for Keeps

Hola a todos!

It is so weird to me that I am living in Europe. I am on another continent...a whole ocean away from my family, friends, school, and everything that is comfortable to me. I have really been living a different life here. I live with a new family, a new roommate, and I have a new sleep schedule. Also, I eat new foods, go to a new school, go shopping at stores I have never even heard of before...and, oh yeah, I am speaking a different language!!

As I was thinking about all of these changes today I came up with one thing in my life, an important one, that will always remain the same, and that is Jesus Christ. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 He is the same no matter where in the world I am, and I only feel grounded when I am relying on Him.

When I gave my life to God, he took it "for keeps." He is forever with me and forever loves me unconditionally and knows what is best for me. I love traveling to other countries because it makes me think how big the world is. When I think about how big the world is, I think about how huge God is...and it blows my mind. He, the one who created the whole world, is the one who loves me the most and controls my life!

I read about the tower of Babel in Genesis 11 last night. That story is so cool! The people wanted to build a tower for themselves that reached to heaven so they could make themselves known so they would not be separated. However, God didn't want the people to become self-reliant because that is not how we were created to be. So, he mixed up all the languages to prevent men from trusting in their own abilities, or the abilities of other men.

"That is why it was called Babel- because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth." Genesis 11:8.

When I first read that I thought it was a little uncharacteristic of God to intentionally confuse people and divide them. However, he did it because He loved the people so much He didn't want to let them rely on themselves, because He knew that wouldn't work. He had their backs before they even realized they were in trouble.

Another cool thing about the Tower of Babel story: God created all the language of the world in almost an instant! I have been trying to learn Spanish for a long time, and there are so many rules and so many words to learn, and also many ways to conjugate the words. It takes time, effort, and practice to learn another language because it is so complex. However, all the languages were created at the snap of a finger. God just created them...no doubt about it. God is so intricate.

So originally, I wanted to talk about what all I have been doing in Spain the last few days, but God had other plans. Maybe later :)

Here is a picture I took at Reales Alcázar...its like a castle but it kind of looks like a tower, right?

May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant. Psalm 119:76