 year old man who ran the entire marathon and everyone cheered when he rolled across the finish line...He wasn't the last one either!!After our traffic-directing fun, we parked ourselves in a cafe (typical Spanish passtime) for drinks and then headed to Susana's sister's place for a pizza party.. What fun times. A couple Argentinans, a Brazilian, and local Spaniards, along with a guitar!! We enjoyed singing worship songs, eaing pizza, downing a container of ice cream (chocolate per Susana and I's choice), and fellowshipping together until I was barely holding my eyes open. Grin! 
Sunday, I found myself off on another adventure with Susana and a couple other girls from the church in Santiago. We headed about an 1- to 1 & 1/2 hours north of Santiago to visit a small church Sunday morning, then had lunch with the family of one of the girls with us, and finally to head off toward A Coruna, one of the larger cities in the northwest corner of Spain. 
We enjoyed a park overlooking the sea on one side and the city on the other, taking a TON of pictures. I took over 100 with my camera in that one day! The sea was gorgeous, extending out forever it would seem, the city was looming on the otherside, and we were in between both enjoying the views, getting lost in a maze for a while, and exploring the place. 
I will include pictures of some of our adventures that day! We ended our afternoon in a cafe/bar enjoying coffee or tea. This cafe was unlike any of the others I've been in so far, decorated in an old-fashioned style...one corner was decorated to look like an old barber shop with the hair dryers...It was fun!
We enjoyed a park overlooking the sea on one side and the city on the other, taking a TON of pictures. I took over 100 with my camera in that one day! The sea was gorgeous, extending out forever it would seem, the city was looming on the otherside, and we were in between both enjoying the views, getting lost in a maze for a while, and exploring the place. I will include pictures of some of our adventures that day! We ended our afternoon in a cafe/bar enjoying coffee or tea. This cafe was unlike any of the others I've been in so far, decorated in an old-fashioned style...one corner was decorated to look like an old barber shop with the hair dryers...It was fun! 
Well, I think that pretty much gets you all up to date. This week holds a trip to London, leaving Wednesday and returning next Monday. Please keep me in your prayers as I travel and explore a new place. I'm going to visit an old friend of mine in London who I haven't seen for nearing 4 years. Woohoo!! I'm rather excited about the prospect of finding my way around London on foot.. Grin!! So, maybe I'm crazy, but I don't know. grin... This London trip comes at a perfect time for me because I need a break from constant learning here in Spain...learning language, culture, etc.. I'm loving it here, but have found recently that I could use a bit of a break from the constant challenge to communicate. Even when people speak English, I'm still challenged to speak clearly and to use words that won't cause confusion (simple language and not idioms and phrases that are only American). PTL!!! Please keep me in your prayers for continued grace for the challenges. I am in no way ready to come home yet.. grin
So, starting Friday, my weekend became very busy and lovely. A great way to follow up a great week. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous so that probably has something to do with why the week was so wonderful...I guess a little sunshine cheers me up quite a bit. This week was filled with running, sitting or walking in parks, and being out of doors.. Very restful!
So, back to Friday. I met with a friend of mine, Susana, in the morning enjoying the great outdoors and sunshine. Then later I met up with another friend, Isabel, for a chat...she helps me a bit with my Spanish. Then, because I had Friday night free this week, which is unusual because I normally have to work...so anyway, I took advantage of the time off and went to the evening meeting at the church. It's always fun to get together with the people of the church. I enjoy the Christian fellowship, worship, and more.. After the meeting, I ended up in Susana's house where she and I enjoyed a quiet evening. I don't always know where I'm going or what I'm doing until I get there...sometimes people forget that I don't understand everything they say to each other...grin...oh the joys of language barriers. They can actually be quite interesting if you don't let them be the barrier, but rather ride them out...grin! So, anyway, finally got to bed late on Friday night and up again the next morning for work. This Saturday morning was much more relaxed than others have been as the girls activities have moved to Saturday afternoons. PTL!!! I made oatmeal cookies this Saturday with the youngest as a helper. After lunch, I headed out to meet up with Susana and some other girls to go to an outdoor market in a nearby town, Berta Mirans. It was a lovely day to be out of doors, walking through a nearby park after browsing the market a bit. Good times..
