Growing up in North Carolina where a good snow snowstorm comes once every 3 years, I am no foreigner to the concept of closing school for a 1-foot “blizzard.” In North Carolina, a decent snow could earn us one, maybe two days away from the classroom before the weather would shift and the white fluff would melt back into the red dirt.
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Today (Sunday) is my second full day in Spain, and the country is finally earning its nickname of “Sunny Spain.” When I arrived Friday afternoon, the skies were gray with snow, and the snow continued to fall throughout the day on Saturday. Officials have said that the Madrid region has not received this much snow in over half a century, and almost everyone who lives in the neighborhood has ventured outside to experience this once-in-a-lifetime beauty. Although I did enjoy a short walk yesterday, I have primarily observed the snow from inside the warm apartment — it has a perfect view of a park where many families have made snowmen.
It’s not the end of the world. It’s just another day depending on grace.”
Matthew West
Today (Wednesday) was my last day at work, and honestly, it was pretty great. Unexpectedly, my boss decided that we should finish a project that has been on hold for a few months, and it was fun to work with the whole team to complete the task. Our work today was jovial and lighthearted; I really couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my job at the university.
Yet, as I walked down the stairs to leave the building for the last time, I felt my eyes growing wet — and it wasn’t from the freezing rain. No, it was because I realized that I have finished this leg of the race. The seven-year sprint is done.
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TV character Adrian Monk once quipped, “There’s an old saying: Don’t change anything… ever.”
I feel a little self-conscious when I say that I can identify with Mr. Monk, but I do prefer routine and predictability.
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In about seven weeks, I will be boarding a plane for Madrid. I must say, after nearly 18 months of praying, planning, and preparing to move to Spain, the events of the past few weeks have made the adventure feel really real. Spain is no longer a place that I am just talking about. It’s the place where I will live in fewer than 50 days.
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The following screenshot is from a text conversation that I had on Tuesday morning (my responses are on the right, in blue):
I had to chuckle this morning at church when a missionary repeated the question that his family had asked him years ago after he told them that he would forego the expected, “safe” route of becoming a businessman, choosing instead to become a full-time evangelist. They asked, “Do you have a backup plan for when God fails you?”
About a week after I returned home from Spain in March, I went for a stroll downtown with a friend. As we chatted under the warm spring sun, I explained how God had carefully rearranged my plans over the past few years, preparing me to teach in Spain.
I held my hand straight out in front of me and said, “I’ve learned to hold my plans in an open palm.”
God must have laughed out loud in that moment.
The burning question that most friends are asking me right now is:
With all the chaos that COVID-19 has caused, will you still move to Spain in August?
To be honest, that’s the question that I’m asking too.
Has anyone else felt the weight of uncertainty these past few weeks? I mean, I feel physical pressure on my shoulders and heart every time I hear the word coronavirus.
The entire situation is clothed in uncertainty. At first, we asked Will it come to the US? Then we asked Will it come to our town? These questions were followed with Will schools close? Will churches close? Will I go to work tomorrow? Will the stock market recover? Will I get the virus? Do I have enough toilet paper? Am I willing to pay $30 for 3 ounces of hand sanitizer?
And if you (like me) hold tightly to routines, then you probably felt uncomfortable when you arrived at the gym this morning and found a letter taped to the door.
The greatest symptom of this virus is not a sore throat; it is uncertainty.
Joy Serving Jesus 