felíz cumpleaños a mi hermanita preciosa!

Today is my little host-sister Lorena's birthday. She turns 6 years old today! Que grande. This past Saturday, her parents threw her an awesome birthday party at the park. It was 7 hours long. 7 HOURS. I know. To say that we were exhausted afterwards is an understatement. But it was a perfectly warm and sunny day (soooooo great because it is FREEZING here now), and the park was massive. The family reserved some tables so we decorated the area like crazy with the color pink and loads of balloons. The birthday party was pretty much the same as what an American kid's birthday would have been. Presents, food, and cake. That's the good stuff. It was such a blessing to be a part of this special day. We got many besitos (kisses) from the birthday girl...so I think she had a pretty good time.

My wonderful, beautiful host-mom and I

Lorena didn't want to get into the picture

Quique, my host-dad AND the best professor I have 

Valle, my host-mom

Multiply this by about 287 and then you have the park

Lorena the birthday girl!

Spanish kids are JUST as loud as American kids

I just LOVE my host-brother

It's not a birthday without cake.

My favorite picture. Of. All. Time.

to know Him by name

I have been thinking. A lot. Not having an insane school load kiiind of gives you that time. I know I usually share about my travels...but since that’s not the only purpose as to why I’m here, I'm going to share something that I'm learning, but please, don't feel obligated to read it. It's about Jesus again, and I'll understand if you're not interested. (But for the record, He is amazing.)

Growing up in a Christian environment, you automatically obtain certain perceptions of God. Certain perceptions of who or what God is supposed to be. As each day passes, especially here in Spain, I'm quickly finding out that God is much much much bigger than all of those perceptions. 

If you know me well, you will know that one of my biggest pet peeves about Christians is when we try to put God in a box and limit Him. 

Why? 

1. It’s easy for me to see because I do it all the time. 

2. And I'm always wrong when I do.

3. There are SO many things you'll miss out on by placing limitations on Him.

4. God's going to bust out of that box anyways. 

One of the things I'm realizing here is that God truly truly has an infinite amount of creativity. Not only in designing and creating people. Not only in how He plans things out. Not only in the beauty of His creations. But also in the way that He reaches people. 

For example, talking to many people here, I've come to find that I can relate to some people on a spiritual level much better than others. Here's the thing. Some of those people don't call themselves Christians. What?! I know. Strange. But listen, you have one person who claims to follow the same God of the universe that I do...and yet I still disagree with their views on life; they exhibit characteristics of impatience, conditional love, and materialism. Nothing remotely close to the God I know. On the other hand, you have another person who understands the beauty of silence and of community, who understands that there is a supernatural power that is very real, who understands what it means to live for something greater than herself and can experience the same kind of peace that only God can give...yet, they do not claim the name of Jesus Christ. To me, it seems as if the second person knows the Lord much better than the first. Can that even happen??

So where is that line? In these cases, how can you tell the difference between knowing the one true God and realism? Is it really possible that this person can know the God that I know under a different name? If you had asked me just even last month, I would have probably said, "Obviously not. Obviously." Now, I'm not so sure. But even in that bit of confusion, what I found was, I don’t really think I have to have that answer. And that’s perfectly fine. 

This morning I read a bit of the Bible, and here is what I got:

Acts 10:9-15 - "Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.'

'Surely not, Lord!' Peter replied. 'I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.' The voice spoke to him a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.'"

Dang. I don’t know what that says to you, but to me...God is breaking apart Peter’s conception of who is welcome in the kingdom of God. Now, not only are Jews considered God’s people...but Gentiles are too. His intention was to save everyone. Right? 

So. My conclusion? I don't get to be the judge. No matter how bizarre I think your view is, I don’t get to tell you if you truly know Christ or not. I can only do that for myself.

Maybe God can reach people through a different name. He is certainly capable of that. He is the only one who sees people's hearts for what they truly are. Not me. And I am quickly finding out that nit picking over dumb details is an enormous waste of time. The fact of the matter is...the God of the Heavens and the Earth has, does, and will always love you, and if you so choose to accept that, and believe that Jesus did come to save you, then you are most welcome into the family. 

