a happy week...

this is only wednesday and i am somewhat exhausted, but also encouraged. this has been a fabulous week!

it started out at the end of a holiday weekend, which was nice although a bit emotional. after a somewhat overwhelming couple days, i hung out with my friend beth and her little man, lucas (her 7 mos old son) while her husband was out of town surfing. then later saturday night i went to my best friend's apartment and had a great time catching up, talking about life, getting some perspective, getting to listen and support her, etc., and of course it didn't hurt having her little girl around who always runs to me when i get there and gives me kisses, wants to sit in my lap, etc.,

sunday i went to a church right around the corner from my apt, that has great music and is just a breath of fresh air to me, the rest of the day i did what was absolutely FABULOUS - cleaning my room, listening to music, reading, and relaxing.

monday was a holiday, but since the week still was going to be busy, the morning i rested and then went off to meet tyler for our normal monday meeting (lacking dave, who was still on his surfing trip) to talk about our tuesday night of conversation, this week on FREEDOM. it was raining, as it has been most of the past week & weekend, and, being a holiday, most places were closed. we had some fabulous italian coffee (which is definitely the best) while we talked about freedom, pictures of freedom, how to lead this discussion, and how we can hope for the world to be set free and how we can be free, etc., good times... since julie, tyler's wife, had to take ellia, their 3mos old home, they invited me over for an incredible lunch of yummy californian chicken burgers with cilantro, ali-oli sauce, and such. fun times & great food.

i then was off to meet with alina, a girl i disciple/mentor, at atocha, the big train station (that also has an indoor garden with cafés and such around it). we had a REALLY good time, talking about some fairly deep and personal issues and what it means to submit your life fully to Christ, even when you (a) don't know the outcome and (b) want control over the situation and outcome (as if we really could). it was a really great time. i mentioned to her as we were leaving that she could come over (back to tyler & julie's) to both see ellia (their baby, who she had yet to see) and to preview the movie we'd be watching thursday at the movie night & discussion. since it was a holiday, she had plenty of time and came with a present in hand. we headed (back for me) to tyler & julie's and had a great dinner of pesto pasta & salad, while alina got to practice some english (she's hoping to study abroad in the US sometime in the next 2 years, but we always seem to speak in spanish) as we talked about babies, growing up, english slang & idioms, and other random topics. alina ended up heading home right as julie went to sleep and tyler and i began to watch, "The Matrix" at about 11pm, which meant we ended around 1am, when i got to walk home (which fortunately isn't that far away, just about 25min walking - really not that far, and on well lit streets that at that hour, actually still have people out, so pretty safe).

tuesday, i got up a little late (due to the late night and the day ahead), but then headed to the dentist for a couple fillings, which while i had to wait about an hour actually didn't take much time at all. i for one don't much enjoy the dentist, but it was fairly painless (as soon as the anesthetic kicked in and minus this torturous tarter removal thing, which fortunately didn't last that long and did make my teeth extra-white). on the way there i had gotten a call from the director of ágape in spain, edi, to say that he and javier (the director over western europe) were in town because javier needed to go to the hospital with his brother. anyway, they wanted to meet up if that was at all possible. after some confusion (during which i also remembered the english club we have on tuesdays) about where they were and when we were going to meet up, we met up at atocha right before their train was to leave back to barcelona and spent about an hour talking about madrid, ministry, how they could better resource the campus ministry in madrid in spain, and encouraging me a great deal (which was great!). i then was off back to the dentist, so he could level out the filling on one of my teeth, that felt a bit off. i went there and then RUSHED to the ¿qué ves? conversations night. it was great! we had a good crowd and while i was exhausted, the conversation went well and was encouraging as we talked about freedom and eventually what God and Jesus have to do with freedom, in the big scope and then also on a more personal level. it was good, which meant i got home yet again around midnight (which is more like 10pm in US standards). (everyone else there had to work the next day too.) part of what was so encouraging is that a real community is beginning to form, both from tuesday & thursday night activities.

that brings us to today... wednesday. i again woke up a little groggy and tired, particularly since it took me awhile to fall asleep last night, in part from getting home late, in part from a long day, and in part from the movie my neighbor was watching. i got up, had some coffee, read a little bit, and rushed down to móstoles, on the southern side of the city. i made some calls on the way, which were encouraging, to various students to meet up sometime this week (or next) and then met up with a girl i disciple, which again was great. it's nice to both see her growth and how the Lord is at work in and through her. we then went to the english club we have on this campus, and had about 20 people, half who came at 3pm and the other half who came at 4pm. we talked about holidays and a lot of things and had a good time.

then i was off to go to a church in móstoles which is SUPER supportive and encouraging. they wanted me to come by so they could pray for me and the ministry in madrid. i got sketchy directions, which means i got a little lost, but thanks to spaniards' helpfulness and my recognizing landmarks here & there to know if i was on the right path or not, i eventually found it after walking around for about an hour (it should have taken about 30min). the pastor invited me to coffee, where we caught up a bit and he asked me if i had been told what all he wanted me to share. he asked me to share a little devotional & what the Lord is doing on campus. no problem, i said, i'll just need a few minutes to think a bit. :-) (sometimes i don't know what goes through my head.) we went back to the church, people arrived, we had a great time of prayer & worship, i shared about what's been going on on campus, asked for some specific requests, and then shared some things i've been learning and studying in the word, as i study the sermon on the mount. the Lord was very gracious, as i thoroughly enjoyed it and was HUGELY blessed, as it seems i always am when i visit this church. the pastor walked me to the train station and on the way asked if i would consider leading the youth group there. i told him i couldn't commit to anything right now, but would pray about it seriously, as i would LOVE to do it (if it makes sense and if i can figure out how to fit it into my schedule within reason). i hoped on the train back to go back home and en route called my friend ruth to hear how her week has been going and some decisions she had to make this week. i got home around 10:30, which is good for this week, made a salad and later some tea, sent out some e-mails for tomorrow night and just catching up on e-mails, and am now headed to bed - exhausted, but hugely encouraged (and realizing that friday i need to take some time to REST, just BE, and to catch up on the admin stuff i haven't hardly even looked at this week - including a bizillion christmas cards and such, not to mention the present i desperately need to buy/make for my family & friends). but right now honestly i'm not so worried about my list of things to do, i'm just happy and content. it's amazing how much it ministers to me to have to share with others what God is doing and who He is. it helps me to REMEMBER and to put everything back into perspective. "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all things will be added unto you." matt 6:33 "don't worry about tomorrow; each day has enough trouble of it's own." hmm... right now it's time to sleep a bit. :-)