Something Good and Different

 I miss Bama Wesley. I miss being there almost every day, laughing about random things and crying about the hard times. I miss having game nights, going to Cookout late at night, and having "living room sessions" with the worship team. Comment if you're a Bama Wesleyan reading this. I love and miss you all!

 I miss Double Oak Community Church. I miss trying to figure out what to wear after having a delicious breakfast with my family. Even though we live three minutes away from the church, we are always rushing to get there, somehow making it on time usually. That's just how life goes, right?

 I miss driving to pick up Paige and Dawn to go to First United Methodist Church. We'd go to the contemporary service and then meet everyone else at Sunday School. When it was over, we all gathered to talk about the important subject of where to get lunch. It had to be somewhere delicious, but also affordable for us thrifty college students. 

 My roommate, Mari, helped me find a protestant church to go to and how to get there. She and some other friends were going to mass at a Catholic Church and didn't want me to be left out. We found a Presbyterian church that's not too far. I tried to see if anyone from the foundation would like to go with me, but I ended up going by myself. It really wasn't that bad being by myself, but it was hard to get to the church. I had to take a bus, and it took about 20 minutes for the bus to get to the stop. Then, I missed the stop I had to get off on, so I had to wait until he made a circle back to that stop. I ended up being 30 minutes late to the service. Plus, it was raining this whole time. At least I made it. 

 The service was very different from what I'm used to at home. It reminded me of a traditional service I went to once at First United Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa. We sang from a hymnal book and took communion. But, we didn't drink grape juice; we drink wine. It was gross. 

 After the service, I met many people and gave them a kiss on each cheek. They were all so sweet. This reminded of Harvest a Christian Fellowship, a tiny church my family and I went to in Connecticut, because you could about everyone in less than twenty minutes. 

 I met the pastor of the church and his wife. His wife told me all about a ladies bible study that meets on Saturday that I am welcome to go to. They also have a bible study on Friday that I am thinking about going to. I told them all about my bus adventure of the morning and they offered me a ride that I gladly accepted. The pastor's wife and I exchanged numbers and talked a lot about being here form the United States. She is from the United States too! They lived in South Carolina for a while. 

Here are my sermon notes in case you can read Spanish or are just interested in the way I take notes. I was surprised that I understood most of the sermon!

 I arrived back at the foundation in time for paella for lunch. It was so delicious, although I would like seafood with it... 

 I've said it before and I'll say it thousand times more: God is so good. I have been hoping to find a community of believers to be a part of here in Spain. No, it's not like Bama Wesley. It's not like Double Oak or First United Methodist either. It's something different. But what I noticed is that the one thing that is the same is the people. They were so kind and welcoming. I think I'll come back next week. This visit was really good.