But now for me. What does this mean for me? Do I drop everything I’ve ever come to know? Am I going to try to learn what all of these ‘possible’ names for God are? Nope. While God is beginning to grow my understanding and showing me where I tend to limit Him, and while I am continuing to learn what it means for God to look at someone’s heart, and while He is changing/molding my perspectives, I know that there is one thing certain. I don’t just want to serve a deity. I don’t just want to understand that there is a higher power. I don’t want to just know that there is someone or something out there that created this world. I don’t just want to have an idea of who or what a god can be. 

A very dear friend of mine told me the other day, “Janice, you know God, and God knows you. Don’t forget that.” What a simple, yet wonderful reminder. That’s right though. I do know God. And He sure knows me. Through Him alone I know truth. Through his Son I am saved. Through the Holy Spirit I can have wisdom and peace. Through Him I am loved. This is what I want. The knowledge that there is someone in existence that is concrete. Someone that is truth. You may know God by whatever name you call Him, and He probably does respond to that. And He definitely loves you. But I know for a fact that there is real power under the name of Jesus Christ. For me, it is under this name only. He is the one I live to glorify. And for the rest of my days, this is who I will serve. It is personal. Because I know Him, and He knows me. This is where I have the right to choose. And so, I’m going to choose Him. 

And now you. Did you know that you get to choose too? In case you were wondering, you totally do. Pretty sweet, huh?

it's an underrated country

It still blows my mind, that I'm in a different country almost every weekend. Travelling is exhausting, but SO SO SO worth it. This time, Angela and I took another trip together, along with our friend Meghan. We took an overnight bus to Lisbon, Portugal. To be honest...before thet trip, I knew absolutely nothing about Portugal. Other than the fact that they speak Portuguese...and maybe a few facts here and there from history class. It was the first trip where I had absolutely no idea what to expect. But I was definitely excited. Everyone that had come back from Lisbon before said that it was a beautiful city that was a MUST see.


After a dramatic bus ride (some girl left her purse with her passport and money at a rest stop and then proceeded to flip out on the driver, and THEN the woman sitting behind me threw up), we FINALLY get to Lisbon and check into our hostel (which, by the way, was the best hostel I've stayed in so far). Let me tell you, the city was even more wonderful than what was described to us. First we went to a beautiful park near the Basilica.

My beautiful friend Meghan and I

See the Basilica??

We decided to just explore Lisbon for the day, so we bought a metro pass and went all over the place. Lisbon is built upon 7 hills, so there are lots of lookout points with amazing views.

Then the next day, we took a quick train trip up to Sintra. Sintra is a little city outside of Lisbon that has a ton of castles everywheree...and they are ALL beautiful! I really wish we had more time there.

Palacio de Pena

This country is SO gorgeous. It just reminded me of how wonderfully creative God is, and what a blessing it is to see something so natural and untainted. GO VISIT IF YOU CAN!

Joyeux Anniversaire

So this weekend, my friend Kevin got to pick a place to go to. Why? It was his 21st birthday!! So what did we do? We went to Paris, France to celebrate with food, wine, chocolate, architecture, museums, and all that comes with that gorgeous city. It was a pretty legit 21st birthday, if I do say so myself. I am so glad that I got to celebrate with him this year! My housemate Angela and I left Madrid on Friday morning to meet with Kevin and Spencer to begin all the festivities. Can I just say that Paris is one of my all time favorite cities?! It is absolutely beautiful, the air is crisp and clean, and the trees were changing colors. Can't really get any better than that....OH WAIT. Yes it can. Wanna know why? Because the food is SO GOOD. (Notice a pattern in this blog? I love food. In case that wasn't clear. But it's not just me! We all do!) We're going to do this blog picture style again. I'll add some commentary along the way. Cappish? 

We just had crepes. And I actually made a normal face. What the heck!

Kevin and Spencer are taking Greek mythology classes in England, and they also had an Egyptian art class at UCSD. So, we were all excited to explore the Lourve. Then we found out that we got to go in for free!!! Gotta love being a student in Europe.

Then we went to this AMAZING French restaurant. It was only the beginning of the gazillion things that Spencer could blog about. There is a lot of weird food in France. But what's even weirder is that it's ALL good. Kevin had rabbit. Spencer had duck. I had scallops. And Angela had steak. But let's be honest, since we were in Paris, Kevin's birthday celebration was kiiiiind of extended to the whole weekend. And you can't go to Paris without seeing the Eiffel Tower. Add in some chocolate and wine, and you've got yourself a classy birthday.

