Hello America!
I'm back, it's different. Everyone talks about reverse culture shock, and I think right now it's just more, shock (and even then, less about the culture, more about God).
He revealed some really interesting things to me on a long ride home, mostly about His majesty, and His size. Curtis this past week at El Lokal gave his lesson on how God is science, and the existance of God through Einstein's comparison of Light and the theory of relativity. It was super interesting.
I'm not a huge science person, I don't understand the whole thing in any great depth, but it was an awesome lesson, a lot of parallels that I've drawn about God were affirmed and one of the things Curtis said stuck with me and I've been chewing on it this week.
God is multi-dimensional. Yea, yea, "of course He is." But I'm talking, beyond what we can fathom!!! When we were coming in to land in Minneapolis, God made that super apparent to me. We were inbetween two layers of clouds, and there was one more above and one more below, and I started to think about how the layers of clouds are set up, and how hard, from earth, it is to tell what layer is what on a cloudy day. So the experience of being between them, wow, it was absolutely amazing.
God has been revealing a lot of layers to me lately. Layers in myself, in my relationships, in my abilities, in Himself, in how He creates, in how He loves. It's astounding.
I pray that you are resting in God's many layers. (hmmm, sounds like a Mini-Wheats commercial).
K
Wednesday, July 15
Sunday, June 21
Come Together
When the spirit moves, the spirit MOVES!
God is amazing. Without a doubt, this entire trip is in his plans and his hands. I´m excited to be involved with Lokal! We went to church this morning, not only were we greeted warmly, but without a doubt, God has placed us here with purpose. The pastors there are both American, and many members are bilingual. Everyone is willing to at least try english for our sake, and many are surprised to find out that both Annie and I speak spanish (and fairly well)!
Service this morning was amazing as God really spoke through their pastor who just got back from the US for three weeks. We talked about falling to sin, and the process that David took as he fell with Bathsheeba. The entirety of the sermon was in spanish, but Lokal provided a translator for various people in the audience who didn´t speak the language, or not well enough to understand. I tried to tough it out, and got most of the main points. The Lord is moving in that place though.
It´s amazing to see a church of believers with purpose. They are not without their sins and their struggles of course. But it´s different here in Spain. You are catholic, or you are atheist (generally of course). And for a group of nearly 100 people to come together to worship our Father, is an amazing amount of intent in just one room! God has rocked these lives, and everyone there is desperately seeking him. It´s not like entering so many of the churches in the US where people go out of obligation, guilt, or tradition. People here desire to be in those chairs, singing at the top of their lungs, and worshipping the Lord that has saved them. Praise Jesus!!
Keep us in your prayers as we begin fully diving into the world that is awaiting us.
K
God is amazing. Without a doubt, this entire trip is in his plans and his hands. I´m excited to be involved with Lokal! We went to church this morning, not only were we greeted warmly, but without a doubt, God has placed us here with purpose. The pastors there are both American, and many members are bilingual. Everyone is willing to at least try english for our sake, and many are surprised to find out that both Annie and I speak spanish (and fairly well)!
Service this morning was amazing as God really spoke through their pastor who just got back from the US for three weeks. We talked about falling to sin, and the process that David took as he fell with Bathsheeba. The entirety of the sermon was in spanish, but Lokal provided a translator for various people in the audience who didn´t speak the language, or not well enough to understand. I tried to tough it out, and got most of the main points. The Lord is moving in that place though.
It´s amazing to see a church of believers with purpose. They are not without their sins and their struggles of course. But it´s different here in Spain. You are catholic, or you are atheist (generally of course). And for a group of nearly 100 people to come together to worship our Father, is an amazing amount of intent in just one room! God has rocked these lives, and everyone there is desperately seeking him. It´s not like entering so many of the churches in the US where people go out of obligation, guilt, or tradition. People here desire to be in those chairs, singing at the top of their lungs, and worshipping the Lord that has saved them. Praise Jesus!!
Keep us in your prayers as we begin fully diving into the world that is awaiting us.
