God´s Grace in Spain

This post is super long, and if you only have time to read some of it, please skip to the bottom where the Bible verse is. Because it is exciting!

Last week I had my mid term exams for my classes. They went well and this week I have a mid semester break! So, in the wee hours of Friday morning I boarded a plane in Berlin and headed to Barcelona! One of my friends from study abroad, Angela, had planned on going to Barcelona for the whole week and so I got on the same flight as her. It was really nice to be able to fly with someone. I met Jessica Jones, a friend from UNC, in Barcelona for the weekend, and then I came back to Sevilla, where she is studying this semester to stay with her for the week. Jessica came with some of her study abroad friends to Barcelona for the weekend.

So, Angela and I got into Barcelona at about lunch time on Friday and we ate lunch and then walked around the historic district, saw the Cathedral there (St. Maria´s maybe?), walked around the Gothic district, went down to the beach and touched the Mediterranean Sea (!), and ran into Jessica and her friends on the way back to the hostel (which was lucky because they had just gotten in from their flight). Even though we were staying at the same hostel as them we didn´t quite now when we would see them.

I really enjoyed wandering around Barcelona with Angela! We just walked down whatever street looked appealing. All the streets were so cute! They were all narrow with cobblestones and balconies with green plants growing on them. I took so many pictures that probably all look the same, but I absolutely loved it! Then we went to the Cathedral and looked around and found out that we could go up on the roof! So that was really fun and beautiful to look out over the city. You could see the Mediterranean and the hills around the city, with all the buildings. It was breathtaking.

The Mediterranean was beautiful, but cold! Oh, the weather in Barcelona (and Sevilla so far) has been fabulous! So warm - high of 70ish every day and sunny! It´s been a nice break from Berlin. It snowed the whole week before I left, but I really enjoyed the snow, actually. It was really pretty and not that cold...

So then on Saturday, Angela and I walked around with Jessica and her friends. We went to a huge street market in the morning with delicious fresh fruit and somewhat disturbing looking meat (whole pigs!) and fishy smelling fish. Then we walked down to the beach and chilled for a little bit (and of course took lots of pictures of us with the Mediterrranean). Then we went to see the houses the famous Spanish architect Gaudi designed, and I learned from Angela that that is where our adjective ¨gaudy¨comes from! Then we went to see La Sagrada Familia, which is a cathedral that he spent the last years of his life designing and began building, but he died before he could finish it, so it is unfinished. They are still continuing construction on it. And after I paid the 9 euros to get in, I discovered that he died really early in the construction process because basically the whole inside was unfinished (such a rip off!). After La Sagrada Familia, we went to a hill called Montjuic, where they have some big ornate building and a fountain in front of it that they do one of those light and music shows with the water every 30 minutes. It was pretty cool, but the best part was definitely sitting down after so much walking!

The next morning (Sunday), Jessica and I got up early to fly from Barcelona to Sevilla and we arrive safe and sound around lunch time. Then we went to the hostel I´m staying at and checked in and Jessica decided she would stay with me at the hostel, which is really great! So then we walked to her house to get her stuff, back to the hostel, etc.

Later that night, we met up with one of our friends from Summer Project in Santa Cruz, Chadwell, that is studying abroad in northern Spain (Segovia, if you´re a Spanish small cities buff) and was in Sevilla with some of his friends until this morning (Tuesday). We hung out with him and got some dinner, and it was great to catch up and get to hang out with him again!

The next morning (yesterday, Monday), Jessica had to go to class and I walked around Sevilla with Chadwell and his friends. It was good to see more of the city and more cute Spanish streets with cobblestones and balconies, but after 4 days of walking I was pretty exhausted!

Today was pretty chill and I just slept in and had breakfast, coffee, and time with the Lord on the beautiful terrace on the roof of our hostel while Jessica went to class (poor thing). After that we had lunch and went shopping at the mall near her house. Then we went to the Bible Study that she is going to here with other study abroad students in her program. We read Ephesians 3 and talked about how the mystery of the Gospel being extended to the Gentiles has been revealed in Jesus Christ!

One of the verses in Ephesians 3 (verse 8) reminded me of a passage in 1 Timothy that I read last week that totally rocked my world: 1 Timothy 1:14-17 -

¨The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners- of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

And looking at it today at Bible Study, especially verse 16 about how Christ showing me mercy displays his unlimited patience, I realized that I don´t have to ¨be used by God in a mighty way¨ in order to glorify Him or tell people about his grace - His unlimited patience is seen in the very act that he had mercy on me!!! I don´t have to DO anything, Christ has already done it. The working out of the gospel in me brings God glory and tells the world of his unlimited patience! That is huge for me, because I have always felt that God was not using me, not calling me to anything. I wanted to step out in faith, change the world, be radical for him, but never knew how and never felt him leading and guiding me in that even though I prayed for it and wanted it so badly! It is freeing for me to realize that simply God´s mercy toward me displays the gospel to the world!

And I have had some really sweet times with the Lord recently - praying on the plane, waiting for people, chilling at the hostel, etc. The Lord is good and I love Him more and more each day. I am looking forward to continuing in this!