Last Note from Spain

This is my senior AP class. They were such a joy to teach!! This morning was my last morning teaching, so they surprised me with a going away breakfast! It was also nerd day for spirit week-they do not normally dress like that:) I can't believe that tomorrow is my last day... but I'll finish with track and field day!! At the moment I am pretty tired, and tomorrow will probably be pretty full, so I won't have time to write. I did want to share that picture with you all... I don't really know how to sum up two months; God has been so good. I will try to write at least once more when I am home (you can pray for an uneventful trip with opportunities to share!), but for now, adios from Espana.

Sovereignty

I love God's sovereignty!! And He gave me a great reminder yesterday that He is always watchful of His children. I was suppose to meet the jovenes group at this park called Juan Carlos. Well Merry dropped me off, and she couldn't stay until I found them because she had to pick someone up from the airport. Juan Carlos is not a typical park....it's HUGE!!!! I started walking in the direction I was told, but I felt very lost. I just started praying that the Lord would work this out somehow. I didn't have a cell phone or anything, but I have to admit I kind of laughed at the situation I found myself in. After about 10-15 min. of wandering, I ran into Marie, the French teacher at ECA!! She's become a good friend during my time here. The reason she was at the park was because she was taking the 10th grade to the park for a class party. She was looking for one of her students when we "happened" to run into each other. She showed me where they were going to be, and if I couldn't find my group, that I could come back and hang out with them. I walked for a bit longer, but I realized if I kept wandering I might not be able to find Marie again. So I decided that I would just go and hang out with them. And we had a blast! We played apples to apples and messed around with a soccer ball. God is so good in how He works things out.

Today was my last Sunday, and it was a little sad to say bye to my new friends. But God was good in the time of street evangelism--all of us had the opportunity to share with people today!! And then Merry took me to a couple of parks today after church. The parks were BEAUTIFUL!! I will miss Spain....but for now I am enjoying the time I have here. Thanks for praying.

8 Days ?!?!?!?

That's right, in 8 days I will be making the journey home. That doesn't seem possible!! And it's such a mix of emotion....I can't wait to see my family....Im exited to graduate (although there's quite a bit of work on my portfolio that needs to be done before that happens!)....but it's like I'm just getting use to things here. One of my students asked me the other day "Miss De Cleene, do you really have to go home?" But enough of that for now; I want to tell you about my week.

Monday went well. I had a good chat with my class about how things could have been handled better and what I did wrong and should have done. I think it went well, and I was really pleased with how well they did on their final project (they acted out scenes from a book). The whole situation was a real learning experience for all of us.

I also said by to my friend Kathleen this week. She was the other student teacher in the Elementary. It was such a blessing to have another student teacher here, and I thank God for her friendship.We went out to eat one of her last nights here (Spanish-Mexican:). It was all the El. Ed teachers plus me (they were nice enough to invite me!:). We would go on walks and chat; I will miss having her around.

I have also really enjoyed my time with Merry. We teach and work in the same classroom, and then we hang out at night and watch a movie or an old Murder She Wrote. I have learned a lot from her, and her love for God is so clear. Even though she is in her 60s, she relates well to her students-they love her! And she never comes out of her room in the morning until she has had her time in God's Word. She also pushes me, which is not always comfortable, but so good for me!

Emily,the girl I asked you to pray for that just found out she had diabetes, is home now. I think she's doing ok, but still overwhelmed. Please keep her in your prayers.

This is basically my last weekend in Spain, and I think Sat. I am getting together with the jovenes (young people) of the church I have been attending. I have to admit, Im a little nervous because I don't know too many of the people, and the ones I do know not super well, but I think it will be a great way to spend my last Saturday. But your prayers for that would be appreciated too :) That's all for now. Gracias por tus oraciones:)

Birthday Blessings

Well how many people can say they celebrated their 21st birthday in Spain?!? No worries, I didn't do anything crazy, but it was a great day, for the most part (I'll come back to that). When I got to school, I already had a couple cards waiting for me from my teacher-friends. And I actually have the same birthday as Marie, the French teacher; it was fun to have a birthday together. Someone made a cake for us, which was great, and then later on in the morning I went upstairs to the kitchen and a couple of the other teachers had made some things as a surprise for Marie, but once they found out it was my birthday, they invited me to stay. The piano teacher (Korean) had made this Korean dish that was amazing! And she's really funny, a Korean lady who speaks English and Spanish intermittently:) The other teacher made amazing sugar cookies, and another made crepes. I didn't eat full portions of all of this, but the piano teacher told me it's Korean tradition to eat LOTS on your birthday. A couple of hours later Merry took me out to eat for lunch at a place called Ribs. It was really good; I think that's the first time I ordered Ribs (it use to have a more Spanish name, and it was the very first restaurant Merry went to when she arrived in Spain). We ate a big lunch, and then came back and cleaned her apartment and made snacks. Later that night, about 7 or 8 of the single lady teachers came over. We talked and played Taboo (which was hilarious) and then Merry made me a "cake." I told Merry that I wasn't the biggest cake person in the world, but I told her that I like peanut butter and chocolate. So she made homemade reeses, and we ate them with vanilla ice cream. I loved it :) It was a wonderful birthday (although according to my family I get to celebrate with them when I get home, so I get it twice:)

