Days 44 & 45.. not quite the end of the Summer! Couple of hours to go! #45daysofsummer

Well I'm not quite finished as there is still one more evening left of the summer! And I've not yet posted about yesterday either! So here goes..
Yesterday will be summed up in more photos than words (but a picture paints a thousand words though, right?!) and today's events as well as an overall (short!) summary of my entire summer follows at the bottom..

Laura gave me a brief but detailed tour of Bilbao in around 2 hours! I decided that if I would live anywhere in Spain (although of course I haven't been to every place in Spain) I would live in Bilbao. I loved it there! The atmosphere, the buildings, the river. Everything. We started our tour at what I think is the Old Square.

And walked round to the New Square (which didn't look that new to be fair, but was wonderful and was lined with cafés and bars and later on there was live music here!)

The library was rather modest and hidden, I felt. But had a grand door that was worth a snap.

A tiny little stage for the City Orchestra.

Live music in the street! This was on one of the main streets in the city, and had lots of shops and gorgeous little pastelerías (cake shops).

We reached the Guggenheim Museum! Selfie necessary.

A giant puppy made from flowers. Why not?

The Spider in the distance... Can you see the bride and groom in the distance having their wedding photos with said spider? Weird.

And the exterior of the museum was enough to look at without having to go in! 

The spider...! Crazy. Weird. Bride and groom finished and moved on to some other unusual spot for the rest of their shoot.

View down the river.

Arty bridge.

We went for a quick bite to eat in a gorgeous little Tapas bar in the New Square.

 

There was sooo much to choose from!

 Really, so much!! But the kind Spanish waiters helped us decide what to have and poured my mosto (grape juice) for me in a wine glass with ice, an orange slice and an olive on a stick. Wonderful.

Basketball World Cup fever - this year it is held in Bilbao!

There were loads of people milling around and taking part in all the activities in the streets.

We got free balloons :) yay!

And then, after a spot of lunch, and really all to quickly, I caught the bus to the airport.. Where my case was 26kg instead of 23kg and I had to get rid of some stuff and move some things around in a fluster as the queue for the Vueling desk was huge and out the door of the airport! After misunderstandings about hand luggage and being sad that my last proper Spanish conversation was a total muddle, all was well in the end and I reminded myself of my competent and lengthy conversation with Juanma the previous day, and my entire time with Laura which was almost totally in Spanish!! I landed back in London last night where mom and dad met me to take me home! Phew! (We did get lost in the countryside looking for a pub to eat dinner in, but alas gave up and ended up having pizza in Oxford services.) Home and bed. Yes.

Today, on my last official day of my Summer, I had a well-needed lie in, before heading to church at Zion. It didn't occur to me at the time, but thinking about it now, it was very nice to be sat in an English service, to be able to understand everything without my brain working on over time to try and translate. And how good to worship, and let God revive and refresh me. And don't get me wrong, I'm still tired and I'll be hitting the ground running as I start back at work tomorrow but I am so excited about what He is doing in my life at the moment and how clearly I can hear Him speaking to me, challenging me, encouraging and inspiring me. I hope and pray that in the busyness of this new season, I will still be able to hear Him and make time do so. 

This afternoon, we celebrated with some close family friends of ours. Two birthdays and three wedding anniversaries in these past couple of weeks! How exciting to be able to celebrate 55, 52 and 25 years of marriage with those couples, in a world when so often marriages have broken down. What a blessing to share with them in their celebrations today :)

And finally tonight, a brief but detailed and very exciting meeting about the future plans at church and about where God is leading us as a community in terms of our building plans!! 

Sadly no time for Grey's Anatomy tonight (soon I hope!) because the last 1.5 hours of this summer, I intend to be sleeping in order to be up for an early start tomorrow!

But what an incredible Summer it has been. Of adventure and challenge. Of learning and growing. Of new places, new people and new opportunities.

And what an incredible God I serve, who takes away, but who also gives in abundance. Who mends and restores what is broken and lost (and is continuing to do so). Who I don't always understand but who I am learning to trust more and more. Who makes my paths straight. Who sings over me and whispers words of love and truth to me at the times when I most need to hear them. Who is faithful to His promises. Who has said 'yes' to much more than He has said 'no'. Who has given me so much more than a great Summer. He has given me hope. He has given me Jesus. He is all I need.

