Revamp & Reflections

It's been a long time since I wrote out thoughts via this blog. To be honest, I forgot I even had one. The past 13 months here in Spain have been so unexpectedly busy and overwhelming that, if Emily 13 months ago knew what this journey would look like, she would have set some major goals in her life, but hindsight is 20-20, right? 

More than anything, what has sparked this new found revelation to type and scribe and put on the internets, is a feeling of knowing that I'm not the only one with these feelings and bearing a true heart of honesty as Adam and I humbly walk this road of sharing the Gospel and living life alongside Spaniards. 

Firstly...wow...doing missions stretches your marriage. Want to put your marriage in a pressure cooker. Move 3000 miles away from your first culture, learn a new language, try to accomplish things in that second language, and work day by day alongside your spouse seeing both their weaknesses and their strengths. I read this blog post last week and was verbally agreeing like that of a passionate Baptist congregation member hearing a convicting sermon.  Bottom line is I am learning and quickly seeing what Satan's true mission is here on Earth. For some reason, in the States I never felt like, "Wow. Satan does not want me to succeed this week." But here, the small spiritual victories we face are often times small. Like, Juan came to Bible Study after not coming for a month. That is huge here. Pray for the missionary couples, please. Their marriages are tested just like y'alls, but sometimes, it's the additional cultural adjustment pieces that can make it feel impossible to take those 2 steps forward. 

Secondly...you learn about disappointments here. All. The. Time. Living in Spain stretches your American organizational, check the box personality to realms in which you nearly break if you don't learn to be flexible. We have experienced them from big to small. From buying our apartment and being delayed in closing because Pablo couldn't do an important inspection because he was sick that day, and no one else does Pablo's job, so 100s of neighbours are waiting for Pablo's inspection, but Pablo doesn't care. He's needed, so he's going to milk it for all it's worth. Or banking...here there's only 1 bank teller. Doesn't matter if it's rush hour or only 1 person in front of you, the little abuela is going to recount her withdrawal 2 times and tell the teller about how she couldn't believe that her son-in-law has been to the physical therapist and he still can't move his shoulder, but they are saying that if he goes 3 more times, maybe he'll be recuperated by August. If you're in a hurry in Spain, you should slow down they say. "Tranquilo". "No pasa nada". Like mantras you should whisper to yourself, to keep you from erupting like a volcano. Reminds me of a classic Seinfeld episode, "Serenity now". 

Despite irritations that eat at you like a pebble in your shoe, patience is like gold here, and can only come through our Heavenly Father. 

So as you read this post, I ask two things: pray for us and for patience and humility the next few weeks. We, like you, seek to honor God in the task he has called us to, and know that only through Him can we do so.