So here is just a brief overview of my day at ECA. Well, the school day starts just after 9 am and begins with the bright, smiling faces of 3 precious first graders. They represent Korean, South American (I don't know the country for sure), and Spain. So cute! Then there was high schooler who has lived in both France and Ireland but is of Spanish decent. I got to work one-on-one with him. We did analogies and let's just say it has been quite some time since I had done anything with analogies...another humbling experience. Then we worked with two middle school girls. This class was great because I was able to see how the teachers are able to bring Christ and the Christian life into relation to the lessons taught in the classroom. It was great! Lunch was next and it offered a great time to fellowship with some of the other teachers. Afterwards I observed as Mr. Humes worked with a high schooler. Then I was able to work again a bit with a 5th grader - he was so funny. Needless to say I had a wonderful day.

So the question continues to be - is this it? Am I to go to Spain next year? I still don't know if I have a definite answer...but last night during my quiet time I had been praying about whether or not this is where God desires me to be. After praying a bit I opened the Advent devotional which GWU puts out and began to read the short story for yesterday. But then I turned it to the Bible passage - Isaiah 6. Immediately verse 8 jumped off the page at me, "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!"

I'll leave that to ponder and pray over. Please pray along with me.

Grace and peace!

España

Well, it has come to my realization that I may not have told everyone I was heading off to Spain. In the whirlwind that it came together I'm not even entirely sure who I told and who I didn't. So I figured it was time to revive the old blogging system.

Where am I?

I am currently in Camarma de Esterueles, Spain. It's a tiny little village just outside of the capital city of Madrid. (It's also very close to the town, Alcalá

de Henares, where the famous Spanish author Miguel de Cer

vantes - he wrote Don Quixote - grew up).

My reason for being in this quaint, little Spanish town is to visit Evangelical Christian Academy. ECA is an English-speaking Christian school set up to serve missionary families by providing education for their children at an affordable cost. But the school also accepts children who are MKs or English-speaking, so they do have an ESL program :) I am staying with the Humes Family, who are World Witness missionaries working with ECA. They are a wonderful family and I am definitely enjoying being able to spend time with them this week.

Why are you in Spain?

As I said I am visiting ECA in hopes that I may come and teach there this upcoming school year. I would be teaching ESL and possibly another subject. I have a meeting with the headmaster this Wednesday, so hopefully that will help to give me a better idea of this picture. If I decided to come to Spain, hopefully I would be able to get involved in not only the ministry of school but also in ministries which would help get me connected with other Spaniards, such as English camps, street ministry, and definite

ly involved with a church.

I have only been here since yesterday morning, but I absolutely love it here. Everyone I have met has been so friendly and I can definitely see how God is at work through the ministry of the school and through the church I visited. The church I visited was a small church plant begun in Camarma last year and it has such a variety of people - like a little glimpse of heaven on earth. Even with jetlag it was such a blessing to be able to worship with them.

Anyways, I will definitely try and update this again before I

leave Spain and when I return home. Please pray for my time here in Spain that God would show me if this is the place He desires me to and please pray for the staff and students (and their families) of ECA. Feel free to check out the school's webpage at ecaspain.com

Remember, my dear friends and family we belong to the God who loves despite of who we are. Who poured Himself out. We celebrate the season of Advent, of Christmas in knowing of this great love and gift and in the anticipation of His return. As we celebrate the Christmas season may we all share this gift of love with those who desperately need this divine love!

Grace and Please!!

Joys

My decision to start a new blog is slightly twofold (my more than that fold depending on how you look at it). For one I am no longer in Wales. As much as this saddens my heart, it is a fact I am coming to deal and appreciate (even if I don't necessarily like it). I am currently in Boiling Springs, NC and, well, I have struggled greatly trying to find the joy in being here. It's not that I don't want to be here, but it's not that I do either. It's not that I'm unhappy, but to call myself fully happy would be a bit of a stretch, too. I guess you could say this blog is in more ways for me than anyone else. But I want to share it with those who love me enough to reading my ramblings on the worldwide web, even if they are usually just a series of random thoughts floating in the mist of cyberspace. This is an attempt to capture the joys I am experiencing all around me that I have been overlooking a lot lately.

I have been learning for the past few months that life is not about that one big moment, instead it is a series of little moments which establish who we are. These moments are often viewed by me as routine or mundane. But the fact is these are the moments God gives me to worship Him, to love Him, to grow closer to Him, to find joy. These are the moments I want to capture.

So I will start with today's moments (these are not in chronological order)...

• I had the pleasure of witnessing a class full of education majors in essence freak out over the possibility of an unknown bug. I pass no judgment because I was definitely one who was freaking out along with practically everyone else. (And freak out may not be the best term to use but let's just say none of us got out of our seats to assist in its removal and the majority of us relocated our bags to chairs). The culprit was never found, instead a lost pen cap was unearthed. Was the pen cap the true culprit or did our creepy crawly friend escape for the time being? Regardless, this incident reminded me we all hold fears, some rational and others could be argued irrational. There are things in this life which cause us to be tremble and even slightly panic. I don't like bugs, but the area which I fear the most is my future. It terrifies me to the point that sometimes I feel sick just thinking about it. God does not call me to live in fear; He calls me to live by faith. To trust Him with all that I am. It's hard to release the fears which often hold me captive, but God is some much bigger than my fears and desires so much more for my life. He calms my fears and offers me peace which none compares.
  
• I think I have a thing with bugs because this evening at the Verge as I sat listening to the testimonies of students' summer experiences right below my eye underneath my glasses I felt something round attempting to crawl closer to my eye. Thankfully, I was able to hold my cool and not totally panic but it amused me (and creeped me out) a bit to discover this small moving object was indeed a ladybug. After the Verge ended I was sitting at the bottom of Dover Theater when I felt a little round creature crawling up my arm underneath my sweater. Low and behold my little ladybug friend had returned. I guess this just a reminder that life is completely unexpected. One thing I feel God is teaching me right now to expect nothing (because life tends to not turn out as I would expect it anyways) and to just expect Him to show and do something absolutely amazing.
• Since I am currently using this as a form of procrastination I just want to quickly share a few things which God revealed to me tonight at the Verge. I need to remember God has placed me where He desires me for a reason. He wants me to reach out and build relationships with those around me. To truly love as He has loved me. I have to trust in His plan and not mine. To live by faith wherever He has put me. I must keep the Kingdom of God in the very center of my life. And if I am not actively following Christ, He will not send me anywhere nor will He have much reason to use me. I don't want to miss out any longer. I want to live more and more in His Kingdom in order to share His hope with those around me.
  

Well, these are today's (not all but some) and my desire is to share the joys I am finding each day (meaning I will need to carry my journal and/or daybook with me at all times haha). I want to learn to see God is all things around me.

May the One who painted flamingos pink, gave skunks their unique smell, and decided the length of your feet receive all the glory and praise. (Doesn't it amaze you to know God was that creative...just think about it)