An Unorganized Schedule

I love my agenda, and I seriously mean LOVE. I always have loved planning, loved seeing my day get filled in with activities and loved tracking everything I do. The truth is I just love having a schedule and knowing what to expect each day. As you may guess moving overseas, with out a clear schedule of what my daily life would look like, sent me into a somewhat panic. Now that I have almost been in Spain for 1 month I can see how God is using a somewhat unorganized schedule to help me draw closer to Him and rely on His plans.

Host Families & Door Handles When I left for Spain on January 9th, I left without having a host family to move in with. When I arrived, where I would be staying was still up in the air. For the first two nights I had the opportunity to stay with a young family from the church, I then was moved to the pastors house for a few days, and it wasn't until a week after arriving in Spain that I had found a host family. 

The first week was full of learning 3 different bus times to get to places, it was filled with digging through my suit case everyday trying to find where my mom had cleavery packed everything. (Even now that I've unpacked I haven't found teabags, even though she swears she packed them... I'm pretty sure she never did.) And for a added bonus door handles in Spain are a lot different than in Canada. In both my temporary host homes it took me minimum 20 minutes and a lot of tears before I could finally get into the house. Overall my first week was unorganized, unfamiliar and not anything what I expected. 

In this first week of not having a host family, I had never felt so jealous of what someone else had. The other girl on our team had been placed right away with her host family, she was becoming part of the family, while I was spending a lot of time alone. Everyday in our orientation class when I saw her, she would talk more and more about how great her family was, meanwhile I got greener and greener with envy. I didn't understand why she had the perfect family while I was left all by myself. Every night I was arriving to my temporary host home feeling sad, cold and very alone. In this first week God really showed me how this experience was not going to be easy, nor was it going to be comfortable, and if I was going to make it through I had to really rely on Him, and on His timing. 

During that first week little did I know God did not only have a host family in mind for me, but had made them the perfect match for me. And exactly one week after arriving in Spain, I was moving into my new home, I was unpacking my things, and I finally felt "at home" in my new country.

God Knows
When I was deciding a year ago what I should do after high school I felt God's clear calling to come to Spain. Though this entire process God knew my every need and supplied more than I could ever imagine. Now that I have been in Spain for almost a month I can see how God's timing with my host family was the perfect timing. That in that first week it caused me to really fall on Him, and trust He knew better than I did. At the end of the day God knows us better than we think we know ourselves, and I'm really learning that though sometimes things seem difficult and unreachable, but God is there and he will carry us through. 

"In him we were chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his 
will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory" 
Ephesians 1:11-12

Getting to Madrid

As the countdown for Spain changed from months, to weeks, to days, it finally was my last weekend at home, and I still hadn't packed, or really thought about packing. The realization that I was leaving that Monday still seemed like a lie. But soon the weekend was over, my bags were packed, I had said many heart felt goodbyes, and I left my organized life to take on an adventure were not every detail was final.  

Monday January 9th my parents, sister and I all headed to Buffalo, New York where I would be catching my first of two flights to Madrid, Spain. With time to spare before my 1pm flight from Buffalo, we decided to do a little shopping around, before heading to Panera Bread to grab an early lunch. After ordering I logged onto the wi-fi, to check that my flight to JFK had, had any changes. What I didn't expect to see was not only had my flight changed, it had been canceled. In a disbelief and panic we all quickly packed up our lunches and headed to Buffalo airport hoping to get some answers. My flight couldn't be canceled, I had to catch another flight later that day to go away for 6 months! Once we arrived at the airport we were told that I had been rescheduled for the next day, except I couldn't go the next day, I needed to get through today. As the airline looked for any possible way of getting me onto another flight that day, and we all prayed for some kind of airport miracle. God answered our cry for help, and it came in the sentence of "Oh it looks like we had a cancelation for the next flight, would you prefer the window or the asile seat?" 

This was just the beginning of a crazy day, but God used this to show me, even something like a flight (which seems so small) was something I had to completely surrender to Him. I know for myself that I often take for granted how easy situations are supposed to be, organizing details and completing them carefree, is just part of my day to day life. What I often forget is that ultimately it is God's flight, His details, and we need to trust Him in every situation no matter how "normal" it is to us. 

With my flight figured out and the appropriate changes made, I got to spend what was my last few hours with my family, in a airport bar, laughing and enjoying each others company for the last time for a few months.  

Soon the hours few by and it was time to say my final goodbyes. (or "see you later!" as I prefer to think) With teary eyes we parted ways, and I started the journey that would be my next 6 months. After making it through security, finding my gate, waiting through a 40 minute delay, we finally were boarding on route for JFK airport in New York City, New York. 

After a hour and 30 minute flight (30 of those minutes being circling the airport waiting for the okay to land) we finally touched down. After getting off the plane I rushed to grab my bag so I could recheck it with the other airline. With both my carry on, my big suitcase and a giant tote I started out to find the Delta check in desk. After being direct to two of the wrong areas in the airport, and after a solid 30 minutes of power walking,  I finally found the Delta check in. With sweat dripping down my back I got my bag checked in, and I was off to security. After getting through the unorganized security line, I finally found my final gate and the other girl in my program, Rose. 

Together we waited anxiously for our new chapter of life to begin. And soon after a long day of complications and delays we were finally boarding our flight to Madrid, Spain. Six and a half hours later we were preparing to land in Madrid airport. It was now 9:30am on Tuesday January, 10th, and with only two hours of sleep we started day one of our next six months.

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God is good! A year ago I was just applying to the STEP program, I am now writing this blog post from Spain and have started the program. This past year has really taught me to rely on God for all things. Over the course of this year He has shown His provision in providing the total funds to come on this trip, as well as the spiritual support needed to keep me going. Thank you to everyone who has felt lead to support me financially and through prayer. Without your help this journey would have never happened. I hope that you enjoy these blog posts from Spain over the next six months!