Diamond lights come on every hour!

The next morning, we woke up and went to Montemarte. Hands down my favorite area in the city. 

Then we went to a huge flea market, and I finally got my piece of artwork that I have been wanting to get since the last time I was in France! I got an old antique photo. Then we got lunch. Best falafel of my LIFE. And then we saw the Notre Dame. Angela pretended to have a hunchback. Best thing ever.

Then gelato. Of course. But it was the prettiest gelato I have ever had!!

Flower Powerrrrrrrr.

Yum. 

Arc de Triomf. Another classic. We awkwardly stood in the middle of traffic to take some of these pictures. We're going to work that tourist card for all it's worth!

We then tried Escargot. I really really like it! Don't judge me. 

Happy Birthday Kevin!!!

It was so much fun getting to hang out with Angela, Kevin, and Spencer this weekend. Each one of them has been such an unbelievable blessing to me.   Having such wonderful friends is proof of Jesus's love for me! I am so proud of each of them. We are all learning how to listen to God better. We are all learning what it means to be interrupted by Him. We are all learning what it means to love others because of Him. What a glorious blessing it is to go through this season of life together. 

PS: as much as I absolutely LOVE traveling, I also love getting to come home to this: 

He can (kinda) say my name now! He calls me "Aneeeece"

it was mutual

I had a date this weekend. I went to Italy. Suuuch a bummer, I know :). I didn’t want to do the whole tourist-y thing so I went to a couple smaller cities along the southern coast called Salerno and Positano. It was an amazing trip AND it was complete with the most wonderful date. He’s my best friend, and I just love him. Do you know him? His name is Jesus Christ. Technically, it probably seemed to everyone else that I just did a trip alone to “discover myself” or something cliché like that, but the truth is, I was far from being alone. And besides, I already know who I am. What I really wanted was to get to know the God I love even better and have him expand my understanding of who He is. For the first time in a long time, I got to see the beauty of intentional isolation. A time of reflection and rest. A time to re-recognize that I SUCK at planning my life. A time to learn how to enjoy the moment. But most of all, a time to talk with my precious Jesus...and not talk at Him. As you can see this is reallly long. So if you read the whole thing...how nice of you! Don’t worry, I won’t be offended if you don’t. But even with this length...it doesn’t cover half of what me and God talked about this weekend. But to tell it all would take like a gazillion pages. So I won’t. 

When I decided to study abroad in Europe, I knew that I absolutely HAD to go to Italy. Everything about the country seemed appealing to me...the people, the FOOD, the culture, the beautiful language and the unbelievable landscape. But for some reason...no one was available to go with me to the country on the weekend that I was able to go. A light bulb went off in my head, and I thought, “Hmmm, maybe I can make it a weekend getaway thing with Jesus!” And as excited as I was about it, I still kept asking people if they would like to come. But I guess Jesus was pretty excited about the idea of it too, because He made sure that there was literally no one else available...and therefore my attention was for sure going to be on Him alone. As soon as I booked the trip, I began praying for it. That God would reveal something amazing and needed to me, that He would teach me how to hear His voice in the moment, to appreciate silence, that I would continue to learn how to release any control I have and allow God to move in any way He sees fit. 
And, I most definitely did not have to ask Him twice. 

I got myself a massive gelato (technically it was a size small. I like the Italian definition of small.), and listened. Jesus taught me about love this weekend. Just so you know, I am convinced that I am His favorite. No big deal. 

That's what I'm talkin' about!!

I know, I know...God loves everyone equally...yadda yadda. Don’t worry, I am fully aware of that. Here’s the kicker though. I don’t think you’re supposed to feel like you are merely loved in a way that is equal to the person standing next to you. You should feel like you are the only person on the face of the planet that matters to God. That’s how loved you are. Did you know that? Pretty awesome, huh? That feeling, that knowledge of being loved is guaranteed to leave you in a state of wonderment and awe. But here’s the thing. Though yes, believe me, it is beyond wonderful to rest in this and to be in awe of this love...don’t let it stop you from coming right up to Him and talking to Him as if He were a good friend that you have here on earth. Christ also intended for us to have a relationship with Him that is comfortable. It’s a given that we don’t deserve such a love as this....we didn’t do anything. But regardless, I think Jesus does prefer it when we move past that realization, accept it, and simply begin to talk to Him. I believe that there is a bigger difference than we realize between having a relationship with Christ and having an intimate relationship with Him. 

