It has been quite some time since I have posted a blog on here. I feel as though the time here is passing by very quickly. One second it's February and the next it's July! Time always goes faster when you are non-stop I guess huh? Work has been very demanding but also rewarding. There have been many times that I have questioned myself, but each time God sent me reassurance. It never ceases to amaze me how His peace is like a blanket resting over me keeping my spirit from breaking. This perseverance is definitely not my own, that's for sure.
Last week I was in Provence, France with my cousins and it was quite an adventure. It was a whole bunch of experiences that range from: seeing flamingos on the side of the road, seeing incredibly beautiful old cities with so many stories, eating raw fish (by mistake of course...when you don't speak French, it's hard to know what you are ordering) and managing to not throw it up, hiding from enormous spiders waiting to attack me and just realizing what an amazing artist God is. All of the natural colors I saw were just incredible. From the many shades of purple in the fields of lavender, the glorious greens in the vineyards, hills and olive trees and the bright yellow hues in the fields of sunflowers, it was amazing. He thought of each of those colors and with such craftsmanship, painted everything to stand out in it's own uniqueness.
I am off this week too and am very excited to be spending this week with my mom. We are going to Colmar this weekend with a friend I have made over here and it is quite exciting. I am feeling as though I am finding places in this country to call my own. Experiences that will stay in my memory for a lifetime are coming all the time! There are things that happen to try to steal this joy all the time, sometimes daily. But I am a survivor in Jesus and will not be held down by these attacks. Finances are definitely hard as this country has some of the most expensive prices I have ever seen for your average, daily things. This is a constant battle for me, but Jesus is really providing for me. There are days I have to remind myself of that, but I usually remember (normally through a friend's advice or encouragement) and thats the important part.
I want to, again, thank all of those people who are praying for me as I am living in a foreign place with lots of foreign traditions and foreign mentalities. Those prayers are keeping me going. I am so blessed to have such awesome prayer warriors standing behind me. I will be needing those prayers next Wednesday (July 18th) when I have to say goodbye to my mom as saying goodbye to my dad ended in me bawling my eyes out. I won't be seeing my parents again until next year and that's definitely a hard pill to swallow!! Thanks again and until next time...ciao! :)