#45daysofsummer #blessed

Now, what's next?!

Day 32: Nothing is Wasted. #45daysofsummer

Today, a group of young people from the church here in León went for a walk around a local mountain park. It's not fair to say we went on a mountain walk, because although I think the place was called a mountain, it wasn't that mountain-like and the walk to park was longer than the actual walk itself. Anyway, regardless of where exactly we walked, walk we did and it was very (very!) hot today. We stopped a few times. First for a devotional time, which Betsy led and we spent some time praying for some situations that the youth have going on and for situations around the world.

We also stopped for food. And later just to rest in some shade (I napped on a bench. Well needed). And later again, on the way home, to dip our feet in the river. It was so cool and refreshing!

During the summer months, you're not allowed to have BBQs in the parks because they have so little rain here that fires can start and spread really easily. On the way there and back, we passed a field that was a perfect example of this.
It was all charred and burned, remnants of what once filled the field lay scattered around and the faint scent of fire filled the air as we passed.
But in amongst the ashes, new life was growing - plants finding nourishment in harsh conditions. Dry and perhaps weary, but alive and persevering.

I was reminded of a song that I needed to remember again today. It filled my head and the words sank deeply into my heart and reminded me that in the hands of my redeemer, nothing is wasted. 

From the ruins

From the ashes

Beauty will rise

From the wreckage

From the darkness

Glory will shine.

I sure hope so. I'm choosing to trust Him.

Feel like I've hit a bit of a wall the past couple of days, but I think that's only because I had three full on weeks and have finally got some time to slow down (although it's not feeling that slow yet and that also probably has something to do with it!) I am still learning, but people can tell I'm tired and I feel less willing to try and speak unless I really need to! Ah it's such a challenge learning a new language like this. Aboslute kudos to people who have moved to different countries and learnt the language whilst living there / set up their life / made new friends etc.. It ain't easy!

But I am encouraged that Nothing is Wasted. My God is creative, and has a plan. He is using me here and is using this experience to shape me somehow! Like the plants in the field, though I am weary, I'm persevering. 

And I just heard that we're having a girls day out at the beach tomorrow. That's more like it. Vamos a la playa!

"I've still got room in my hand luggage.." Auf Wiedersehen Deutschland & Hola España... Day 16 & 17 #45daysofsummer

I picked up a few little bits and bobs along the way in Germany. A few free postcards, tickets from things (gigs, trains etc.) and even a couple of Bretle boards (breakfast/bread boards; they're really cute!). It honestly wasn't much.

But every time I found something new to keep or collect, Jess would remind me "Your case was already too heavy on the way here, you're not gonna fit those in anywhere". I've been responding all week with "Yeah I know, but I've still got room in my hand luggage". Which I did have. And yet my case was still overweight in Zurich airport this morning (thankful for another kind lady who waived it through and didn't mind). My hand luggage did feel decidedly more heavy than last weekend - probably also something to do with the giant bag of goodies and snacks that Bekky sent me off with!

But I've made it this far and today is actually day 18 of of my crazy summer adventures.. I'll fill you in on the last two days!

Saturday was spent with Jess and Bekky in Konstanz for a while, looking round the city, a spot of lunch by the lake, a train back to the car and then the sad drive to Zurich (trip #1) to drop Jessie off and say our goodbyes..

Konstanz cathedral

On the way back to the house, Bekky remembered that we pass by the Rheinfell waterfall on the way home so we took a minor detour to make the most of our time in Switzerland and man, was it worth it!

Rheinfell waterfalls

So awesome I pulled this face!

Absolutely stunning.
And upon returning home, for dinner, Sabine (Bekky's mum) had baked spinach and ricotta cannelloni and we had peach ice cream and blackberry cake for dessert and we felt lovely and full as the storm (yes another storm. Can you believe it?!) set in. Her parents speak good English, so we had a good amount of time to sit and rest after another long day of driving, and just chat about life and things and be thankful that we weren't out in the battering rain and hail.

Eventually, bed was calling , after a late night the night before and with the knowledge that I had to wake up at 5am the next morning to make it to the airport (trip #2 to Zurich). The drive seemed shorter the second time round, and I'm pretty sure I only passed about three cars on the entire journey but it was nice to spend some time reflecting on the week as I drove, and listening out for what God was saying. Some friendly ladies helped me work out which kind of petrol I should fill the car with (its all different again in Switzerland!) and then dropped Fifi off...

