A Trail of Love

                I am a missionary. I have been sent out into the world on a mission for Christ, to leave behind a blazing trail of love that leads others to Him. This is hard to wrap my mind around sometimes. There are moments when I ponder the formation I’m receiving and I almost feel as if these months abroad are simply preparation for the mission of the rest of my life. And that’s exactly how it should be. If there’s a time in my life when I feel stagnant, as though I’m not actively becoming the best version of myself, that’s when I’ll start to worry. I mean, wouldn’t it be silly to say that the height of my spiritual life was during my mission? As if afterwards, I’m just going to revert to how I thought, prayed, and lived before my mission began? May God give me the grace to always continue upwards towards Him, bringing as many of His children with me along the way!

                God provides so many opportunities for this if we are just open to Him. He’ll do all the work! He makes it so easy if we just cooperate with Him! Yesterday was a fine example of just this. I went to London to visit a friend from Texas and when our visit was over, I was ready to explore London on my own. I was so excited to take on the city without a wingman; free to go where I please and do whatever I like! But God had His own plan and boy, He is so creative! Old Street underground station happened to be closed for the weekend, so I headed off walking in who-knows-what direction in search of another station. Along comes this boy who looks to be about my age, casually walking the same way as me. I asked him if he knew what was up ahead and by the sound of his thick Dutch accent, I knew he wouldn’t give me the answer I was looking for. He was from Amsterdam, just in London for a couple of days for a job interview, and asked me if I wanted to join him for the day since we both had nothing planned. I was extremely skeptical and hesitant, but after pretending as if I didn’t hear the question the first time, I reluctantly agreed the second time he asked me.

                My new friend, Ruben, ended up being an incredibly beautiful person and I will never forget the day we spent together. He was ever so gentle and one of those people in whom Jesus is so visibly seen. He randomly asked me, out of nowhere, if I was religious. I was so taken aback because we hadn’t spoken of anything having to do with God or religion up until this point. I immediately thought, “What is God up to?!” With a shocked expression, I anxiously answered, “Yes!! Why?! How did you know?!” He simply laughed and said it was just a question. He was simply curious. And with that, Christ was so tangibly with us for the rest of the day, laced in and out of comments and conversations. How beautiful and comforting life becomes when He is invited!

                My day spent with Ruben was very special to me. I don’t know if our encounter will bring him closer to God, but I trust God’s plan and I have a feeling He brought us together for a reason. I have this beautiful image of our day spent together, traveling all over London, and everywhere we went we left behind a fiery trail of love leading to God!

Adios and Hello!

August 14, 2013

I’ve been in Oxford, England for a week today and never thought it could fly by so quickly. I live in a convent for the sick and elderly nuns where you’d think the time slowly drags by, but I can assure you that this is not the case. I don’t know where the hours fly off to!

Just one week ago I was saying goodbye to my friends in Spain. Bidding farewell to people more affectionate, welcoming, and loving than any I’ve ever had the honor of knowing. The girls from the salon who I taught English to invited me to go to lunch before I left and it was so much fun! At the end of the meal, they all surrounded me and gave me a big photo of us all together on which they each wrote a special goodbye note. I was not expecting this and it really warmed my heart. A couple of the girls began crying and everyone seemed to be looking at me as if asking, “Why aren’t you crying, too?!” This actually happened more than once during my last few days of goodbyes. I usually am a crier! This time in my life is so different for me, though. I’ve never before felt so content with each passing day. It’s hard to cry when you’re so filled with joy! I have to admit: I did cry the final night.

Everyone from my apartment (plus a few others) returned to El Bailadero as they do each summer for 15 days. My last two days were spent there and I was grateful for this because I could spend as much time as possible with the kids right before I left. My last night was very calm and relaxing. When all the girls in my room were in bed reading, I walked in and began crying because I guess it finally hit me that I might not see my Canarian friends again. Their reaction was so touching; it just reinforced in my mind how beautiful and special these people are! They all started running around, trying to make me laugh and finding anything they could give me as a farewell present to remember them by! It was quite funny, actually, and looking back on it now it looks like a sitcom. I tried to refuse their gifts, but this is actually IMPOSSIBLE with Spaniards. They each gave me something that really meant a lot to them but I could tell that it meant more to them that I have it. Of course, this just made me cry more. It was a silly night!

And with that, my time in Spain came to an end. I really can’t put into words the love that was shown to me over these past three months. I have learned an incredible amount simply through the friendships that I’ve formed and I will carry these lessons with me throughout my life. I don’t know if I made any impact whatsoever on the people in return, but now I can keep them in my prayers every day! Now they have one more person praying for them. That’s quite special, if you ask me.

This brings us to Oxford! I’m in England!! HOW COOL! So far, everything about it is like night and day compared to Spain. I must say, however, that the people here have really surprised me as well. I assumed they would be a little colder and more closed-off, but no! Everyone here smiles at you on the street and says, “Ello! How are you?!” in their cute, little British accents!

I live with 15 sisters in a convent for the sick and elderly. They informed me that the school next door doesn’t open until September, so I’ll just be hanging around the house until then and helping with whatever I can! The sister in charge, Sister Anne, created a timetable for me in which each day I spend some time engaging with a different sister. All of the sisters are so beautiful and full of love! It’s inspiring! You feel God everywhere in the house. These women are so holy. I have much to learn from them. Three of the sisters who stay upstairs most of the time have dementia. I spent today with an ‘upstairs sister’, as I call them, and let me tell you…I’m going to cherish my health and my youth more than ever. How quickly our lives will slip by! In fact, I’m going to go for a jog right now. More to come later!