We currently have two girls in our dorm. One is a junior and a sheer delight to have here. Her parents are missionaries in Ireland and this is her third year at ECA. She is a good student, has a heart for evangelism and her love for God and desire to serve him is evident. She also has an amazing voice and we enjoy listening to her singing as it echoes through our halls.

The other girl is a student teacher who is only here through Christmas. She is staying with us because she wanted to be with a family as opposed to staying on her own and because we had the extra space this semester. She, also, has been such a blessing to us. Both girls love our kids and while we are careful to be sure and allow them their space, they are frequently reading or playing with our kids, which we love.

But while we have these two precious girls in our home, we are hearing regularly of the spiritual warfare and conflict going on at the school. One mom was telling me recently of situations her kids had seen and heard among other students and how upset they were over it. She said, "You know, it's not the unsaved kids the enemy is after, it's ours." There seems to be a real spirit of discouragement and disrespect among some of the faculty and students. We mention this only to ask you to please pray. ECA is such a unique school in that most of the kids are children of missionaries. Couple that with the fact that Spain is very desolate as far as the presence of evangelicals. There is a battle going on and we are seeing it. Please pray for our girls, especially, that they would continue to have hearts that seek to do what is right and to right the wrongs they are faced with daily. Pray for us and the other parents, that we would have wisdom and that we would be sure to guard our tongues against gossip or slander. Pray that the Holy Spirit would manifest itself at ECA and bring instead a spirit of repentance.

Update

Keri and the kids have been in the States getting their visas for the past week.  Thank you to those who have been praying for them.  They have their visas in hand and are set to leave this afternoon from her parents' house at 2:00 EST.  They will arrive back here in Spain Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 (10:00 EST).  This is a long trip - please pray for her as she travels with Rachel and Mathis.

While they have been gone, I've been teaching my computer classes and working on a couple of other things for the school, but the vast majority of my time has been spent creating a new web site for the school.  You can see the new web site at www.ecaspain.com/eca.

Big Sib / Little Sib Day

Friday was Big Sib/Little Sib day at ECA. Older students were matched with younger students for the day, first grade through twelfth. The students were encouraged to come dressed as a famous pair. The festivities began after fourth period with a hot dog lunch, and then they played games together. The day ended with a time of worship as an entire school.

Everyone is lined up for relay races.

Can you recognize any famous pairs?

One of David's computer students dressed as a princess.

Another of David's students as Raggedy Ann.

Four games of kickball on the soccer field at one time!

One of the things I love about Spain...

is that you can buy pomegranate seeds in a cup! I love pomegranates and they are such a luxury item at Christmastime in the States. Here, they are available in a cup year round. A bit pricey, but what a fun and delicous treat!

Medieval Festival

This past weekend, the town next to ours hosted a "Medieval Festival," where there were food vendors and artisans of all varieties, lots of crowds and lots of people dressed in their finest medieval costumes. We didn't stay very long because it was so crowded, but it was interesting to see a bit of Spanish culture. You can click on each picture to see it enlarged.

The medieval style banners strung throughout the plaza.

This guy was making pottery.

More artisan crafts.

and just for fun, a street sign. :)

Easy to please

Part of our routine as dorm parents includes one night a week where the girls go to other peoples' houses for dinner, giving us a "night off." So for the boys' dorm parents, we get to host the boys every so often. Last night two of the boys came to our house for dinner and while I was preparing dinner and getting the table set, Rachel and Mathis invited them to color. They colored for like half an hour. One of them commented, "Man! I haven't used a crayon since I was like five!" They had a blast. Who'd have thought... :)

Thankful

I just got back from taking Rachel for a walk to the playground and back. And as we were walking back, I was thinking about how thankful I am to be here. When David and I first started talking about coming here, it was so hard to imagine a better life than I had in Chattanooga, with such amazing friends, an amazing church, everything my kids needed, our friends, Target and Starbucks..., and I was thinking back to a post I wrote just a few weeks ago telling how homesick I was for all things familiar and safe, and yet, the last couple of weeks I have begun feeling way more settled and at home. Things are still very different, but they are becoming "normal," and I have adjusted. I know there will still be difficult days from time to time, but I really am feeling normal. And I am able to breathe a bit and enjoy the place where God has brought us.

I have been thinking for a while of how to describe our job. Yes, we take care of high school girls whose parents are missionaries in places other than the greater Madrid area, but what that looks like on a day-to-day basis isn't really much different from what I had been doing at home, only on a larger scale (cooking and cleaning for 7 instead of for 4) and a bit harder just because of the unknowns and language barriers. But I am managing and I am feeling more confident each day, especially since I've been taking a short-term Spanish refresher course. That is helping me a lot.

But today as we were walking home, I was thinking about the fact that I can take Rachel to the playground for some Mommy-daughter time, walk there and back, leaving David at home with Mathis, and how thankful I was for that. David has been homeschooling Rachel on kind of a part-time basis, and even though he has been taking on more and more commitments at school (teaching elementary computers one day a week, doing some light construction here and there, carpooling to various school activities, working on new public relations materials, etc.,), his schedule allows him to be home with us most of the day every day. I was telling Rachel how thankful I was that Daddy was able to be home with us so much now and how much I am enjoying this time for us to be together as a family, remembering days back home when he would leave for work at 6:45 and sometimes because of various meetings or whatever, not get home until the kids were already in bed. Those days weren't the norm, thankfully, but it made me realize how much I am loving the slower pace of our life here. I don't really go anywhere except to the grocery store and to the school once in a while. I don't drive because I don't know how to drive a stick shift nor do I feel comfortable driving here, and everything I need is within walking distance. I don't have the social life or church involvement I had back home, but I am realizing that this is a particular season that God has given me. It is a gift and I am beginning to see it as that.

Another note I want to mention is that we have been praying for Rachel to find a friend since we arrived here. There are hardly any children her age and she was really missing her friends back home. This week, while watching her and Mathis play/fight/play together, we realized that God had already provided the best friend she will ever have, in her brother. Mathis was a surprise to all of us, but looking back, I am astonished at the providence of God to provide a playmate for Rachel who she would need so much this year. God always knows best. I believe that with all my heart and I say that a lot, but we were struck by that truth this week as we realized the answer to our prayer. We didn't know we needed to have another child, but God did for such a time as this.