I made my way through the airport routine. I got heckled slightly for daydreaming in the queue to check in (not moving quick enough apparently, but I was so tired and things weren't processing properly.) My suitcase was, again, overweight, but only slightly and as I mentioned, the kind lady waived it for me. Actually, the woman in front of my had to unpack loads of her stuff to make her case lighter so I was more thankful then that mine went straight through! I also accidentally left my factor 50 suncream in my hand luggage (how I don't know..) and felt genuinely gutted that the security woman had to throw it away. It was Nivea and everything. I'm just hoping that there are some pale Spaniards in the town I'll be in, so that I'll be able to purchase some high factor sun protection but I can't even guess the chances of that. We'll see!

After sleeping for the majority of the two-hour flight to Barcelona, I then had a 7 hour wait there until my next flight to León. I read a little, slept, read some more, prayed, ate, had a little wander around the check in room (way too early to check in so couldn't go through to departures yet).. And after only two and a half hours of this, I started to panic a little.

I'm just not very good at having long periods of time alone with nothing to do. Not only that but I had no internet or signal (not necessarily a problem, but my concerns were mostly that I had no way of contacting the people who I had been communicating with in Spain, so I had literally no idea what the plan was when I finally reach León airport). Plus, on a good day I find it hard to make friends with random strangers, so that was unlikely to happen, also given that I think I had only heard English spoken by two other people in my time there waiting.

So, sat alone in the airport wondering what I can do to fill the time and how the evening ahead is going to pan out, I decided to go off in search of the business lounge to acquire some internet, and who cares that it cost me a Euro for every 7minutes?! I chatted with mom for a little while, told the Facebook world how I was doing and found an empty inbox (still no email from the my Spain contacts) but instead of worrying, I felt a quiet assurance that God knows what He is doing and I can trust Him. And since we live in the first world, I'm absolutely sure I'll be able to contact people and make my way to the camp some how, if I reach León and no one is there.

In searching out the internet lounge, I also stumbled across a posh little café, with room to charge my nexus and spread out comfortably. After a few minutes there, and probably because I was the only customer in there, the man came over to give me a glass for the rest of my Ice Tea! I felt a bit posh myself at that point..

Notice the palm trees in the background, the blazing sun outside. It was a good spot.

But it was also a quality chunk of time and a quiet space, where I just spent some time with God, coming to Him with how I'm feeling and reminding myself of His presence and His purpose, letting go of the past and looking to the future He has for me, which I'm already in :)

I also managed to order myself my first meal in Spanish hahaaa. I use the word 'meal' quite lightly. I had mozerella fingers and a fanta lemon, but I did also ask what salad options they had and she understood me, so bonus!

I knew that when I arrived at León airport, I was totally in God's hands from that point on.. I didn't have a plan for after the airport and hadn't had any full details through from the people I'd been communicating with, but when I arrived, the director of the music camp (the first week of camp is a music one - will tell you more about it in the days to come!) was there to pick me up and drive me to the camp. We got there in the middle of dinner, and I spend the rest of the evening with Ivan (who is also volunteering for the week) and Lluna, who has adopted me as a friend and has been so welcoming and friendly. I met what felt like millions (of course, I exaggerate!) of other people, some with a little English, some with barely any at all so it really has been a deep end experience so far! But I have been able to (just about) piece together some very broken Spanish to have some conversations with people, and to find out my duties.

It's definitely going to be a challenging few weeks.. But I'm eager to learn, and I'm thankful that Jesus understands me even if no one else does. It's me and Him out here.

Day 14 & 15 - WiFi free days, but we more than coped. #45daysofsummer

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten my blog in all the fun we've been having! This post will be a double dose to catch you up on the past two days here in Deutschland.. Not too long because I know my last post was a long one and there'll be plenty of pictures!

Highlights from the day 14 & 15 of my #45daysofsummer:

• Exploring Tübingen with Anna and Freddy and buying cute little bread boards, which everyone seems to use instead of plates here! 

The old Town Hall.

Outside a castle entrance.

