non sequitur

http://www.despair.com/

always good for a laugh

for the small things...

"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him." (Romans 12.1, The Message)

thanks:
a letter from a friend
a free bank account
a free trip to see museums in Málaga
getting my NIE without too much trouble
emails from friends
running partners
good café
a rainy day reminiscent of Oregon
a rescued puppy

prayer:
for struggling friends
for people with narrow minds w/r/t worship
for a city bound in dead religion and sin
for health
for vision

"The road must be trod, but it will be very hard………….. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."
J. R.R. Tolkien _The Fellowship of the Ring_

a rollercoaster...

in her book, _the living_, annie dillon talks about people walking around on the surface of the earth, constantly slipping into the hereafter. rather than grab on to solid, stable objects like rocks and trees, they grab on to each other, and together slip into eternity.
for me, it is the days that keep slipping away as i feel often like the blindfolded passenger in a car destined for unknown places. i make plans with tenuous certainty, knowing that the minute a spaniard gets involved the likelihood of them suggesting something else and me saying, ¿ahora misma? and them responding ¡por supuesto! is great.
went this last weekend to ciudad real with the pastors of one of the churches. their seminary, SEFOVAN had a retreat and it was a blessing to be again with people my own age who worshipped.
the trip marked my first time outside of Andalucia, traveling into La Mancha, which many of you may recognize as the infamous fictitious home of Don Quixote. the countryside was indeed as i imagined it, along with plenty of molinas. the entire retreat was in Spanish, and i continue to expland my vocabulary. there were, however, two americans there and it was a welcome change to chat with them in English.
my days are not insanely busy, there is always time for siesta. it is finding time to be on the computer that is often the most difficult. the bell for the next class looks to ring soon so i must away. enjoy your fall weather as i know the leaves are turning and the frost haunting the morning in many places. here, i shall enjoy the sunshine and the mar.

¡vale!

the first day of school. yikes. i feel so nervous and i´m supposed to be the expert. first class, 13- and 14-year-olds. ate me alive. so much noise. just like my habitación with la mujer mayor, Doña Teresa. she is hard of hearing and so we yell all the time. but she is very kind and i am glad to have a place to lay my head. have been to the playa, put my feet in the sea for the first time. felt like a very warm day at cannon beach...but still cold. warmer than my ocean but not like hawaii. enjoying the people at the two iglesias that i attend, very kind, welcoming. still getting my feet under me but feeling a bit better.

first blush of velez...

the bus zips along the freeway, speeding me closer to my final destination: velez. along the way i see a rolling countryside with miles and miles of olive trees, followed by rolling brown hills with scrubby green trees. after an intermidable traffic jam (when the 4 lane goes to 1), around a corner the city of malaga spreads at my feet and in the distance the sea.
coming into velez i feel the warm sun with the cool sea breeze, less humidity than sevilla. expecting a tranquil town i find myself thrown into the once a year weekend royal feria, dedicated to a san miguel--some saint that no one really knows. en realidad, it is simply an excuse for fiesta. the city itself climbs into the hills, fleeing the endless blue of the sky and sea. the roads get narrow as they climb, winding to the castle seated high on the hill before the city ends and the country begins.
sunday i sit waiting for church to begin, watching the crowds walk to and fro. noticing at this relatively early hour of 10, the sidewalks are full of elderly gentlemen, ambling along chatting amiably. some use canes and all walk slowly, wearing casual dress shirts and slacks. dogs wander in and out of the walkers, some on leashes, many not.
i explore the town everyday, getting more and more acquainted with it's mostly unlabeled streets. many areas boast of progress, dozens of apartment complexes under construction.
underneath the protective shelter of the hilltop cerro san cristobal, i see a pobre caballito (little horse) tethered in dry brown grass. suddenly, he manages to pull his rope to allow himself to go off the hillside onto the sidewalk, finding lush bushes carefully cultivated. laughing, i watch as he helps himself to a nicer snack, until his master yells from several winding blocks away and he whinnies in response but neglects to obey and return to the dry hillside. still conditioned to notice horses from my summer's experience, i watch the magnificent parade of caballos down the street, amazed at seeing the carriage drawn by twelve burros!
overall, i find myself blessed already by my time in velez. the small evangelical churches (2) welcomed me with (as is tradition in spain) not open arms but kisses on the cheeks...a practice that will take some getting used to. the school visit today went exceptionally well, as they are eager to make use of my english knowledge and improve their school. many people have promised to keep a lookout for housing, and i am hoping something will turn up soon.
para sumir, Dios nos dice que (Ex. 3.9) y este es todo lo que necesito saber.