Independence
As the name suggests, yesterday was Independence Day at home. It's funny because I have never considered myself very patriotic, in fact I have been somewhat anti-USA for a while. That being said, I did give in and wear red, white, and blue, and even ate at an American restaurant. All in all it went out without a bang. The restaurant was really bad, and we went dancing after which was fun, but nothing special. It was somewhat comical because you could pick out seemingly every American in Alicante yesterday, even more than usual. The highlight of my day was probably when I went to class and my friend Alexandra handed me a little card that she drew that said "Happy 4th of July!" and two packs of gum that are red and blue. I do have to say that it is making me miss 8 Point Lake even more. I think this will only be the 2nd summer I have ever missed the 4th festivities. I know it is super corny, but for some reason I love it.
In a different respect, I have been thinking a lot about my independence, and just the fact that I am here. It is funny because when I was leaving and dad wouldn't let go of me at the airport I remember thinking that "It's really not that big of a deal." However, if you know me you probably know that I frequently shut down my emotions when I think they are going to be too strong. So I got on the plane and few half way across the world-no big deal. Except that it is a big deal. I have now lived with complete strangers for five weeks, not talked to my mom at least ever other day for probably the first time, made all completely new friends, found my way around a foreign city, in a foreign country, in a foreign language, all basically alone. It is strange to think that I am actually that independent. At the same time, I have realized how I can do nothing on my own. I have found myself so many times wishing that I had at least one person, and then I realize that who I need most has always been with me and that I am so incredibly dependent on God that if it weren't for Him I couldn't have ever done any of this. It is because of Him that I have the confidence to do things on my own, it is because of Him that I can leave my friends and family and know that someone is looking after them, and it is because of Him that I don't have to feel the pains of loneliness.
I have listened to a few sermons lately and they mentioned Mercy, which made me realize that I had never really thought a lot about mercy and what it actually is. So I looked it up in the dictionary and then looked up a bible study on it and what it means for us from God. According to Webster's it is "compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm." Then right at the beginning of the Bible study it compares it to Grace and basically says that Grace is undeserved favor and Mercy is withheld punishment. How beautiful. Can you imagine if we had to pay for everything we did wrong or bad to anyone else or to the earth? Now I'm not saying there are not consequences for our actions, there are and God is just, but he is merciful and He pardons us. I don't know, I know this is not profound or anything, but I realized I had never really thought about Mercy or what it means for my life and it was a beautiful thing to meditate on.
Finally, to finish out the day today we went to Taberca, a small island off the cost of Alicante, to go snorkeling! It was a blast! We took a pretty small boat over to a nature preserve where fishing is prohibited. We swam/climbed through a cave and saw a ton of fish. This is only the second time I have been snorkeling, and the other time was on Disney's private island and I would hardly call it snorkeling considering I did not see a single fish (Mom I believe you will remember this, and the sever sunburn I suffered after). My favorite fish were these ones that stuck close to the rocks and were bright green, blue, and orange! One of the kids on the trip had a GoPro camera that can go in the water and is going to make a video. I will try to post it when he gets it done. After the chilly ride back I booked it home to eat (swimming always makes me SOOO hungry, and sometimes makes me want spaghetti O's and meatballs because of eating them at grandmas when I was a kid after swimming). Whoo, ok I feel like I am winded like I have been talking really fast for a long time so I am going to stop now, but I had a great day, and I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend!
Standing in awe of omnipresence,
Sigourney
P.S. My host sister loves crunchy peanut butter! There is hope yet for peanut butter in Spain!
In a different respect, I have been thinking a lot about my independence, and just the fact that I am here. It is funny because when I was leaving and dad wouldn't let go of me at the airport I remember thinking that "It's really not that big of a deal." However, if you know me you probably know that I frequently shut down my emotions when I think they are going to be too strong. So I got on the plane and few half way across the world-no big deal. Except that it is a big deal. I have now lived with complete strangers for five weeks, not talked to my mom at least ever other day for probably the first time, made all completely new friends, found my way around a foreign city, in a foreign country, in a foreign language, all basically alone. It is strange to think that I am actually that independent. At the same time, I have realized how I can do nothing on my own. I have found myself so many times wishing that I had at least one person, and then I realize that who I need most has always been with me and that I am so incredibly dependent on God that if it weren't for Him I couldn't have ever done any of this. It is because of Him that I have the confidence to do things on my own, it is because of Him that I can leave my friends and family and know that someone is looking after them, and it is because of Him that I don't have to feel the pains of loneliness.
I have listened to a few sermons lately and they mentioned Mercy, which made me realize that I had never really thought a lot about mercy and what it actually is. So I looked it up in the dictionary and then looked up a bible study on it and what it means for us from God. According to Webster's it is "compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm." Then right at the beginning of the Bible study it compares it to Grace and basically says that Grace is undeserved favor and Mercy is withheld punishment. How beautiful. Can you imagine if we had to pay for everything we did wrong or bad to anyone else or to the earth? Now I'm not saying there are not consequences for our actions, there are and God is just, but he is merciful and He pardons us. I don't know, I know this is not profound or anything, but I realized I had never really thought about Mercy or what it means for my life and it was a beautiful thing to meditate on.
Finally, to finish out the day today we went to Taberca, a small island off the cost of Alicante, to go snorkeling! It was a blast! We took a pretty small boat over to a nature preserve where fishing is prohibited. We swam/climbed through a cave and saw a ton of fish. This is only the second time I have been snorkeling, and the other time was on Disney's private island and I would hardly call it snorkeling considering I did not see a single fish (Mom I believe you will remember this, and the sever sunburn I suffered after). My favorite fish were these ones that stuck close to the rocks and were bright green, blue, and orange! One of the kids on the trip had a GoPro camera that can go in the water and is going to make a video. I will try to post it when he gets it done. After the chilly ride back I booked it home to eat (swimming always makes me SOOO hungry, and sometimes makes me want spaghetti O's and meatballs because of eating them at grandmas when I was a kid after swimming). Whoo, ok I feel like I am winded like I have been talking really fast for a long time so I am going to stop now, but I had a great day, and I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend!
Standing in awe of omnipresence,
Sigourney
P.S. My host sister loves crunchy peanut butter! There is hope yet for peanut butter in Spain!
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