Ok - it is about time to quit jumping up and down and celebrating, but I had to have one more celebration! These are my 12th grade English students (minus one). They prayed me through my language exam and have repeatedly asked about my results. Such a great group of kids! So, one last celebration, and yes, at 10:00 in the morning we had ice cream sundaes!
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Chocolate and Churros
If you have been reading my blog for awhile you will not find it surprising at all that near the top of my to do list in our new town was to check out the chocolate and churros. Oh my goodness! I think we might have found the best (or really close to it, because those in Illescas were really good too!) in Spain!
What makes this place interesting is the size of the cup of chocolate - too big even for me to eat! Come for a visit and I promise we will share a long conversation over a cup of chocolate and a few, hot, greasy, and crispy churros!
What makes this place interesting is the size of the cup of chocolate - too big even for me to eat! Come for a visit and I promise we will share a long conversation over a cup of chocolate and a few, hot, greasy, and crispy churros!
Saturday, February 15, 2014
No Greater Love
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)
I am very blessed! I experienced this love on Friday. Scott and I have been studying together, praying together, correcting each other, struggling through texts and more together, failing together, and finally, last November, taking the language exam together. Then yesterday came, and the paths divided. I was prepared for the division, but not for the paths that they took. You see, I knew Scott was a better Spanish speaker, writer, listener, ... than me. In fact, our tutor, our neighbors, and others also realized this. People weren't thinking this to be mean, but he is gifted in language learning and for me it is just really, really hard (it is hard for him too, but he has a great ear for it - I on the other hand am convinced that what I say sounds just like what I had heard, but usually it doesn't). So I had prayed and prepared for when the scores said he passed and I did not. I wanted to be able to celebrate with him all the way to the depths of my heart and not let my disappointment put a wet blanket on his day.
Then yesterday the scores came. We opened them together. We opened mine first and I had passed. We both yelled, high fived, hugged, laughed, and all the fabulous reactions. Then we opened his scores, and he did not pass. We hugged, moaned, read them again, sighed, and all the disappointed reactions.
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| Scott and I this summer in Mérida |
Then Scott said to me "Celebrate! You passed! I am happy for you! And if you let my not passing keep you from being happy and celebrating and jumping up and down, I am going to be upset with you. I am proud of you!"
He put life to those words of the Bible. Even greater than his disappointment was a happiness for me. He was able to lay down his disappointment and celebrate with me.
I am so very loved!
Friday, February 14, 2014
Language Exam Scores!
I am a bit compulsive at times - ok, I can hear my husband in the back of my head, so I should just say it as it is - I am a lot compulsive at times. Checking for language exam scores has become one of those times. I put the link on my bookmark toolbar and it became a habit to click on it several times a day (starting 30 days after the exam, even though they said 80 to 90 days).
Yesterday morning, as was part of my normal routine, I checked. No scores for the November test
date. Then we had a meeting where knowing the scores would help, so I checked again around noon. Nope. Then, killing time (actually avoiding work), I checked again around 4:00. See - I said I was a little compulsive. And "button" had changed from August scores to November scores.
I waited on Scott to come down before clicking on it. Held my breath. Entered my information (well, actually, just pushed the down arrow since I had checked so many times it was in the memory and I just had to click on it). Scrolled down, afraid to let the breath out, and there it was, the words I wanted to see -
La calificación final es de: APTO
(The final grade is: PASS)
I spent the whole night jumping up and down. Every time I made a Spanish mistake I thought "but, I passed." I was not sure I would ever see those words, but with God's help and a whole lot of studying and work, there they were!
By no means am I done studying - so much more to learn and perfect and practice and more, but I passed! I cannot wait to see what the next season has in store!
Yesterday morning, as was part of my normal routine, I checked. No scores for the November test
I waited on Scott to come down before clicking on it. Held my breath. Entered my information (well, actually, just pushed the down arrow since I had checked so many times it was in the memory and I just had to click on it). Scrolled down, afraid to let the breath out, and there it was, the words I wanted to see -
La calificación final es de: APTO
(The final grade is: PASS)
I spent the whole night jumping up and down. Every time I made a Spanish mistake I thought "but, I passed." I was not sure I would ever see those words, but with God's help and a whole lot of studying and work, there they were!
By no means am I done studying - so much more to learn and perfect and practice and more, but I passed! I cannot wait to see what the next season has in store!
Sunday, February 9, 2014
La Catedral de Justo
In our new pueblo you can find all the normal Spanish icons - Plaza Mayor (main town square), Iglesia (Catholic Church), Ayuntamiento (Town Hall), Pastelería (pastry shop), Pandería (bread store), Ferretería (hardware store), numerous bars, and of course a churrería (another post will have to be done on this one - a chocolate and churro restaurant). But there is also a cathedral - La Catedral de Justo.