K
Wednesday, June 17
A Plan
Alrighty! I´m in Barcelona. Day One has begun. Why do I feel so... I don´t know, over eager about the whole thing. I should be relaxing to just enjoy the downtime that I have while Annie and Ashley get their heads and hearts prepped and wrapped around this culture that I´ve fallen in love with. Somedays, I know it will not be so easy. Others, I would like to believe that it will. Without a doubt though, I know that God has a plan in this. I was reading today randomly in Joshua and God impressed this little reminder upon me,
"This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” 1:9
I hope that God is impressing this same message onto you. Love, God Bless,
Kelsey
"This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” 1:9
I hope that God is impressing this same message onto you. Love, God Bless,
Kelsey
Tuesday, June 9
Looking at the Value
Ah, so it´s been a while since I´ve blogged last. Sorry! Things have been busy here, and in the last couple of days, the full effects of culture shock have set in and I´m desperately trying to combat them and continue experiencing this amazing city with what little time I have left.
God´s really been moving in my heart to reach out to people and to put a lot of effort into writing bible studies for a women´s study that hasn´t quite come together yet. Outside of that, God´s just really been taking me back through the journey I´ve taken in my life and looking at the value each thing I´ve been through has in glorifying Him! It´s been a rough process, but I love every moment of it.
But, one more thing I want to share with you!! Go and check out 'A Wicked Deception' on youtube. It´s a short movie that was made after the english script was translated into french, then german, back to french, and then finally back to english using an online language translator. The result is this awesomely hysterical movie!
'This hole is quite fine good!'
Take care, God Bless,
K
God´s really been moving in my heart to reach out to people and to put a lot of effort into writing bible studies for a women´s study that hasn´t quite come together yet. Outside of that, God´s just really been taking me back through the journey I´ve taken in my life and looking at the value each thing I´ve been through has in glorifying Him! It´s been a rough process, but I love every moment of it.
But, one more thing I want to share with you!! Go and check out 'A Wicked Deception' on youtube. It´s a short movie that was made after the english script was translated into french, then german, back to french, and then finally back to english using an online language translator. The result is this awesomely hysterical movie!
'This hole is quite fine good!'
Take care, God Bless,
K
Monday, May 25
Exploration
God Bless All!
Greetings from Sunny Beautiful Spain!
I arrived last almost a week and a half ago, and I have been enjoying all that there is to experience here. God is preparing me in ways that I couldn't believe, and I'm more and more excited everyday to be learning how to survive in this country. Barcelona will be different, yes, but by then I'll have some grasp of the country, definitely the language, and I'll be excited to be with people I love.
In the meantime, God has been showing me some amazing things through the tourist-y type things here. We were in Madrid this past weekend (my study abroad group) for some tours and such, and while in el Museo del Prado, He opened my eyes to some things.
God has given us everything we have in our lives, yet we spend our time honoring good people, good places, and good things, rather than seeing the Creator of it all. I was looking at thousands of paintings and statues of saints, the virgin, Christ, and it dawned on me, where is He in all of this? We´ve been commemorating his followers since their beginning, but no one could know what John the baptist looked like, or Christ, or Mary. Yet everyone tries?
Why do we try so hard to confine God to this perfect box of a human image? Especially when He is so much more than that. We have a perfect, unfailing, loving God, and when we try so hard to put him into this box, we leave out the qualities of him that we don´t like, or don´t understand, or don´t go along with what we´re doing in our lives. I don´t want to do that any more.
I have a God that possesses more qualities than I´ll ever know, and I don´t want to limit those. I want to explore them, to know more about His essence and why He has created me in His image, and what qualities of His I have.
I´ve been given an opportunity to take a break from America, and I´m taking every moment I can to sop it up and focus on what´s important to me. I want to invest in people, and I want to be open to allow God to invest in me.
I'm praying that this is something that isn´t just changing in me while I´m here, but will return with me.
God Bless, Take care, More soon,
K
Greetings from Sunny Beautiful Spain!
