Ivy

So...... Sorry my blog has kind of been on hiatus lately. I really need to be better about posting. No promises though.
For once, however, I have a partial excuse. I was sick for a good portion of last week, and therefore I was miserable and not much blog-worthy stuff happened.
However, on blog-worthy tidbit did happen last week. I had a revelation about ivy.
Yes, you read it right- ivy - the green, leafy vine that adorns old buildings, especially old colleges such as Harvard, or other "Ivy League" schools.... Okay, bad joke, I know. Deal with it. =]

So, moving on.
I was sweeping the front patio one afternoon, and I stopped to cleat away some ivy that was growing onto the patio, and something made me stop and examine it. It was then that I wondered how ivy grew along the walls. When I examined it closer, I realized that at regular increments along each vine, there were tiny little tendrils that would find cracks and crevices, or even rough patches along the wall, to cling to. These tendrils, once they found purchase, would not only cling, however. They would slowly, over years even, work their way deeper into the fabric of the wall. If not kept in check, ivy has even been known to crumble entire building beyond repair. Though it is simply a plant, and not obviously aggressive to the human eye, it has the power to crumble entire buildings with its tendrils if it is ignored.
This idea brought a very strong spiritual correlation to my mind.
The ivy plant is much like the Enemy. He is always searching for a new foothold in our lives. It doesn't even have to be a large or obvious one either - he can use the smallest, most insignificant shortcomings in our lives to get a tendril in. And just like the ivy plant, if those tendrils are left unattended, they will widen the cracks, and begin to crumble our spiritual walls. Oh, and the whole time it looks good. Personally, I think a brick wall laced with ivy is a beautiful sight, but the ivy damages the structural integrity of the wall, and over time it becomes unstable. The same can happen with our lives. The crack can begin as a spoken word that was taken unkindly - if the person who was offended dwells upon the unkind word, it becomes a tiny crack in which the Enemy can get a foothold. The dwelling can turn into an attitude of self pity or insecurity. The attitude can turn into a mentality, and ultimately the mentality becomes a part of the persons identity, therefore giving them an identity of worthlessness and self pity.
Much of what we have been doing over this DTS has to do with "trimming back the ivy" in our lives, and having God help us to repair the cracks in our walls, and the damage done through them. I am excited to realize how much progress I have made already, and I am wondering what God will do next in my life. =]
Well, it's late now, and I am going to attempt to get up early tomorrow to join the girls for an early morning workout, so goodnight!

Reawakening

Last week I had a re-awakening in my spiritual gifts.  The week’s teaching was on the Holy Spirit and the gifts and fruits that come with it.

Long ago at a church camp one summer, I had been baptized in the Holy Spirit, and had received the gift of speaking in tongues, as well as the ability to function in a couple other gifts of the Spirit.

After first receiving these gifts, I functioned in them for a period of time, but life pulled me away, and after that I had forgotten or ignored them for a very long time, until coming here to the DTS, and especially this last week.

Wednesday night was the big night that reawakened me. We were all praying for one another, and praying to receive more of the spirit. That night not only did I begin speaking in tongues again, a gift that I had been neglecting for far too long, but I also received words and pictures for others in the group - words and pictures that enabled me to encouraged them. I felt so connected with God, and it was amazing. I had forgotten how good it felt to function in conjunction with the Holy Spirit, and to receive words for other people through Him. It has been renewing my relationship with God in a way I had forgotten it could.

I want to make sure I continue to function in the Spirit like this; I do not want to lose this connection again. I need to truly put my full attention on seeking God in my quiet times, so I can continue to grow in this area. I have learned that there is no middle ground in relationships – either you are growing in the relationship or the relationship is fading. I want this connection with God to grow ever stronger each day of my life, so that I never lose this sense of intimacy.

I have said in the past that God is my best friend, or that I have a personal relationship with God, but looking back, I realize that though what I had then seemed deep or intimate at the time, God is drawing me ever closer to His heart, and I want more. I cannot wait to discover more of God’s love for me, and the adventures he has planned for my life. <3

Blessings, Barbecues, and Getting Very, Very Lost.

Thursday -
On Thursday I had an adventure. during lunch I went down to Torremolinos to run some errands, by myself. It was actually really fun. It was good to get out and exercise a little after sitting in the classroom all morning.
When I was at the grocery store, there was a man outside playing a guitar, and I felt like God wanted to bless him, so I tossed a five-euro note into his guitar case full of small change. The grin on his face warmed me down to my toes. It was a priceless and irreplaceable moment for me, to see the joy I was able to give someone just by listening to what God told me to do.
Later that same afternoon, as I was running my errands, I ran into the same man in an entirely different area of town, now carrying his guitar, rather than playing it. He immediately recognized me and smiled and tried to talk to me, but our conversation was short as he knew no English, and I have very limited Spanish. He still made it very clear hough how much I had blessed him and made his day. It made me so happy, and I felt I was the more blessed one by being allowed to opportunity to bring that man joy.
It was a good day.