The only hard part of the day was one of my classes. I won't go into detail about it all, but I let the students goof off and act in a way that I should not have tolerated (they were working on a project together). I should have been more specific in my directions among other things, but during class I didn't do much about it. When class was done, I talked with Merry about it. To be honest, I was ashamed; I should have handled the situation so differently. And I wasn't the example to the students I should have been. So on Monday we are going to have a chat, and I am going to admit what I did wrong, and we're going to see what we can learn from the situation. I really would ask you to pray for wisdom, that I would handle the situation in a way that would just point the students to God. I read in Hebrews 12 a few days ago "He disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness." God is good, especially when He reprimands me.

Oh, and I have one other prayer request. You can pray that all goes well for travels. I don't know how much you have heard about the volcano in Iceland, but the ash is making a mess in Europe. Paris, London, and Frankfurt airports are closed, and the one in Barcelona is cancelling a lot of their flights. The flights to the US from Madrid are ok right now, but they are saying there's a bigger volcano in Iceland that could errupt soon, and that one could create a bigger mess. I would appreciate your prayers, but God knows:) Thanks for reading and for praying.

Prayer Request

Hey everyone!! I don't have too much time--God has blessed me with a great week. But I want to ask you to pray for one of my students ( I didn't get to be in her class for too long, but she's a great girl, and I've really enjoyed our conversations). Last night she was taken to the hospital because she had high blood sugar. As of now, the doctors are pretty sure that she has diabetes, the type when your body doesn't produce your needed insulin. She's actually the Headmaster's daughter--her name is Emily. Please pray for Emily and her family--they are a great family who loves the Lord and could use the encouragement of your prayers. Thanks.

Lately

Hey everyone. I hope you are doing well wherever you are. It's crazy, three weeks from today I will be at my home church (hopefully if I am not too jet-lagged:) It's mixed emotions. At times, it seems sad to leave this place that I have grown to love. At other times I can barely wait for the time to come to go home! But the last couple of days have been nice. Yesterday I went into Madrid again with a group of students because a teacher wanted to take some students visiting from Germany to the city. It was a nice day and fun to see a little more of the city (and to have the energy to do it!). And I spent most of the time with the teacher from Germany; her name was Lena, and we had a nice time talking.Today I went out evangelizing at the metro again., but it didn't go so well. None of us really had any conversations. To be honest, I probably could have tried harder, but I just never know the best way to do it, and everyone looked like they were in a hurry today, but at least some good tracks were passed out to people. And this afternoon I helped Merry make paella, a very spanish dish. It was very good! But it also makes a lot, so we have lunch for the next three days now :) Teaching is going well, but I would appreciate your prayers that I would finish strong. I really love the students here. On Friday that had a chapel service when the students reported on their missions trip to Croatia ; it was so ENCOURAGING to here these students have a passion to share the Gospel. That' all for now. Thanks again and again for praying.

Day by Day

God has been good , and I am feeling almost back to my normal self:) Thanks for praying. This week has been great. It is a missions focus week at the school, so everday we have a short chapel about missions. Actually, there is a group from a Christian school in Germany here this week , and they presented their school this morning. God is working all over the world, and it´s so encouraging to hear about. I was actually talking with one of the teachers from Germany, and she was telling me all the things she had to do to gradute from college in Germany....let´s just say I have no room to complain!!:) It´s crazy, in about three weeks I´ll be getting ready to come home. Part of me can´t believe that, and part of me can´t wait to come home:) So if you could pray that I am all here the last three weeks... I would really apprecaite that. Thanks so so much for praying, I really cannot thank you enough.

Back in Spain

I feel like I have so much to write about...the conference in Germany, the trip to London, the Easter service...but to be honest I don't have much energy right now. You may be thinking, "Wait, weren't you just sick?" Ha, yes I was. But I don't think my body handles the crazy traveling I've been going very well. I got home from London at 2 in the morning and then got up a little after 6 for the sunrise service....I don't think that helped. But I am glad that I went to the service. It was actually outside in a park. It was a small group of people...we sang and then we had a short sermon on the importance of the resurrection (thankfully it was one of the missionaries speaking because they don't talk as fast:). After the service, we had churros and hot chocolate. This is a very typical Spanish treat, and the hot chocolate is more of a hot pudding really, but that's what makes it good for dipping:) I was able to talk with my friend Priscilla some...she still hasn't found a job, but we had a great time talking. Please keep praying for her.

I actually stayed from school today and slept... a lot. Im praying that by tomorrow I will be able to go back to school! But I read in Numbers 10 today and that's when the Israelites were complaining for meat....there perspective was completely off. I prayed that I wouldn't be like that, though I know I have the same sinful heart. Just because I am sick does not give me license to have a bad attitude!! So that's all for now; thanks for praying.