Jethuth, Friendth, and Barthelona

So I have some friends. Their names are Kevin and Spencer. They are really really great. And they are studying abroad in Canterbury, England. BUT. This weekend. They were not in England, because they were in Barcelona with me! Best thing EVER. I don’t think I can really put into words how excited I was to see them. To go from seeing them basically every day during the school year (and summer) to nothing was strange, and we had a LOT to catch up on. I am so thankful that God blessed us with a bit of time to update each other on our lives abroad and to share what we’ve learned so far throughout our time here. I loved hearing their reflections on life in Canterbury. Though we are doing different things, God is showing each of us what it means to pursue Him wherever we are. It’s definitely a process. But it’s a good one.

Traveling with close friends has a few advantages. Ok, ALL advantages. Our time in Barcelona was literally the most jam-packed, yet non-rushed trip I have had in Europe so far. After the boys arrived, we got some tapas (croquetas are our favorite, in case you were wondering) and tried to get some sleep so we could get the most out of our day. Decision making for what we wanted to see was easy, because we all like the same things. And we wanted to see a LOT of stuff...so as soon as we woke up we bought metro passes (PTL for the metro) and went everywhere:

Ready to start the day!

Parque Güell (aka Tim Burton meets Disneyland)

We love Gaudi

Making new friends on the Metro

Arc de Triomf

Sagrada Familia

Torre Agbar

However, we did have a bit of a glitch at the end. Ok, a BIG glitch. We were sitting at the bus station waiting for the boys’ bus to take them to the airport. All of a sudden this weird, older, gross-looking man comes up to us and starts asking us questions about buying tickets or something. Fifteen minutes later...we realize that Kevin’s bag is GONE.  And the bus was leaving in 20 minutes. I think that while we were looking at the gross man, he had his friend swipe it from our feet. FROM OUR FEET. Yes. That is right. We were pissed. And frustrated. And frazzled. And shaking. And pissed. And dumbfounded. How the heck do you not get stuff stolen when you’re in the most populated area of the city (Las Ramblas and Mercat Boqueria), but yet you can get stuff stolen when it is pretty quiet right under our noses?? Yeah, we don’t know either. Spencer quickly got us all together to pray first before we made any moves (another advantage to traveling together). To be honest...how the heck am I supposed to praise Jesus for this!? But we prayed, and I’m sure that God cleared our minds a bit, because there is no way we should have been as efficient as we were. I still don’t know if we were supposed to learn some elaborate lesson, other than be UNBELIEVABLY careful (almost to the point of paranoia) with EVERYTHING at ALL times. But what I did learn is that having continuous praise on my lips for my all-mighty God is definitely a choice. And it is going to be a choice for everything and anything. So here is what I choose to see. Here is what I can and will praise my Jesus for:

1. Praise Jesus for Kevin and Spencer

2. Praise Jesus for a wonderful weekend

3. Praise Jesus that we were together

4. Praise Jesus that we are safe

5. Praise Jesus that it happened in a country where we could communicate with officials

6. Praise Jesus that Kevin had his wallet in his pocket and not in his backpack

7. Praise Jesus that Kevin ALSO had his passport in his pocket

8. Praise Jesus that Kevin had taken his SLR camera out of his backpack

9. Praise Jesus that Kevin has identity theft protection for his credit cards

10. Praise Jesus that Kevin could print out his boarding pass and bus ticket in store right across the street so that they didn’t miss their flight

11. Praise Jesus that nothing of insane value was stolen

12. Praise Jesus that Kevin got a copy of all the statements he needed to get back into England

13. Praise Jesus for the stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, horrible man who stole the backpack and taught us to be even more anal than we already were (I’m still human)

14. Praise Jesus for being a God who loves us, and who desires to give us peace and rest even during a time we want to panic.

It’s like having the biggest relief in the crappiest situation ever. Minus that event, it was an amazing and fun-filled weekend. But dear Jesus...PLEASE LET US NEVER HAVE TO GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN. EVER.