Tonight was one of those magical, "I Love Spain" nights. The ones where you learn of a new store that sells special American products and the excitement you have over finding jars of REAL dill pickles makes you shrill like a little kid. So much so that once you purchase the said pickles, you crack open the jar as fast as you can and pickle toast your friends in the middle of the street without a care in the world. Those rare pickles produce so much joy that you spend the rest of the night talking of lost loves (ones that are a good thing that they are now lost) and belting out 7th grade dance songs (Kissed by a Rose) inside of blindingly bright froyo shops on pink awkwardly small cushions.
I've learned one good lesson tonight: pickle friends are friends for life.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
un año
I'm a couple weeks late on this post, but I have been contemplating what to write and how best to sum up the past twelve months here in Spain. I've realized that one year is indeed a good time frame to reflect, gage, and set goals for yourself. It also is a good time frame for comparison as well, and for me that is important, being able to compare and better myself from one year to the next. I do this in my job, health, closeness with God, etc. Some years are good, others not so great. But I constantly want to stretch myself and keep myself from getting comfortable.
So...Spain.
12 months ago, we packed up our belongings in 7 suitcases and 1 dog travel bag (for Carson). We had been anticipating this day for over 2 years prior, but in all actuality, I still wasn't prepared for it. As we waited in line to check in for our flight, I was saying constant silent prayers that Carson wouldn't be overweight for our flight (two days before he went on a binge of hotdogs and hamburgers from our going away cook-out...he was a wee bit over the weight limit before this incident...imagine my emotions after...), that we wouldn't have to shell out $500+ for extra bags (because, really, who can put 2 years worth of stuff and clothes in one suitcase), and that I wouldn't have a crying breakdown when the guy asked where we were flying to. By God's great hand, Carson was a wee bit over still, but the guy sent us through. He even walked two of our bags to the gate free of charge for us since we were moving. Even in the hardest moments in moving to Spain, God was there, reassuring me this was where he wanted us for the next two years.
The second week after arriving to Spain we headed off to Family Camp, which is a camp for the families of the churches with our mission in the Madrid area. This camp was entirely.in.Spanish. Most of you might be saying, "well, duh, Emily. You are in Spain." And I knew that fact as well, but my limited vocabulary at the time (Hello, my name is..., house, car, I am a teacher) pretty much got me into 30 seconds of conversation and then it was awkward staring and desperately searching for someone to translate. During those 4 excruciating days, I had the worst headache and was so frustrated that I could not communicate. As we sat in small groups after our devotional sessions, I could not even contribute. I could only barely talk in the present tense, much less try to describe something that happened in the past in my life. So even into our second week into Spain, I was realizing that God was going to stretch me beyond what I had ever imagined, but I knew deep down that it was for His good. I just had to be patient and wait to see what he would do with time.
This past year we have "accomplished" a lot of things. We have....
.....adjusted to bus schedules (a combo of knowledge, guess work, & luckiness)
......learned how to shop in Spanish grocery stores (where sanitary plastic gloves are required & there are aisles solely dedicated to selling ham legs and canned fish I've never heard of)
......learned how to properly wait "in line" at the bank (you must ask the person standing in the unorganized cluster if they are the last one and then mentally note who you are after)
......learned how to properly greet a Spaniard (two kisses, one on each side and starting with the person's left cheek - girls only. Men give each other a firm handshake or a "bro hug")
.....braved the crosswalks and rotundas (make eye contact with driver and remember pedestrians rule!)
.....had the greatest joy in serving in our church
.....learned to how teach high school courses for the first time (for Emily especially)
.....filled a great need in our roles at ECA
....enjoyed having your spouse eating a PB&J sandwich with you during your 25 min lunch hour
....been able to communicate slowly but surely (poco a poco - as the Spanish say "little by little)
.....appreciated the little things in life (free refills at the one Burger King in town, cake mixes and ranch packets from family and friends back home, and Chic-fil-a nuggets and LA Murphs Oatmeal cookies smuggled on a plane ride to Spain)
....returned from our family camp once more where we were headache free (!!!) and enjoyed every minute!
We have adjusted to the culture here in Spain like any person that moves to a different area or country. But while people come and visit Europe for a week or two and then go back, we were living this as a life and not a vacation. In the beginning, it felt like a vacation. But after those several weeks go by, and you realize...this is my life, reality sets in and the task becomes hard. If we were here for any other reason than, serving Christ in Spain, I would've packed up my bags after those first two months. As a human, I'm not genetically wired to live 4000 miles away from my family. But as a follower of Christ, I know that there are times where the priorities in our life fade in comparison to the need of following Him and His mission.