Friday -
Friday night our DTS group went to Ashraf's house. Ashraf, by the way, is the male leader of our group. He is from Egypt, though his wife is an American woman, and he has worked with YWAM for many, many years.
We had a lovely barbeque at their house, and we all delighted in finding the many different ways we could amuse their two-ear-old son Peter. Making him smile and giggle, and laugh and go crazy were the main source of entertainment that evening until his bedtime. He is such a little cutie!!!!
Again, a very good day.

Saturday (Today) -
Today I spent the afternoon with Johanna, a local YWAM staff person. She is such a sweetheart, and so much fun! I really enjoyed spending the afternoon with her. We went shopping at a local shopping center called "La Plaza Mejor"
I found some great clearance deals on some of the stuff I needed, and had a wonderful time just shopping and chatting with Johanna about life. =] It was fun.
For the way back to the villa, I got to take the train for the first time! It was a lot nicer than I expected. No homeless people, hippies with B.O., or garbage everywhere like the public transportation at home. (You Eugenians know exactly what I'm talking about when I say this! Haha)
When walking back to the villa from the train station I decided to take the scenic route, and in doing so I got lost..... Very, horribly lost. A walk that even taking the acceptable scenic route should have only taken me 45 minutes to an hour, took me roughly two and a half to three hours. Needless to say, I was regretting my choice of wearing my boots and not my comfy tennis shoes, less than an hour into this walk.
Eventually, however, with my feet and legs screaming at me the whole way up the hill, I did finally make it back... Just in time to eat a little dinner and rest a bit before going right back our and walking down into Torremolinos AGAIN for girls night out! Thankfully, with my tennis shoes on, I was much better off, however I am definitely sore now.
After arriving back at the villa, we got the guys to join us and we all watched the movie, "Courageous" (That my amazing Daddy was kind enough to put in my care package!! =D ) together as a group.
All in all this week has been pretty much amazing. =]

The Twelve-Year-Old Who Melted Me.

So it has been very nearly a week since I have posted here, due to a combination of being busy, having internet issues, and just plain laziness.
So here I am again, playing catch up on my blog. To save space, and to save you boredom, I will simply sum up my last week or so in a few key events.
Last week went well overall, learning to use inductive Bible study. Learning how itself was rather dry and academic, but the insights we learned through the practice of it was anything but. I now understand the book of Ephesians infinitely more than I did before, and I plan on doing inductive study often in the future.
The weekend was pretty calm - nothing much out of the ordinary, but I had a fun time with Terah on sunda watching "The Princess Bride" and drinking hot tea.
Tea is very much a part of the culture here, more specifically at the villa. It is partially out of necessity, to keep warm, because it is frustratingly cold inside the villa here, as it was built for summer use - to keep the heat out, not in. The other part is that it just makes everything seem more friendly when you have a mug of warm, delicious liquid in your hands.

My last highlight was from last night. Last night we did our weekly local outreach. It was at the same community center as last time, but this time instead of handing out food, we were pioneering the first kids program the center had ever had. Because it had not been properly advertised, and it was the very first night, we ended up only having one kid show up, but it was a blast.
The girl who did show up, is named Somaya. She is twelve years old, and one of the most adorable girls I have ever had the privilege to meet. She was a delight to play with, and apparently she thought the same about me, because for a reason that none of us could figure out, she completely attached herself to me, and barely took her big, beautiful eyes off me all night. 

My new friend Somaya. <3

My cool new name tag, courtesy of the
awesomeness that is magic markers. =]

She was so incredibly sweet. I found out later that she has a learning disability, but I think that it only adds to her sweetness, and I honestly had no idea until much afterwards. She didn't want to play anything unless I played too, and she was thrilled to take the wonderful photo above with me. She absolutely melted my heart down to the ground with her sweet, curious, brown-eyed gaze. It was such a blessing to me.

So there are the big things so far. More to come. =]

Lazy Blogging

This is another "I'm really tired and don't want to blog, but I know I should because I might forget stuff later" kind of days.
So,. two main highlight points today.
Highlight One - A couple is staying at the base this week, and they live in Paris, and bonus! Not only did I get to learn a little about Paris, I came to find out that Brendan, the guy, is from my hometown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was such a wonderful thing to get to discuss my hometown with someone who actually knows what I'm talking about!! Major highlight right there, as well as an answer to prayer. I  had been having trouble adjusting with nothing here aside from my own possessions being at all normal or familiar to me, so talking with someone from my hometown USA was just exactly what I needed.
Highlight Two - Tonight I had an amazing time with God. I had an actual conversation with him, like I would have with a friend, me talking and then him talking back, and so forth. The only difference was that the conversation was totally in my head and not audible to those around me. It was pretty cool and I got specific answers to some of my questions. I really hope my future times with God will be as awesome as tonight was. =]

So yeah, that's all I'm going to write for tonight. Ciao!