One year!

5th January 2015: The day we set out on the biggest adventure/risk of our lives - so far!

5th January 2016, 3:30am: Wide awake, suddenly it dawns on me that we left Spain a whole year ago, I'm thinking about the many changes - beautiful, difficult and scary - of this past year. Body, couldn't you choose a more sensible hour to do this? No? Okay... bowl of corn flakes, pen and paper at hand, time to blog!


One year ago today: A surprise farewell at Santander Airport.  We had no idea what lay ahead!

The past few years one thing has been at the forefront of my mind. God is constant, never-changing, always faithful. This is an aspect of Him that I love and am often comforted by!

I thought I´d give you a little insight into some of the contrasts and changes in our lives since moving to Canillá:

Home.
Has gone from a 2 bedroom flat in the city, surrounded by A LOT of concrete and bricks. Our closest friends a 5 minute drive away, work a 10 minute drive away. TV, (decent) wifi, unlimited water, all very much normal, not even considered on a daily basis.
...To living on the A.I.M. compound, in a lovely little apartment, surrounded by huge, open, green spaces and plenty of faces! Closest friends/neighbours a 30 second walk away! Work: on our doorstep. TV: Something we watch dvd's on, wifi: what's that again? Water usage: Something we are very conscious of and grateful for!

Friendships.
Before: Had to be scheduled into very busy, clashing timetables. A whatsapp and arrangements to meet for a coffee/play-date/walk on the beach.  Fun, deep, meaningful, limited by time, precious.
Now: One aspect of community living we have discovered is that you suddenly have a whole bunch of new friends. Some come and go too quickly for our liking, others we know are growing to be loyal, stable, parts of our lives. Before we had to make an effort to arrange to see friends. Now we see them all the time, but the effort has to be even greater if we want to go beyond the "How are you? How was your day? How did that meeting go?" stage and into something more vulnerable, deep and beautiful. There's no more hiding from the world if you're having a bad day! ;)

Church.
Sundays, Wednesdays, most days on Facebook and Whatsapp! A physical building, a beautiful sense of community - though somewhat more spread out than now! Spanish. Work schedules determined who could get there that day.
Here: Re-defined. A part of every day life. No physical church building, but a community of some 30 (at a guess?) English speaking missionaries who live in Canillá and San Andrés. We meet at least every Tuesday night in the house next door to us for worship, prayer, sometimes a teaching and always popcorn! And also at various other moments during the week for prayer room sets. A central part of our lives, work schedules do not (currently!) determine how often we can attend.
Spanish worship: Though we are living in a Spanish speaking country, our doorstep community means it is way more often in English. Many of us recognised the need for a fresh, local, spanish worship night and that has been our baby/project this year.  A challenge we have loved!

Family life.
In Spain - always determined by by shift work. Pregnancies overseen by a midwife. Births in local, decent, public hospital. One baby at home, one toddler at pre-school.
In Canillá - what determines our work schedule. Much more quality time together. Surrounded by like-minded thinkers of God first, family second, work/ministry next.  Pregnancies overseen by...us! Births - do we risk a 'home' (or clinic?) birth (lucky for us Daddy is a doctor and there are professionals on hand!) or do we pay out for a private hospital birth in the capital? Public hospitals are not an option due to poor conditions, lack of medicine and overload of patients.

Work.
Shaped every corner of our lives, a salary, a constant income. Often stressful.
Now: still a very central part of our lives, and the reason we came here - our passion to serve those who have least and share God's love... yet it somehow doesn't dominate our life or influence as hugely our time together as a family. Our money now comes through what we believe is God's faithful provision, through generous people - a lesson in humility and trust in itself!

Food.
In España: Varied, delicious, quality meat, seafood, tapas, pinchos and whatever Carrefour, Lidl, or Mercadona had to offer, all just a 5 minute drive away.
Now: Endless choices and colours of fruit and veg, but very limited meat and fish options. Everything has to be made from scratch. Local market every Friday/Saturday (which very quickly lost it's novelty effect on us). Oh, or a 6 hour drive to Walmart! :)

And so to end: We've gone past that first year novelty, honeymoon period and are well into the everyday, much slower-paced routine. Blessed to be in an environment where it is so natural to put God first. Surrounded by prayerful people with beautiful hearts and visions very similar to our own. Changing faces and friendships and work. Same constant, faithful God!