This cathedral is not an ordinary cathedral. It is not a finished work of art that was built hundreds of years ago. It is a work in progress, a work being completed by one man, a work of faith.
Justo Gallego, an 89 year old from Mejorada del Campo (where we are now living), is building this cathedral. At 27 he joined a monastery, but was later expelled due to having tuberculosis (to prevent him from spreading the disease to the whole community). Out of a frustration of not being able to pursue this spiritual path, he decided to build a work dedicated to God. He is not an architect, nor a mason, nor does he have any construction training, yet he began this work using only his family resources.
For Justo, this is an offering of gratitude for the life he has been given and penance for those who do not follow His way.
The majority of the building is from recycled materials and with little outside support.
With this in mind, it isn't your typical cathedral. He has a vision for how it will be when it is finished, yet what you see today is far from it.
My first American reaction was how horrible the insides were. It is pieced together with what he can find. Yet over the days as I have pondered this work and talked with a Spanish friend (thank you Sara) about this achievement I have seen beauty. I have seen a man who is so grateful to God for his life that he has dedicated 40+ years of his life to giving thanks. I have reflected on a man who loves God so much that he wants to share with those who do not. I have seen a tremendous act of faith - a steadfast faith in the midst of what I can imagine has been much criticism and mockery. I see a man who looks at all the "trash" around him and sees a beautiful cathedral.
As I flipped through the pictures that we took on our first visit, I wondered what God sees when He looks at me. When he looks at my "insides" he often sees a lot of "yuck." He sees the trash and the left overs. He sees what others see as "unusable, left over, invaluable pieces of trash" with a whole different reaction. He sees hope and his finished design. He sees in my insides a beautiful finished work.
But I wonder, do I have the faith to allow HIM to finish the work in me. Do I allow the "visitors" to my life to cause me to stop letting him work on me. Do I allow the "stork poop" (there are several stork nests on the highest points of the building - so you can imagine what is all around) of others who "reside" in my life to mar the view of beauty that God sees.
Do I have the faith to believe in the beauty my creator sees or do I trust what those around me see instead? And when I look at those around me, do I see them as their Creator sees them - beauty among all the "junk," or do I see the piles of trash in their life and wonder what their Creator sees? Oh how I desire to see not only myself, but each person around me, with God eyes - ones that see the beautiful finished project.
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This cathedral is not an ordinary cathedral. It is not a finished work of art that was built hundreds of years ago. It is a work in progress, a work being completed by one man, a work of faith.
Justo Gallego, an 89 year old from Mejorada del Campo (where we are now living), is building this cathedral. At 27 he joined a monastery, but was later expelled due to having tuberculosis (to prevent him from spreading the disease to the whole community). Out of a frustration of not being able to pursue this spiritual path, he decided to build a work dedicated to God. He is not an architect, nor a mason, nor does he have any construction training, yet he began this work using only his family resources.
 |
| His finished vision |
The majority of the building is from recycled materials and with little outside support.
With this in mind, it isn't your typical cathedral. He has a vision for how it will be when it is finished, yet what you see today is far from it.
My first American reaction was how horrible the insides were. It is pieced together with what he can find. Yet over the days as I have pondered this work and talked with a Spanish friend (thank you Sara) about this achievement I have seen beauty. I have seen a man who is so grateful to God for his life that he has dedicated 40+ years of his life to giving thanks. I have reflected on a man who loves God so much that he wants to share with those who do not. I have seen a tremendous act of faith - a steadfast faith in the midst of what I can imagine has been much criticism and mockery. I see a man who looks at all the "trash" around him and sees a beautiful cathedral.
As I flipped through the pictures that we took on our first visit, I wondered what God sees when He looks at me. When he looks at my "insides" he often sees a lot of "yuck." He sees the trash and the left overs. He sees what others see as "unusable, left over, invaluable pieces of trash" with a whole different reaction. He sees hope and his finished design. He sees in my insides a beautiful finished work.
But I wonder, do I have the faith to allow HIM to finish the work in me. Do I allow the "visitors" to my life to cause me to stop letting him work on me. Do I allow the "stork poop" (there are several stork nests on the highest points of the building - so you can imagine what is all around) of others who "reside" in my life to mar the view of beauty that God sees.
Do I have the faith to believe in the beauty my creator sees or do I trust what those around me see instead? And when I look at those around me, do I see them as their Creator sees them - beauty among all the "junk," or do I see the piles of trash in their life and wonder what their Creator sees? Oh how I desire to see not only myself, but each person around me, with God eyes - ones that see the beautiful finished project.
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