What difference is it?

Picture: Bram & Jeff at La Alhambra in Granada, Spain.

It has been a full year in Spain.

Many people want to know "How has your life changed?"

Jeff has taken on the challenge to answer that very question...

I drink sterilized milk & juice from a cardboard box.

I eat out exponentially less, and only at restaurants with a ‘play place’

17 months between boys seemed ok, until 3 vs 2: the apartment is very loud

I wash my Salvation Army uniform tunic & pants in the washer and hang dry

I have personally paid over 2,000 USD for official items, not counting things that could be taken officially back home

At times I have to park 200 – 300 yards from the apartment

I walk 4 flights of stairs multiple times a day; groceries, toddlers, luggage, trash

I’ve lost 25 lbs

Most days I have to park ¼ to ½ mile from the Corps and lug in instruments and program material.

Although a vehicle seems a necessity; w/maintenance & operating costs it constitutes 20% of the budget

I’ve lived with 75% humidity all summer

God is bigger than my stress

God has been faithful in every situation

I love the smell of the salt air as the breeze comes in off the coast line

I love to watch the clouds billow over the mountain

The view from our balcony makes it all worth it

I get to spend twice the amount of time with my family

Although my Spanish is far better today than when I arrived; it is by no means where it should be

I rely on our prior experience & training to move forward, all the while finding the ‘new’ ways God is calling us to minister.

Pastorally, Corps Officership is the same no matter where you serve & administratively

All things relative, we would accept a second term.