• Fun drive to Schorndorf (despite traffic), refusing to give up speaking German when ordering my food in McDonald's even though after my first sentence the guy spoke English to me (give me a chance, buddy, please.)

• William Fitzsimmons, live in concert, not only playing his beautiful melancholy music but coming out to perform his encore in the middle of the audience RIGHT NEXT TO US. Like literally, in front of my face, and he played an acoustic version my favourite song of his right there too. Have a listen to Passion Play - I did video the performance but it's on my camera so you'll have to wait til September for it!

Had to take a photo of my camera screen to upload this one, but this is how close he was to us!!!

Up on stage doing his thang. 

• Brunch with Mr Frohnmayer, after 4 years of not seeing him! Another quality German meal, tour round his house and good catch up with an old friend! Also met his mum who is wonderful and really funny! Drinking my way through a Mass (literally the word for a massive glass) of Leitungswasser (tap water - this has been our word of the week!)

• Arriving in Konstanz to spend our last couple of days with the lovely Bekky. Her mum made us Calzone (from scratch! Amazing!) And then a walk along the lake side with ice cream and time to catch up and just hang out!

Calzone!

There are way better pictures of us on my camera, but this is the easiest to upload! 

Beautiful lake, setting sun...

Day 5: Have you ever travelled south of the Equator? #45daysofsummer

Well, where to start today?! It has felt jam-packed with goodness!

Let's go chronologically as that makes it simple!

Raspberry orange muffins were the first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning (although I can honestly say that's not a normal thing for me, to wake up with baking on my mind...!) But that was an easy way to get me out of bed quickly... Here's the result of my efforts:

Nom nom...

Mom and Matty have both eaten two each, so they must be good! And not only have I ticked off another Summer Project activity, I also put to good use the raspberries that Dad and I harvested yesterday and had way more mix than I expected so made 21 muffins and have been able to share them with people :) bonus!

The afternoon saw Chloe and I heading to Starbucks for a sophisticated lunch in the sunshine, and then a trip to... (wait for it...) COUNTRY BASKETS! Felt the need to capitalise that as it was such a fun visit!! Neither of us had been before, but think I may have found my new favourite shop! We spent at least a couple of hours wandering the aisles and trying our best not to make unnecessary purchases (which for the most part, worked very well!) but it's just so cheap and there are so many pretty things there! Hurray for craft shops and friends with similar (potentially geeky) interests! (Not calling you a geek, Chlo!)

Then, after a quick rush round Merry Hill (holiday shopping now complete! Yes!) I got to hang out with some of my favourite young people for the rest of the summery evening starting at McDonalds with Hannah for some inspirational conversations, and then at the annual Resound CAL BBQ (Thank you Morgan family!).. Naturally this included way too much meat, vegetarian jokes, lots of selfies, the water game (not sure that's what it's called but it's a game involving water!), the 'Gareth Bale' game (sadly this game doesn't actually involved Gareth Bale as one night expect), and general all-round fun times.

Us three on the right are all vegetarians. Subconsciously we felt the need to sit together..

The Gareth Bale game.

Lovely Beth (who was overjoyed this evening upon being asked if she was 19!)

So Day 5 has turned out to be another scorcher. Thankful for these Summer days and for the community I am a part of that is so rich in love and joy.

Interesting fact of the day (thank you Hannah & Aisha for this): I have never been South of the equator. I think. I tried to go through all the countries I've been to in my head and I'm pretty sure I haven't. I can also understand that how interesting this fact is, is totally subjective but I wanted to share it in case it enlightens anyone else. I felt enlightened when I realised. And now have a new goal for travelling: at least one time, I'd like to travel south of the equator and be aware that I'm doing so. 

Another random something.. I recently bought Bethel's latest album 'We Dance' and have been listening to it non-stop when I'm in the car. It's a quality album, and worth a purchase if you fancy a Spirit-led, spacious style worship set that's lyrically creative and fresh. I think I could go through each song on the album and talk about what God is saying through it, but I want to highlight just a couple for now. 'You make me brave' is on there, which I blogged about last week. 'It is well' is in another league altogether and may even get a post of it's own at some point as well as has meant a lot to me recently. But another stand out song for me at the moment is 'Shepherd'. Wanted to share it so you can have a listen. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xMW-O9GB-UY Enjoy and be blessed. 