As we rounded out our first year in Spain, it was neither easy nor a breeze to serve here. It was difficult. I cried a lot in the beginning. But now, as I reflect back on the past year, I praise the Lord for the work he has done in our lives, for the impact that he is making through us, in our limited Spanish, American ways, and all. I look forward to the second year in front of us. To make it better than the last and to make our second year one where I can say..."Our first year in Spain was good, but by God's grace, our second year was much better."
So...Spain.
12 months ago, we packed up our belongings in 7 suitcases and 1 dog travel bag (for Carson). We had been anticipating this day for over 2 years prior, but in all actuality, I still wasn't prepared for it. As we waited in line to check in for our flight, I was saying constant silent prayers that Carson wouldn't be overweight for our flight (two days before he went on a binge of hotdogs and hamburgers from our going away cook-out...he was a wee bit over the weight limit before this incident...imagine my emotions after...), that we wouldn't have to shell out $500+ for extra bags (because, really, who can put 2 years worth of stuff and clothes in one suitcase), and that I wouldn't have a crying breakdown when the guy asked where we were flying to. By God's great hand, Carson was a wee bit over still, but the guy sent us through. He even walked two of our bags to the gate free of charge for us since we were moving. Even in the hardest moments in moving to Spain, God was there, reassuring me this was where he wanted us for the next two years.
The second week after arriving to Spain we headed off to Family Camp, which is a camp for the families of the churches with our mission in the Madrid area. This camp was entirely.in.Spanish. Most of you might be saying, "well, duh, Emily. You are in Spain." And I knew that fact as well, but my limited vocabulary at the time (Hello, my name is..., house, car, I am a teacher) pretty much got me into 30 seconds of conversation and then it was awkward staring and desperately searching for someone to translate. During those 4 excruciating days, I had the worst headache and was so frustrated that I could not communicate. As we sat in small groups after our devotional sessions, I could not even contribute. I could only barely talk in the present tense, much less try to describe something that happened in the past in my life. So even into our second week into Spain, I was realizing that God was going to stretch me beyond what I had ever imagined, but I knew deep down that it was for His good. I just had to be patient and wait to see what he would do with time.
This past year we have "accomplished" a lot of things. We have....
.....adjusted to bus schedules (a combo of knowledge, guess work, & luckiness)
......learned how to shop in Spanish grocery stores (where sanitary plastic gloves are required & there are aisles solely dedicated to selling ham legs and canned fish I've never heard of)
......learned how to properly wait "in line" at the bank (you must ask the person standing in the unorganized cluster if they are the last one and then mentally note who you are after)
......learned how to properly greet a Spaniard (two kisses, one on each side and starting with the person's left cheek - girls only. Men give each other a firm handshake or a "bro hug")
.....braved the crosswalks and rotundas (make eye contact with driver and remember pedestrians rule!)
.....had the greatest joy in serving in our church
.....learned to how teach high school courses for the first time (for Emily especially)
.....filled a great need in our roles at ECA
....enjoyed having your spouse eating a PB&J sandwich with you during your 25 min lunch hour
....been able to communicate slowly but surely (poco a poco - as the Spanish say "little by little)
.....appreciated the little things in life (free refills at the one Burger King in town, cake mixes and ranch packets from family and friends back home, and Chic-fil-a nuggets and LA Murphs Oatmeal cookies smuggled on a plane ride to Spain)
....returned from our family camp once more where we were headache free (!!!) and enjoyed every minute!
We have adjusted to the culture here in Spain like any person that moves to a different area or country. But while people come and visit Europe for a week or two and then go back, we were living this as a life and not a vacation. In the beginning, it felt like a vacation. But after those several weeks go by, and you realize...this is my life, reality sets in and the task becomes hard. If we were here for any other reason than, serving Christ in Spain, I would've packed up my bags after those first two months. As a human, I'm not genetically wired to live 4000 miles away from my family. But as a follower of Christ, I know that there are times where the priorities in our life fade in comparison to the need of following Him and His mission.
As we rounded out our first year in Spain, it was neither easy nor a breeze to serve here. It was difficult. I cried a lot in the beginning. But now, as I reflect back on the past year, I praise the Lord for the work he has done in our lives, for the impact that he is making through us, in our limited Spanish, American ways, and all. I look forward to the second year in front of us. To make it better than the last and to make our second year one where I can say..."Our first year in Spain was good, but by God's grace, our second year was much better."
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Moving
We are almost a year (wow!) into our serving here in Spain. Days it feels like the time has flown so quickly, and other days it felt like time was just standing still.
Our move to Spain has been one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made. It has truly drawn me out of any comfort zone I ever had. From learning a new language and not being able to communicate to being extremely far away from family and friends, overall it's been a year of many adjustments.