I arrived last almost a week and a half ago, and I have been enjoying all that there is to experience here. God is preparing me in ways that I couldn't believe, and I'm more and more excited everyday to be learning how to survive in this country. Barcelona will be different, yes, but by then I'll have some grasp of the country, definitely the language, and I'll be excited to be with people I love.
In the meantime, God has been showing me some amazing things through the tourist-y type things here. We were in Madrid this past weekend (my study abroad group) for some tours and such, and while in el Museo del Prado, He opened my eyes to some things.
God has given us everything we have in our lives, yet we spend our time honoring good people, good places, and good things, rather than seeing the Creator of it all. I was looking at thousands of paintings and statues of saints, the virgin, Christ, and it dawned on me, where is He in all of this? We´ve been commemorating his followers since their beginning, but no one could know what John the baptist looked like, or Christ, or Mary. Yet everyone tries?
Why do we try so hard to confine God to this perfect box of a human image? Especially when He is so much more than that. We have a perfect, unfailing, loving God, and when we try so hard to put him into this box, we leave out the qualities of him that we don´t like, or don´t understand, or don´t go along with what we´re doing in our lives. I don´t want to do that any more.
I have a God that possesses more qualities than I´ll ever know, and I don´t want to limit those. I want to explore them, to know more about His essence and why He has created me in His image, and what qualities of His I have.
I´ve been given an opportunity to take a break from America, and I´m taking every moment I can to sop it up and focus on what´s important to me. I want to invest in people, and I want to be open to allow God to invest in me.
I'm praying that this is something that isn´t just changing in me while I´m here, but will return with me.
God Bless, Take care, More soon,
K
Tuesday, May 19
Fotos
Hey all! Here are some pictures!
This is the garage just next to the entrance to the apartment. I love the message. This isn´t graffiti, but all the graffiti here is mostly positive. On the sides of the freeways/highways, it´s all "te amo ..." (i love...) and in the cities, it´s a lot of names, like Jake, or Okey. And then there are pictures. Some are stencil art like the famous Banksy, birds or my favorite are these two creepy little girls done in black and white on an abandoned building near La Plaza del Virgen.
These are some of the fountains that are in the Park of Arts and Sciences up here. At one time it was used for the America´s Cup soccer games, and now it´s just a HUGE park that runs through the north of the city. We went for lunch one afternoon, got totally lost, and found El Corte Ingles (a really big spanish Macy´s).
This was the view from one of the towers in Peñíscola. Very Beautiful, no?
This is the whole group on one of the steps at Peñíscola.
Hope you´re having a great day, may God bless it!
K
This is the garage just next to the entrance to the apartment. I love the message. This isn´t graffiti, but all the graffiti here is mostly positive. On the sides of the freeways/highways, it´s all "te amo ..." (i love...) and in the cities, it´s a lot of names, like Jake, or Okey. And then there are pictures. Some are stencil art like the famous Banksy, birds or my favorite are these two creepy little girls done in black and white on an abandoned building near La Plaza del Virgen.
These are some of the fountains that are in the Park of Arts and Sciences up here. At one time it was used for the America´s Cup soccer games, and now it´s just a HUGE park that runs through the north of the city. We went for lunch one afternoon, got totally lost, and found El Corte Ingles (a really big spanish Macy´s).
This was the view from one of the towers in Peñíscola. Very Beautiful, no?
This is the whole group on one of the steps at Peñíscola.
Hope you´re having a great day, may God bless it!
K
Sunday, May 17
I´m here!!!!
Alright, this might just be the longest post that I´ve ever done. Sorry! Read on for more info about my adventures!
I arrived two days ago, exhausted! Coley and I had to run (literally) to catch our flight from Madrid to Valencia. But we made it. We waited for a little over three hours for the rest of the group to show up, and so far all has gone mostly without a hitch! The first day, we drove into town and met our "madres" and moved in. Chelo is very sweet, but doesn´t speak any english, and we seem to be getting along just fine! I´m very excited to be living with her, and learning about this culture. That night we went out for dinner, drinks, and exploration. Let me tell you, exploring has never seemed so tedious. We walked for about 40 minutes to get from the far side of the center of the city to Chelo´s. After that, there was no question, we were going to sleep!
