Completely Embarassed

I felt the heat rise, and my cheeks getting flushed. I felt like such a fool, but still couldn't think of another way to stop the impending doom. I had jumped to my feet and yelled out, perhaps louder than really necessary, "Jonas, don't you dare!" I watched as my enraged 2 year old took hold of the hand of another little boy in the cafe's play area, mouth open, teeth bared.

My outburst had caught him just in time, he dropped the hand and looked at me with a quizzical look, "Something wrong, mommy?" I marched over to the ball pit and simply looked at my two boys. My 3 year old walked slowly over to the table to put his shoes on, no questions asked. Jonas, still puzzled by the turn of events, followed his brother to prepare to leave. I could feel the eyes of the Spanish mothers as they looked our way. I'm not sure my quiet "Discupla" and "Perdoname" was enough to cover the outburst.

It's interesting, and frustrating, to watch the boys' very different ways of dealing with conflict and strangers. Bramwell will most usually back down and give in. Jonas, as experienced today, will fight tooth and nail to get his way. Not that much time between the two birthdays, same parents, same living situation, but still so different.

Needless to say, I'm not sure I can show my face at that cafe for a little while....

What do you write when you don't want to write?

The rain has let up for today. I got some laundry done. And I've decided that I should update the blog. I'm sure when one stops updating very regularly, the number of visitors and comments surely will dwindle....and one could never have that??

I've been contemplating the Ministry lately. (I use a capital M because I mean ministry in general, not necessarily a specific one.)...anyways... Too often I tend to define the Ministry by flashy programs that capture attention, 'wow' the community, so good they create 'waiting lists'. Or define it by the number of seats filled or the attendance to those flashy programs...

I know that these are not what Jesus defined Ministry by, and it's important to remind myself that neither should I. My ministry within the Ministry is to live like Jesus in front of the people around me. I must choose to simply be an example of what Jesus calls each of us to be, that's the Ministry. Each 'ministry' within holds various responsibilities, but the definite purpose is to show Jesus through it all. Regardless of the tangible results.

Q: How do you make sure it rains? A: Hang your laundry on the line to dry.

It's going to rain....again. It's been raining off and on for a week now. My parents arrived a week ago, and its been relatively rainy since. I haven't had much to write about either...so here's a few pictures.

We played on the beach today...it was a little too cold. On Saturday we went to Guadalest. A town high in the mountains.


We spent time walking on the boardwalk in Javea.

And we've been having a pretty good time...when the sun is out.

Row, Row, Your....Surf board??

The sunshine has made its debut on the Costa Blanca. And the tourists are beginning to trickle into town.

I was taking my laundry off the line and saw this guy out there. What is he doing? I don't know...standing on a surf board with a paddle. But that's not the point, the point is: look at that balance!

Watching him paddle away out to the open sea, all I could think about was how hard it must be to stay upright on a surfboard like that.

Balance can be a tricky thing. I made a mental list of all the things that my life requires balancing:

school birthday parties...who to tell yes, and who to tell no....there are 2 this week!

pay checks....must the boys eat 3 times a day?

never ending laundry

church members needs....real vs. irrational

community needs....real vs. irrational

not to mention my need to finish the "Mark of the Lion" series by Francine Rivers :)

I may not be on a surf board, but sometimes it does feel just as hard.

Thankfully the truth is:

Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.

Psalm 55:22

Falla Photos

If it weren't for the remnants of Roman candles and fire crackers from last night's parties, you'd never know the Fallas even happened.

Here's a few photos from the week's events!

And the planning for Fallas 2010 started the next day.

Pop!

Last Night's "Mascleta" (the daily, large fire crackers event during the week of festivities)

Fire crackers are an important tradition involved in the Fallas week. Mostly it's the little fire crackers that are designed to make more noise and smoke than anything else. You know, the kind that go off and scare you? But it's a constant thing the few weeks before, and especially this week.

I have been leary of walking near pre-teen boys holding lit fire crackers waiting to startle some unsuspecting tourist. And yesterday, I swallowed my cultural pride, and watched as my 3 year old threw simple crackers with some friends from school. (They were only throwing the ones that pop upon contact. There was no fire involved...grandmothers, take a deep breath, he has all 10 fingers still...)

I have noticed a slight 'evolvement' of my reaction to these noise explosions. Two weeks ago when the fire crackers first started making their appearances, I jumped and screamed. Later in the week, I would simply startle and turn my head towards the noise. Now, I barely notice anymore. I don't jump, and only if it is a really loud event will I turn to see where it is coming from.

I think that's sometimes how people react to God's voice... He's speaking all around. He's making noise, in His way, but we just become disillusioned and stop paying attention.

For God does speak - now one way, now another - though man may not perceive it. Job 33:14

There are times when I feel like I'm all alone, and God has forgotten about my situation. And all the time He was trying to get my attention, throwing fire crackers at my heart if you will, but I'm not paying attention. God has not become de-sensitized, it's been me who's stopped noticing...

Spring has sprung

My favorite 'signal' of Spring is the daffodil. Now they've been in bloom since early February here in the Costa Blanca, which has been a strange sight for me since I'm used to them making their first appearances much closer to Easter, rather than Ash Wednesday.

Winning Trivial Pursuit Fact: Daffodils are the national symbol of Wales.

Life Update #1:

I spent the weekend in London attending the UK Territory's Baby Song Training Conference. It's a program that is aimed at reaching out to families via parent-baby bonding classes. The Norweigan Salvation Army was conducting the seminar, and invited me to attend when they visited Denia last fall. So, an American Salvation Army officer serving in Spain Command attending a United Kingdom Territorial conference as a Norweigan delegate. Plus I got a whirlwind tour of London on the go!

London was great! See how happy I am in this picture in front of St. Paul's Cathedral:

Life Update #2:

The Fallas is in full swing here in the Comunitat de Valencia. (Valenciano Community = a large chunk of the south eastern portion of Spain....google it....) The Fallas commemorates St. Joseph's Day on March 19th, which is also Spain's Father's Day. The story goes that carpenters would clear out the shops each year at this time and burn their scraps in the street, so someone got the idea to create a figurine out of the scraps before creating the bonfire. And well, that tradition has become this:

These ENORMOUS works of art take a year to build. (The average height was 2 to 4 stories tall!) Clubs compete against each other to win prize for the best creation, and then on the night of March 19th the set them all on FIRE! (I'm secretly looking forward to seeing them in flames!)

So in that thought I leave you with the words from the song written by William Booth (the founder of The Salvation Army) that have been buzzing around my head while taking pictures of the fallas:

'Tis fire we want, for fire we plead,

Send the fire!

The fire will meet our every need,

Send the fire!

For strength to ever do the right,

For grace to conquer in the fight.

For power to walk the world in white,

Send the fire!