Lately though I'm starting to feel the process of "settling", and I started to reflect on our journey. Since I was 18, I have moved 9 times. Every year at college I lived in a different dorm or apartment. My poor dad dreaded the day it was "move Emily to another location". But he did it with love every time :)
After college, I moved back home for two months before Adam and I got married. I remember moving from Chapel Hill to Lexington was very hard for me. I loved college, the town I lived in, and the friends we had made. At that moment, I was extremely sad that God's plan was taking Adam and I away from there.
After getting married, Adam and I moved to Salisbury for 3 and a half years. We adjusted to not having couples of our own age at first but God brought people in our path (The Stroupes, The Dancys were closer now!, and the Harringtons). I changed jobs to join the auditing team at Food Lion and learned what it meant to truly love your job and your co-workers. We got back involved in our home church and jumped into the youth group there (the one where Adam incessantly irritated me as a girl and later I fell for his tactics realizing that they were love messages in disguise). Life at that point was better than I originally thought when first moving from Chapel Hill.
Then our hearts were moved to serve elsewhere. We left all we had last July and I cried the hardest I ever had as I left my family standing at the airport gate. It's a moment that will always be ingrained in my memory. At that instance, I realized I was back at the day leaving Chapel Hill. I didn't want to leave my job, my co-workers, my hometown...how were things going to be better.
And now almost a year later, I feel a whole different set of emotions. The last two days I have proudly watched the musical theatre class at ECA that I helped choreograph perform two outstanding shows of Pirates of Penzance. The love and admiration I have for those kids right now is one I never imagined I would have when getting on that plane a year ago. My accounting class I teach is wrapping up our semester in 2 weeks. My kids (I'm going to brag now) have the basic accounting tools under their belts. When they tell me they love doing financial statements and T accounts, my heart swells. One parent told me that their child loves my class. He was very disappointed when his grade dropped from a 100 to a 98 when their group project didn't balance and I gave them a 90. Let me tell you - this kid knows every answer that I ask in class. Always does the reading and when he doesn't get a 100 on my test I know something is wrong. Proud - I'm just proud of them.
I realized last night - during our cast party - as I was playing games like Signs (which I'm terrible at), Zoo, and watching the kids interact, I feel like I did in Chapel Hill and Salisbury. I am so much more invested than I ever thought. I have been having dreams lately where we leave to come home to North Carolina, and in them, I feel the same dreaded moving feelings I've felt in the past.
We still have a year here, so I'm going to relish in the fact I have one more year to be here. One more year to see Spain. One more year to see these kids grow and change. One more year until I move again.
Our move to Spain has been one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made. It has truly drawn me out of any comfort zone I ever had. From learning a new language and not being able to communicate to being extremely far away from family and friends, overall it's been a year of many adjustments.
Lately though I'm starting to feel the process of "settling", and I started to reflect on our journey. Since I was 18, I have moved 9 times. Every year at college I lived in a different dorm or apartment. My poor dad dreaded the day it was "move Emily to another location". But he did it with love every time :)
After college, I moved back home for two months before Adam and I got married. I remember moving from Chapel Hill to Lexington was very hard for me. I loved college, the town I lived in, and the friends we had made. At that moment, I was extremely sad that God's plan was taking Adam and I away from there.
After getting married, Adam and I moved to Salisbury for 3 and a half years. We adjusted to not having couples of our own age at first but God brought people in our path (The Stroupes, The Dancys were closer now!, and the Harringtons). I changed jobs to join the auditing team at Food Lion and learned what it meant to truly love your job and your co-workers. We got back involved in our home church and jumped into the youth group there (the one where Adam incessantly irritated me as a girl and later I fell for his tactics realizing that they were love messages in disguise). Life at that point was better than I originally thought when first moving from Chapel Hill.
Then our hearts were moved to serve elsewhere. We left all we had last July and I cried the hardest I ever had as I left my family standing at the airport gate. It's a moment that will always be ingrained in my memory. At that instance, I realized I was back at the day leaving Chapel Hill. I didn't want to leave my job, my co-workers, my hometown...how were things going to be better.
And now almost a year later, I feel a whole different set of emotions. The last two days I have proudly watched the musical theatre class at ECA that I helped choreograph perform two outstanding shows of Pirates of Penzance. The love and admiration I have for those kids right now is one I never imagined I would have when getting on that plane a year ago. My accounting class I teach is wrapping up our semester in 2 weeks. My kids (I'm going to brag now) have the basic accounting tools under their belts. When they tell me they love doing financial statements and T accounts, my heart swells. One parent told me that their child loves my class. He was very disappointed when his grade dropped from a 100 to a 98 when their group project didn't balance and I gave them a 90. Let me tell you - this kid knows every answer that I ask in class. Always does the reading and when he doesn't get a 100 on my test I know something is wrong. Proud - I'm just proud of them.
