Gracias a Dios // Thank you, God

I am just standing there looking out over the water. The sand underneath my feet, in between my toes, and the waves crashing over my feet. I feel the breeze surround me and sun beaming down on my face as I close my eyes and listen to the music playing in my headphones. You can just hear the sound of the crashing waves over the lyrics as it says...

"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders,

let me walk upon the waters wherever you would call me.

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wonder,

and my faith would be made stronger in the presence of my savior.

I will call upon your name,

keep my eyes above the waves.

My soul will rest in your embrace

for I am Yours and You are mine."

All I can think of in that moment is: Thank you, God. Thank you for the blessings, the struggles, and everything else that I have in my life that I don't deserve. Also, thank you for your creation; it is infinitely beautiful.

These last two weeks have been full of interacting with the people here and I have loved every minute of it. Playing soccer with the kids, going to eat meals at people's houses for about 6 hours at a time, and even going to some fútbol (soccer) watching parties. All of it was a great opportunity to get to know my Catalan family here even better! Monday, we went to "La Costa Brava" and it was definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

Beach at Parafurgell

So awesome!

Street with a cathedral bell tower

Another beach!

A hiking trail between the beaches

On top of some of the cliffs!

One of the many cool little towns!

This trip has been one of so many emotions for me, good and bad. From struggling through trying to communicate the things of God correctly in another language to all the amazing moments I have had with the people here, it definitely has been an experience I will, and could, never forget. God has taught me so much about myself and I am hoping that what I did here and the interactions I had with all the people that I met here had a large impact on them as well. 

Since today was my last full day, the church was gracious enough to pray over me and also give me a book of local architecture in which everyone had written notes to me. It was really amazing! Although, it is written in Catalan, so I guess I will have to learn another language. ;) I also took some photos with a lot of the people from the church! Here are just a few:

One of the pastor's kids, Stephen, and I!

Irina, Noemí, Gwladys, and I!

Vladí and I mean muggin'.

I am definitely going to miss all the people I built relationships with here. They are like a second family. But, like I said before, all I can do is give thanks to God for all the experiences I had here and the people I met. God exceeded my expectations by far.

As I was reflecting on this trip, a passage that I had just read from 2 Samuel kept coming back to me. King David is giving thanks to God for everything that He had given to a man who didn't deserve it. Seemed appropriate for me.

"Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come, and this instruction for mankind, O Lord God! And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God! Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears."

2 Samuel 7:18-22

Anyway, I had a lot of experiences that I didn't necessarily include on the blog, so maybe the next time we see each other, you can ask me all about them! ;) Thank you so much for reading. I cannot express enough gratitude to all the people who supported me both in prayer and financially along the way. It was definitely not in vain.

I guess it is back to the good ole USA tomorrow! See you soon!

Until next time...

Un abrazo,
Seth

Micah 6:8

Pasos, Puentes, Peratallada, and Pascua

¡Hola guapos!

Sorry for my two week absence, I know you were all dying to read the next post! ;)

As far as the week before this past week, which was Semana Santa (Holy Week), I spent the majority of it doing a lot of my work that I have been doing. I also, however, had the opportunity to help teach some english classes, as well as talk to a lot of young kids (high school age) about there faith and how God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit fit into their lives. It was a great week with some amazing conversations. Although fairly intense at times, it was an awesome time to build relationships with some of the younger generations here and sort of talk through questions of faith that they had.

During this past week I was able to visit a couple of friends from home that are currently living in Sevilla! It had been 5 years since I was there last and it was a great vacation time. We had a lot of fun catching up on old times and seeing all the changes the city had gone through. It was also really interesting because Sevilla is infamous for its processions during Holy Week. Thousands and thousands of people crowd the streets to watch the "pasos". Basically, these processions are floats (sort of) that tell the story of Jesus in a timeline. Each day there are different ones and they are carried by as many as 40 people!

It was really interesting to see all the different intricacies of the processions, but I felt a little off about the whole thing. The main reason the floats are carried is to feel the weight that Jesus carried when He took up his cross and suffered the punishment of our sin, and many people give penance to these relics to be cleanse of their sins. But Jesus, who came to fulfill the law, took that burden for us so we wouldn't be condemned by God. God looks at his only Son and pardons us. Amazing huh?

Basically what I am trying to say is any ritual or tradition can never be the basis of our faith or salvation. Accepting Jesus and truly loving others, that's what it is all about.

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
Romans 8:1-4

"Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment are summed up in this word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."
Romans 13:8-10

That is really the main thing I took away from this trip and was reminded of. It also didn't hurt that I was able to see some really cool sites along the way! :)

Plaza de España

Provincial nooks in Plaza de España

Procession with Jesus' mother,  Mary

Very intricate

Capriotes in the Procession

Chair for people to watch the processions

More chairs...

"Las Setas" in Plaza Mayor

View from the top!

It is made of wood with steel connections, pretty cool!

"Las Setas" at night!

Bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel

Interesting street Art

Alamillo Bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava

One of my favorites!

One night we went to see a flamenco show at a "hole-in-the-wall" type place. It was very cool to see the people get so into it! Sadly they didn't allow flash and the people were moving so fast that everything is blurry, but here is what I got! 

About to start!

Quick feet! haha

They were intense!

That was my trip! Like I said, I had a lot of fun, and it was good that God opened my eyes to a few things during it. 

On Friday after I got back, we went to an old village north of Barcelona called Peratallada. It is an 11th century village built entirely from stone that they used from the moat that surrounds the city! It was pretty spectacular. :)

Stone Castle 

Favorite street!

Outdoor restaurant and bar 

Another cool street..

And another haha

Bike hanging out outside a small shop

City walls by the moat!

The landscape in that area with the Pyrenees Mountains in the background

Yesterday was Easter and the church had an earlier service on the beach! It was very cool and something I had never done before. We sang songs with just one guitar and read the story of the Resurrection from Luke! Very low key, but also really powerful.

Early morning church service at the beach!

I realize my time here is starting to wind up. I can't believe it has gone so fast! I have two weeks left as of today and I am excited to see what else God puts me up to. I hope everyone is enjoying what I am writing, and I will be sure to keep y'all updated! :)

Thanks for reading!

Until next time...

Un abrazo,

Seth

Micah 6:8


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