Eternal Joy

I am entering my fourth week here in Spain. That's one month that I've been in a new country. Holy tuna! Didn't I just get here like 2 days ago?
Oh my lanta I love this city, this country, this tiny homey apartment, my mami, my friends, my school, my church, and did I mention this city?

So this week was a little more difficult for me; missing the fam, not being with my bestfriend on her birthday to celebrate (sorry Manders!), not being able to eat a gallon of ice cream after a rough day, my work and all of my people there, my little Hendrik (I miss your face little man!), my weekly trips to Costco for lunch, my cabin, not being able to get hugs from people I love the most. A lot of things and people were especially missed this week,

This past week I had my first test and paper due here in Spain and man was that stressful, but I think it went well. Fingers crossed. I also had some decisions to make about my future (that I'm still working on) and it was rough not being able to sit at home and discuss it with my people. But yet all week my mind kept going back to something my friend told me. She sent me a letter the other week and in it she wrote so many encouraging words and Bible verses.

One of the Bible verses you will find below.

Habakkuk 3:17-19 "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights."

In the letter she proceeded to tell me that her mother wrote next to this verse in her Bible, and I'll paraphrase it, "We need to live in the true joy of God's presence and stay in constant communication with Him. Joy is not dependent on our circumstances and we need to have a thankful attitude."

Joy is not dependent on how our lives our going, or at least it shouldn't be. We should be thankful in all circumstances. I mean look at Job. He had literally nothing, yet his faith stood strong.

I'm in Spain so naturally I should be ecstatic, right? But when I miss my people, it's a bit hard to choose joy. But that's something I think we all need to work on. Eternal joy, in all circumstances.

This week wasn't all bad, so don't think that I'm not enjoying my time here, because I definitely am I never want it to end!

I got to paint fans this week and although my artistic skills are that of a two-year old I had fun. I had my first flamenco dance class. That was fun... and interesting. My forearms have never been so sore. I also went for a run, yeah, big mistake. Probably won't be doing that again any time soon or ever. I also got to Facetime my mommy at work so I could say hi to all my favorite residents. This made my heart so happy I actually cried. I also had the house to myself for a few hours last night, so you know what I did? Blasted some Carrie Underwood, probably broke the neighbors eardrums with my horrible singing, and danced around the house barefoot!

God is a pretty cool dude and I'm so grateful that I get to be here.

P.S. Birthday shoutout to Amanda Joy! I love you so much and I'm so grateful for you! You're so strong, encouraging, funny, and you have a beautiful soul. Shine brightly darling!