Finding A Home In Spain

Retiro Park. I live near it and love it. It's Madrid's "Central Park." I go at least 2 times a week to work out and just chill.

Thursdays- Young Life Spain.
L-R: Jim (area director with wife Barbara who is taking the picture),
Emily, Dre, David (staff), Tep, Emily (staff), Laura-Anna, me

My roommates- Alex (Minnesota), Simon (Florida), me

Outside Plaza de Toros. Bull fight last night. Not for the animal-lovers.

Inside Plaza de Toros. Very cool. REALLY not for the animal-lovers(;

I've lived in Spain for nineteen days; it has been hard and it has been good. Finally, I am settled. I am familiar with my surroundings. I'm in a routine of sorts. Each week has had one or two bad days but Jesus has been so present and awesome and knows what I need.

Here's one LONG story about that. Feel free not to read it as it is long.

Before I left, Becca gave me a present. It was 10 of my favorite verses from the bible in Spanish on cool pocket-sized papers, laminated. On this past Thursday, I got lost for an hour trying to walk to find a post office around school. However, I had the Jeremiah 29:11-14 verse card on me. I read it when I was lost and I read it again and took it to heart and believe it and thought about the context of the scripture. Cause that's like me. I am in a new place with no friends among an attitude of living only for the moment that I'm not into. The Israelites were exiled and in a foreign land and God said to them that he has a great plan for them (even in that foreign land) and that his main purpose for them was to have to seek him more there and find their rest in him more and he promised that he would be found by them. So I just believed God, in my sense of the word believe (which is to 'be-living' something...be living as though it's true), and I felt peace. So even when I'm still walking around on campus with nothing to do and no one to chit-chat with. Even when I feel like everyone has many friends even when I've tried to make friends. I felt God just saying, 'That's okay. Relationships are slow. You talk to the couple people you do know from classes whenever you see them and let me be enough for you else-wise.' So that was a good lesson. This was all Thursday afternoon.

The past two Thursday nights, I've been going to a freaking Young Life gathering. In Spain! Crazy. About ten of us. Meeting and then eating. The area director is from TN and we meet at he and his wife's house. It's just like home and nice. This semester, we're gonna do a group study of The Gospel in Life by Tim Keller. As followers of Jesus, we have to either assimilate to the culture and lose our identity in Christ or live in such a way that invites and compels people to question and be intrigued by our faith. We all have that choice and that's sort of what this book talks about.

So we began on Thursday the book and videos and... the first group study in his book was over, of course, Jeremiah 29:4-14! It was exactly what I had in my pocket that day. And Jesus just continued the same speech he was telling me... it was great discussion. If you would read and dissect that scripture, it makes it clear that the Israelites were to live life together with everyone. We are not to lose our distinctiveness, but rather lead our lives with integrity and our identities firming planted in Christ. Daily. Out of our connectedness to God, we should pray for those we come into contact everyday and look for opportunities to serve, love, talk, and bring joy and peace to others lives. Live authentically, open about your life with Christ, have compassion on all people, sacrifices for them when possible. Not just Christians but all people. It says in verse 7 that when the city prospers, so will we. Live life, the ups and downs with the irreligious and far-out people. And we will be challenged by irreligious people who love better than we do, people who serve more than we do, have a heart for the poor or hopeless more than we do. And that is good, because we can learn from them, and connect with that; those that seem so different from us really are not all that much. Grace and Jesus' love is a free gift that many are just not aware that they've been given. We have the opportunity to point people to see it in their lives and live out the gospel ourselves.

If you've read this far, forgive me. Something else I've been trying to focus on is letting my words be few. Or as I like to say, keep it simple stupid (K.I.S.S.), or silly. It's foolish to believe many are going to read this much! Anyway, I'm adjusting so well. This is just one story of how it's been getting better. The things I've been given are innumerable and I just pray that I can live out my purpose unselfishly daily, joyfully.

Love you all,
Andrew

P.S.- I booked my flight this week to Germany to see Becca's dad October 7-9!