Saturday evening, we girls hurried to the church for the youth meeting. This Saturday's meeting was a bit different than others have been, but no less interesting. We were split into groups to answer questions together using the Bible. I ended up in a group with the 3 people who speak the most English and still wasn't always sure what I was supposed to do. They did translate the questions for me mostly and then I was given a question and expected to answer it in Spanish...haha... To keep this short, just imagine me standing in front of about 20 pairs of eyes with a Bible verse, but not being really sure what I'm supposed to say...grin... oh well! Grin and bear it! After the meeting, we had some snacks at the church and then headed to the bowling alley... I wouldn't call myself a good bowler, but we had fun!! I got the impression that they got a kick out of watching me bowl. I didn't do too awful though, coming in second I think....JPG)
Saturday night, Elisa & I stayed with Susana in her comfortable, lovely two-bedroom apartment. Elisa is from a city further north, A Coruna (if you want to Google it). This arrangement was the best for us catching a ride the next morning to the concert/special church service that was being held just outside of town. Susana unfortunately had to work this Sunday morning, so I rode with her sister, Milli. This Sunday, the Noia & Santiago churches combined for a special singer/speaker named Luigi something.. We had a great time of worship that led right into a time of ministry.. I eventually got a bit lost with all the Spanish, but did my best to stay focused and enjoyed the music and God's presence. From there, I started out going one place, but then somehow ended up with a group of young people for lunch in a hamburger joint. Our group consisted of kids from Ecuador, Bolivia, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, and me from the States. By 3pm I'd say it was deffinitely time for lunch. After lunch, we piled into cars and headed to a shopping complex (much like a mall) to the McD's for ice cream (or coffee if you're me and full) and then another game of bowling. After much fun, food, fellowship, and more...I made it home Sunday evening exhausted! Good times...
I'm so thankful for Christian fellowship. It seems like there is some meeting, prayer meeting, or Bible study scheduled for nearly everyday of the week. I normally can only make it to the ones on the weekends, but am blessed even though I don't always understand everything. My Spanish is getting better and I'm very thnkful for people's patience with me as I butcher their language in an attempt to communicate. Grin!!! PTL!!!
It was a huge blessing to spend a weekend with the Towner family once again. They were in the midst of a mighty house cleaning as they continue to prepare to move back to the USA...so I just pitched in where I could and enjoyed being with them. We enjoyed a lovely stroll on the beach later Saturday evening...I enjoyed watching the gorgeous sunset and playing with my camera (see pictures)... I was also blessed with the opportunity to visit with my parents on the Towner's vodaphone (a phone that makes a phone call to the States as though it were local). I enjoyed a lovely Sunday with the Noia church body...followed by an authentic Mexican meal made by one of the ladies in the church... Wow, was it tastey though simple!! 
I spent Sunday evening driving around the countryside and found it so very relaxing being able to simply rest and ride along while Mrs. Towner bought some fresh milk from a farm about 45 mintues drive!
Anyway... so, you're probably wondering about the "bar" setting. Well, in Spain a bar is where everyone socializes over coffee, coke, beers, and food. Bars are a place for families, young, old, single, etc... They do have a drinking age limit here, which I believe is 18. Other than being a bit smokey normally, it is quite similar to a cafe or coffeeshop, though maybe they are a bit more crowded or frequented here. 
So, off we set to visit a waterfall, take a walk in the countryside, and visit an ancient-looking monastery. We didn't get to all of our planned activities due to limited time, but what we saw was gorgeous and it was really quite a lovely day out. 
On the way home, we twisted and winded around the countryside in search of Irenita's friend's home so we could pick her up...I was quickly shown the difficulty of unmarked country roads in the Galician Region of Spain. Smile... It was beautiful, but no fun being lost. Hahah...Finally, we found it and headed home.
We finally made it to the house after stopping at various other places along the way to see if someone else wanted to come along, and Susana wanted to show me her house while she got something (interestingly she lives alone - strange thing for Spanish young people from what I've heard). After devouring about 4 or 5 pizzas (homemade) as they came out of the oven, and then desserts that followed, we settled down with those still remaining to play a game like gestures. We split into girls versus boys and had to act out movies for our team who were trying to guess the title. Oh dear...what difficulty...especially with language difficulties. Grin.. I got the movie titled, "Day After Tomorrow" and had no idea how to act out "Day" let alone the rest of it.. to say the least, the girls failed miserably and the boys triumphed proudly...grin! We soon broke up our acting and headed home. The girls dropped me off at my place but on our way we saw some interestingly costumed people: men dressed as women for one. Well, that was the end of yet another amazing day!! PTL!!! Oh wait...almost forgot the Argentinian herbal tea!! It was quite a burst of flavor...check out the cool cup it was served to me in.
The girls dressed up on Friday for parties at school, but other than that not much happened until Tuesday. We ate much meat Monday and Tuesday as is customary during this holiday. We ate or had available pig's head (not really as gross as it sounds and tastey), ribs, rabbits, ham slices, sausages, some spiced meat that is stored in pig's stomach for marination and cooking, and other non-meat foods such as garbanzo beans, greens similar to spinach (but not), and plenty of desserts. Needless to say, I am going running today if able. Smile.. 
Tuesday morning, Irene wanted to dress up and meet a friend. I was invited to go along and so dressed in a red and black dress, red hat with a feather, a red glittery mask, and curls I headed out for a chocolate in a cafe while Irene visited with her friend. (pictures included) This was rather interesting, but I was soon tired of being dressed up! The curls were a huge hit with Irene and the girls as well as with everyone else who saw them. Everyone wanted to know where I'd had it done...to which I replied that I had done it myself. Grin!! 