I realized last night - during our cast party - as I was playing games like Signs (which I'm terrible at), Zoo, and watching the kids interact, I feel like I did in Chapel Hill and Salisbury. I am so much more invested than I ever thought. I have been having dreams lately where we leave to come home to North Carolina, and in them, I feel the same dreaded moving feelings I've felt in the past.
We still have a year here, so I'm going to relish in the fact I have one more year to be here. One more year to see Spain. One more year to see these kids grow and change. One more year until I move again.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Hello, My name is Emily, and I am a.....
I chose my post title because I have been thinking recently about the roles I am currently playing in life. I know when we hear that phrase we automatically think about someone in rehab but I think it is a great phrase that represents who we are and how we view ourselves. If I were to fill in that statement, I would say...
Hello, My name is Emily, and I am a...
....a wife, follower of Christ, aunt, daughter, granddaughter, friend, lover of money (i.e. accountant and shopping - a dangerous combo), teacher.....
Many of these were easy answers and ones that have been a part of me for awhile. However, the last one (teacher) I would have never imagined I would add to my roles. You see I liked school - elementary, high school, college...but I preferred the role of student to teacher. I don't feel I possess the skills to confidently teach students. And yet, alas, I come to Spain and God puts me in a position to stand up in front of a classroom expected to teach something. Fortunately I get to teach things that I like and that He has gifted me with, and that's how I am realizing that being a teacher is truly a passion. Now my husband will not tell you that every day he gets great joy from teaching about genetics, soil, diseases, chemical equations, etc. (he does get extreme joy from teaching about birds). But he is very gifted in teaching students. I, on the other hand, not so much. But, this role of teacher I currently have, I do have a joy for. I don't see myself becoming a professional teacher. I have no desire to get more schooling and I prefer dealing with financial statements, policies and procedures, and conducting audits. However, my accounting class has definitely brought me joy this semester. I get happy butterflies teaching T-accounts, debit/credits, balance sheets, etc. I silently cheer for all my students to make 100s on all their tests and love accounting as much as I do. There is one student who is considering business and I truly get a thrill as she grasps these concepts well and looks forward to taking more business classes in college next year. If I would have known that I was coming to Spain to teach an accounting class, I would have told you no way - I'm not qualified to be a teacher. I don't have a teaching degree. Have never taught in a classroom and my only experience speaking in a group is during meetings at work. But somehow God has placed me out of my comfort zone to let me have joy doing something I thought I would be miserable in.
I'm so glad God is smarter than me.
So where are you? Is God opening a door for you to do something that is "out of your element"? I will tell you that here in Spain I am definitely out of my element. I have to communicate in a different language with my neighbors every day praying that I don't sound like a uneducated 5 year old, but I see God work every day here, and it's pretty awesome to see his workings.
Hello, My name is Emily, and I am a...
....a wife, follower of Christ, aunt, daughter, granddaughter, friend, lover of money (i.e. accountant and shopping - a dangerous combo), teacher.....
Many of these were easy answers and ones that have been a part of me for awhile. However, the last one (teacher) I would have never imagined I would add to my roles. You see I liked school - elementary, high school, college...but I preferred the role of student to teacher. I don't feel I possess the skills to confidently teach students. And yet, alas, I come to Spain and God puts me in a position to stand up in front of a classroom expected to teach something. Fortunately I get to teach things that I like and that He has gifted me with, and that's how I am realizing that being a teacher is truly a passion. Now my husband will not tell you that every day he gets great joy from teaching about genetics, soil, diseases, chemical equations, etc. (he does get extreme joy from teaching about birds). But he is very gifted in teaching students. I, on the other hand, not so much. But, this role of teacher I currently have, I do have a joy for. I don't see myself becoming a professional teacher. I have no desire to get more schooling and I prefer dealing with financial statements, policies and procedures, and conducting audits. However, my accounting class has definitely brought me joy this semester. I get happy butterflies teaching T-accounts, debit/credits, balance sheets, etc. I silently cheer for all my students to make 100s on all their tests and love accounting as much as I do. There is one student who is considering business and I truly get a thrill as she grasps these concepts well and looks forward to taking more business classes in college next year. If I would have known that I was coming to Spain to teach an accounting class, I would have told you no way - I'm not qualified to be a teacher. I don't have a teaching degree. Have never taught in a classroom and my only experience speaking in a group is during meetings at work. But somehow God has placed me out of my comfort zone to let me have joy doing something I thought I would be miserable in.
I'm so glad God is smarter than me.
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