Blue

Since yesterday evening I've been rather...blue. I've been in Spain for a bit over two months now and as warned by many pre-trip discussions and the like...the newness of Spain is starting to wear away and homesickness is starting to set in. Being around the time of the "Holiday Season" starting up and talking to people about Thanksgiving plans and family gatherings exaggerates these feelings. More than the general "home", I miss community. I have a lovely church here, but I'm still a "visitor" and living in the next town over, it's hard to come to more than just Sunday morning service, so graduating from "visitor" status is a bit tough. Yet, this morning I was given a beautiful reminder that Christ loves His children and hears them when they cry out to Him.

I tend to arrive about half an hour early every Sunday morning, as that's when I get there after the bus drops me off half an hour's walk away. This morning I decided to pass the time writing in an ongoing letter to Joel. Writing to someone you care about that's far away when you're already a bit melancholy doesn't tend to put a smile on your face...at least not often for me... So, when the band was finished practicing, my eyes were about to spill over into tears. One of the jovenes (literally "youth" but they use it normally for folks in their mid-twenties..), Fran (short for Francisco, so male), came over to ask me how I was doing. Whenever someone asks me how I am while I'm on the verge of tears...I can't handle it and rather uncontrollably break out into sobs. I think this surprised poor Fran, but he waited until I had almost collected myself and then asked what was going on. After listing off a multitude of things from missing home to being frustated about not having "comunity" and being so far away from everything (Benicassim to Castellon is twenty to thirty minutes and on top of that, only when the bus is scheduled to come by), he nodded in understanding, added some encouragement, and mentioned that the church "youth" are at the university most days and I could eat with them or just generally spend time with them sometime if I would like. Then he asked if he could pray for me. It had been so long since someone asked if they could pray for me right then and there...I had forgotten the wonderful encouragement and refocusing to Christ that it brings. I'm still a bit melancholy, but now my sky has turned bluer, with the clearing away of some clouds.

This is a photo of part of a really high, pretty scary, but rather fun ropes course. And of course, some lovely sky.

Here's a pic of a lovely castle I saw yesterday... El castillo de Morella... You can see so much from up there. As we were going back down the mountain the sun was setting. Beautiful.