Spunk

This is Amy, also known as Spunk. I have had the wonderful opportunity of working with her at Black Rock Summer Camp. She is a beloved sister in Christ and has taught, encouraged, inspired, and motivated me so much in my own walk with Him. Let's just say I like her a lot.

Crunchy Leaves

My Second Home

Black Rock Retreat also happens to be one of my favorite places on earth.

Mud and Flood

Chai is extra delicious on a rainy day.

Los favoritos de España.

Oh, Canada!

I spent an amazing week in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, Canada helping prepare for a friend's wedding.

(Someone else took this photo for me, but I had to post it. It was so much fun!)

All My Delight

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."
-Psalm 34:7

Recently I've really been learning the importance of humbly coming to Christ and making my relationship with him my top priority. I find it so easy to get distracted. I think that this new toy, possession, friend or guy could fill this God-shaped hole that remains in my heart. The Spanish chapter of my life is almost finished, and God is slowly turning the pages and revealing to me day by day what He wants me to learn during the rest of my time here. I don’t want to miss any bit of this amazing story, so that means I have to make the choice daily to look away from the distractions and keep my focus on God. I believe that God will give me the desires of my heart in time, but that will certainly not happen until I fully surrender those desires to Him. My plans have been torn up and scattered in the wind, which could potentially be something really devastating, but instead I am filled with peace, and I no longer have to worry about how things are going to turn out. I don’t know the future, and I need to stop trying to figure it out or make it happen before it’s time. I trust that God will provide in time, but most importantly, He wants to have a relationship with me. That is all I know, and that is what I hold on to.

Pressing On

Well, here I am, back in Spain. Everything is just where I left it, and it feels like my whole break was a dream. Now what? The answer to that question is... studying. The Spanish school system is definitely very different, and I find it to be 963674937605395 times more stressful. My hardest class is called “Spanish Language 1: Morphosyntax”. Ash3575toi87ehrk?!?!?! I don’t even understand Morphosyntax in English! This exam will certainly be a challenge, that’s for sure.

During my 22 hour journey of traveling back to Spain, I certainly had a lot of time to think. I thought about the fact that, honestly, I do not feel “up to” returning to Spain, becoming a study monster and being far away from my family and friends. I have learned a great many things here the past three months, one being just how much I do love them and how blessed I am by my family and friends.  I love my home life and it’s hard for me to be away from it. I am not good at stepping out of my comfort zone.

I realize that at the end of most of my experiences in life, I have this habit of scrubbing and shining those memories so that they're clean of yucky parts and rough spots before placing them, gleaming, on my shelf of memories. Occasionally I find myself looking toward that shelf, wondering why my past was “so wonderful” and my present situation is currently stinky. I’ve even caught myself saying to people, “someday I’ll realize that this whole study abroad experience was a good thing, even if it’s 25 years from now.” That may be true, but what about now? The truth about my “shiny” shelved memories is that in retrospect, while looking at the big picture, I see that the good clearly outweighed the bad in that situation. God provided, and is providing now.

“Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.” -Deuteronomy 30:11

I need to focus on the big picture, cast my anxieties and fears aside, trust the one that has brought meaning to my every step in life and realize that today is a blessed day. As I look at my shiny shelved memories from my past from my little Pennsylvania bubble, I now see just how mighty our God is, and how much of a caring provider He is. He is the same God today and the same God in Spain.

The “old days” are done, finished, gone, (like Frank Sinatra, Elvis and his mom). They have helped me grow into the person I am (so far) and will sit forever-more on my shelf of memories. I know that God has so much more for me to learn and so much more for me to become. My goal today is to stop focusing on the past, or how the present would be if I/had I… but instead focus on the present, which I should emphasize means here as well as now.

"...Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward thegoal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus!" -Philippians 3:13-14

God has taught me so much during my past three months, breaking down the barrier of my unwillingness/cowardliness. I want nothing to do with that barrier anymore, and I make it my stand now to “press on” and willingly and courageously look for the growth opportunities that God has given me here, today in Spain.

"Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." -Hebrews 12:1