The Amazing Race

Today we went into town and did a game kind of like the amazing race. We were given a map and a list of places we had to find and take a picture with. This game required that we talked to people in Spanish because almost all of us had no idea where these places on our papers where so we had to ask people. We split into teams and spent all morning going around the town and searching for the places on our sheet of paper. My team was able to find all of the places and it was a lot of fun to be able to go around and look at all of these historical sites. Mixed in with the places we had to find we had some challenges that were extra credit, which were just for fun like finding the longest mullet. A lot of the people I talked to where very nice and made me laugh. A few people laughed at me but it was funny because I knew I was a sight to see running around and then asking for help and then whipping out my map. At least I know my directions in Spanish so for the most part I could understand people.

Besides the Amazing Race today I haven't really done anything except help around the house and reflect on my time in Murcia with the team. I loved the people in Murcia and God has shown me so much through my time there. Not once while I was in Murcia was I ever comfortable but I was happy. I was stretched a lot with the language, laid back lifestyle, and people. We often did not know what we were going to be doing until the last minute which was really hard. Eric would come downstairs and say something about street evangelism and the team doing a skit, then an hour till we left to go evangelize, which we would not know was that night, he would say "Is the skit ready?" We were always on our toes but we wouldn't have had it any other way because we were stretched in many ways. I am learning to let go to structure and just go with the flow.

I also honestly did not expect to miss home or struggle with the language as much as I do. I loved it when I was able to have a full conversation with people but there were many days when I was like " I am not even going to do this today because I am not going to know what they are saying anyways". I knew that I could speak the Spanish that I knew but following the people's responses was a lot harder. I am learning to be vulnerable and put myself out there. My last week in Murcia I tried to talk to people and since then I have tried a lot more with has been great!

I am learning that despite my weaknesses God still uses me to reach out and His Holy Spirit has been my guide. The night that Michal and I prayed with Elizabeth, my host mom, was completely from the Holy Spirit. She walked into our room and asked what time we had to be at the church and then told us she would not be there in the morning because she had to go to the hospital in the morning for tests. Before she left I asked to pray with her. Michal and I prayed in English and she prayed in Spanish. In the middle of her prayer she just started weeping and I know that all though I couldn't understand her God could. That was a hard night for me because God knows that I wish I could of understood her prayer more than anything, but I know it was God that knew that Elizabeth needed to pray and He heard her prayer so that is all that matters.

That is just a short reflection my time in Murcia and on what I have learned, and on what I am continuing to learn.