God is beautiful

If you read some of the Psalms (I totes magotes read Psalm 18...it’s a good one, check it out, check it out!), in general you’ll notice how boldly David comes before the Lord. He’s expectant, he’s happy, he’s praising, he’s sad, he’s worshiping, he’s demanding....he is brutally honest. Here we have one man, who is comfortable with telling the God of the universe whether he’s upset or not and why. Not exactly formal...and not exactly always polite, no? Yet....David is called a man after God’s own heart. Why? Because he wasn’t afraid to believe God when God said that He loved him. With that mindset, you lose the need to grovel. Did you get that? You were not made so that God could have someone come and grovel at His feet. You realize that there is nothing you could possibly do to make God love you. Yet you then come to find that He does. He loves you like crazy. For no reason at all. Other than the fact that you are the only you that He’s ever going to get. Just as I am the only Janice He’s going to get. Think about that. The almighty, glorious, beautiful, and majestic God of the universe and the heavens is head over heels in love with you. And nothing on the face of the planet can change that. Forever. Pinky promise. Cool, huh? In case you didn’t know...that means that there is an unbelievable amount of freedom that comes through Christ Jesus. Take advantage of the freedom you have to walk right up to the Savior King and dump everything you’ve got on Him. I guarantee that He can handle it. Guarantee.  

He makes blue water too.

I feel like over this weekend, God challenged me to look at my relationship with Him. Do I really trust that He loves me? Am I solely validated by that? Am I happy to be fulfilled by that? 

He is glorious...after all, He made Positano

My conclusion? Uhhhh...heck YES! If there was any part of me that wasn’t sure before....it is definitely sure now. 

God has a real knack for knowing what makes you feel the most loved. I guess, that’s what happens when you create someone. One of the things that stuck out to me the most in Italy probably sounds like the dumbest thing ever to the world...but I don’t really care. If you didn’t know already...I hate rain. Hate it. It sucks. If you say you like it...I’ll probably think you’re lying. You get wet, uncomfortable, cold, wet, sometimes a bit smelly, oh...and did I mention, wet? It was supposed to rain BIG time in Southern Italy. And it definitely looked like it was going to when I got there. So I asked, “Hey God? Could you not make it rain this weekend? Please? It wouldn’t ruin my time here...but I prefer sun. I kinda want to see how blue the water gets.” Short. Sweet. Simple. Sincere. 

And you know what? It never rained on me. It rained in places around me...but never on me. In fact, it got so warm that I got to wear shorts and a t-shirt to Positano. Then I literally saw the giant rain clouds moving in the moment I left on the ferry. And later I find that it was raining like crazy in Salerno that whoooole day I was in Positano. It was like God held back those clouds just for me. Soooo cool! It wasn’t much. But it meant a lot and I found so much joy in that. (By the way..the water is, in fact, the bluest water I have ever seen in my life. And I have seen a LOT of ocean water). My challenge to you is to look for the details. You’ll be surprised at how much God does for you--how much He wants to do for you. Even if it seems like the most miniscule thing ever. 

God gave me some sun...

... and He also kept the rain away from me :)

Has anyone told you that you’re loved today? Because you most certainly are. 

i love field trips

Hola Todos! 

This last weekend was preettty jam packed. I think I'll do this post through pictures. Sound good?

Alright. Here we go:

We went to Sevilla

Sevilla has the third oldest cathedral in the world! It comes after the Vatican and some cathedral in England.

Christopher Columbus is in that box. Just so you know. 

We climbed up 34 flights to see this from the top of the cathedral. Don't worry. No stairs. They were ramps. They used to ride horses all the way up.

Plaza de Espana

I got to see Kristen!! And I met Mitzi on the plane a few weeks ago coming back from Barcelona. So fun to hang out with them.

Then I went to Italy. :)