The next morning was no rest either, we got up early to quickly visit the market and buy beach towels before we were whisked away to Los Torres de Serranos to meet the bus for Peñíscola, to go to the beach. It was blast and the castle was so beautiful. Pictures will be up soon! Without a doubt, we had a great day laying on the beach, lauging at wakeboarders, and exploring. Last night we were exhausted again and just decided to crash. We had Arroz con pollo yesterday for dinner and it was delicious! Today, most things are closed because it´s sunday, but found and internet cafe right around the corner from where we live, and we´re off to find our school and explore the city a little after this. I pray all is well at home, and everyone is enjoying their days! Take care. See you soon!
K
I arrived two days ago, exhausted! Coley and I had to run (literally) to catch our flight from Madrid to Valencia. But we made it. We waited for a little over three hours for the rest of the group to show up, and so far all has gone mostly without a hitch! The first day, we drove into town and met our "madres" and moved in. Chelo is very sweet, but doesn´t speak any english, and we seem to be getting along just fine! I´m very excited to be living with her, and learning about this culture. That night we went out for dinner, drinks, and exploration. Let me tell you, exploring has never seemed so tedious. We walked for about 40 minutes to get from the far side of the center of the city to Chelo´s. After that, there was no question, we were going to sleep!
The next morning was no rest either, we got up early to quickly visit the market and buy beach towels before we were whisked away to Los Torres de Serranos to meet the bus for Peñíscola, to go to the beach. It was blast and the castle was so beautiful. Pictures will be up soon! Without a doubt, we had a great day laying on the beach, lauging at wakeboarders, and exploring. Last night we were exhausted again and just decided to crash. We had Arroz con pollo yesterday for dinner and it was delicious! Today, most things are closed because it´s sunday, but found and internet cafe right around the corner from where we live, and we´re off to find our school and explore the city a little after this. I pray all is well at home, and everyone is enjoying their days! Take care. See you soon!
K
Tuesday, May 12
Tedious and Tough
I am leaving in two days.
I really didn't ever think this week would actually come. But it's here!! It's time for packing, and saying goodbye, and getting nervous. I've been "pre-packing" tons and tons. Organizing and choosing has been a bit tedious and tough, but I'm getting there. I'm trying to prep for what God has in store for me in Barcelona, but I'm just not sure what that is yet, or how to prep for it. So in the meantime, God and I are just kind of going with the flow, waiting to see what happens.
I've been reading Genesis with G though, one chapter at a time. It's different re-reading the stories from sunday school, seeing what was left out, what lead up to it, where it fits.... It's been giving me an interesting perspective.
Oh, and I got a hair cut.
Anyways, I've received almost $450 for the Barcelona trip, and I'm super excited because we've been in touch with a few different groups and have found a couple churches to work with! The time is getting closer and I'm more and more excited to be on my way :D
More later, God Bless,
K
I really didn't ever think this week would actually come. But it's here!! It's time for packing, and saying goodbye, and getting nervous. I've been "pre-packing" tons and tons. Organizing and choosing has been a bit tedious and tough, but I'm getting there. I'm trying to prep for what God has in store for me in Barcelona, but I'm just not sure what that is yet, or how to prep for it. So in the meantime, God and I are just kind of going with the flow, waiting to see what happens.
I've been reading Genesis with G though, one chapter at a time. It's different re-reading the stories from sunday school, seeing what was left out, what lead up to it, where it fits.... It's been giving me an interesting perspective.
Oh, and I got a hair cut.
Anyways, I've received almost $450 for the Barcelona trip, and I'm super excited because we've been in touch with a few different groups and have found a couple churches to work with! The time is getting closer and I'm more and more excited to be on my way :D
More later, God Bless,
K
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)