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