Setting Sun

I went for a short walk this afternoon, before it got dark.

To get some fresh air and to watch the sun set.

And to spend some time outside and alone with God, without distraction.

I walked and took pictures, and got really excited that the daffodils are already starting to bloom!!

It was cold out, but with the sun on my face, I really didn't mind the temperature.

And I decided to turn back early, so I could find an ideal spot to watch the sun setting..

Whilst walking to find the perfect spot a thought occurred to me.

It's one thing to be 'where the light is', it's completely different to be 'living in the light'.

(that is something I'd like to expand on when it's not gone 1am in the morning.. but this was quite a significant thought for me today..)

So, anyway. Other thoughts.

Ideal spot, found.

I stood and watched the sun go down, until it was hidden behind the horizon.

I thought of God, and what it's gonna be like when Jesus comes back, or even in Heaven. I think it will look a little like the sunset I saw today.. definitely more splendid and awesome.. I prayed that Jesus would come back soon. (Not because I don't like living, just coz I feel like "to live is Christ and to die is gain" - what Paul was saying in Philippians. But so often I don't feel like I'm doing a great job at the 'living is Christ' part, and I don't want to die necessarily - but I do wanna be where God is everything, where He's at the centre, getting all the glory, and where I have no worries and stresses but I can just be. And so if Jesus returns soon, before I die, then yeh.. all will be well :) complicated thought process perhaps but in my head it makes sense..!)

I also thought of Japan, and how fragile our world is. I prayed for Shizuka and Kaori, my two friends that I lived with in Canada, who are living back in Japan. I prayed that God would be strong, for them and for everyone who is being and has been affected by this terrible disaster.

As I started walking back, I crossed paths with a new friend of mine, who was also out walking and praying and was just going to watch the sun set. (Thank you LORD for your timing!)

We talked about our thoughts, about church this morning, about Japan and about our great God who is steadfast and strong.

She encouraged me in a number of things, and when we talked about the earthquake and how I had been praying specifically for the girls, she reminded me that we can't fully rely on the earth we live on, and that it is not the ground that is holding us up - it is God, by his mighty hand.. She talked about how creation is revealing God to us all the time, and yet even creation isn't a full image of what God is like, we get an incomplete picture. Yes, God is in the beautiful sun set that illuminates the sky and warms your heart.. But the earth is fallen. The earthquake and tsunami that have killed hundreds in Japan is not reflective of our God.. (Although, they do fulfill prophesies in the Gospels when Jesus warned that in the last days these things would happen...)

All in all, a lovely and thought-provoking conversation. And what inspires me most about this friend of mine, is that she views all things through a godly perspective; God is always on her mind and she can see Him at work all the time.

I pondered on those thoughts for a while as I walked back to my block.

I began to feel the chill of the cold air as the sun found its way out of our sky for the day and the temperature started to drop rapidly.

I walked quickly.

Home in no time.

Keele is such a beautiful place to live.

So much nature, so much of God's creation, right there, practically on my doorstep.

I hope to take advantage of more sun sets like that.

And I hope to see more of God, in more things as I go about my days.

Hallelujah.

Sunny Days

It feels like a new year's resolution.

Or the excitement a five year old would have with their new toy at Christmas.

Two posts in two days! Lets see how long this lasts..

So the sun really changes things. People are happy when the sun comes out. Even the flowers look happier when the sun comes out!

All is well with the world and the desire to be at one with God's creation is so distinct.. it's glorious.

We sat outside to eat lunch at Grandma's. And I've had sun cream on for two days in a row! I love the smell of sun cream. It's one of my favourite things. It brings back so many happy memories from summer vacations when I was a kid!

We also walked around the market today, the sun darting behind the clouds every so often, keeping me on my toes; armed, cardigan in hand, ready to shield my pale skin from the cool wind.

Plus it's the World Cup too. All my memories of the world cups past, include sunshine, face painting and matches shown on big screens at church. Despite not being completely over England's 1-1 draw with the USA, and the fact that Germany won their first game, 4-0 against Australia, the World Cup is still my favourite time of every four years :)

It's only 5:30 and my day is already more than awesome. Here's to an awesome Sunday evening too.

Thank you Lord for sunny days. I really love them.

Daisy on a Sunny Day