Descanso!

For our break (descanso) Ashley and I stayed in town because we both wanted to spend some time with our host mom, relax, and explore the city around us since we hadn’t really gotten the chance to do before. The weekend wasn’t really too exciting but here’s what happened throughout the week:

On Wednesday, I went hiking with two friends from the program. We went past the neighborhood of Sacromonte. The views were incredible and the hike wasn’t too difficult. We ended up finding a nice area to stop for awhile and take in the beauty around us. Quietly taking everything in, the very first verse of the bible popped into my head, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” Genesis 1:1. God’s mighty hand created all of this: the mountains, the valley, the sky, the sun, me….all of it. How beautiful and magnificent is His work! 

Thursday was family day. It rained pretty much the whole day, so we couldn’t really do anything but Ashley and I got to spend lots of time talking and hanging out. And then Maria told us that she wanted to go to tapas with us during the evening. So we all went to different restaurants/bars and got drinks and tapas. It was fun going with Maria because she showed us which places had the best food. It was also nice to spend some time together, learning more about her and her family-good bonding night!

Ashley, my roommate, and Maria, my host mom!

 Friday, Ashley and I wanted to go see the sunset at one of the Plazas our group went to during one of our Saturday walks around the city. It was a PERFECT evening! No clouds, a little chilly but not too cold, and we got front row seats!

The way the sun hit the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevadas was gorgeous!

Then a song came to mind that I sang to my campers all summer long-How Great is Our God, specifically the verse “He wraps Himself in Light, and Darkness tries to hide…” Watching the sunlight touch every inch of the city and the indescribable colors it created was an out of body experience to witness. I’ve seen many sunsets in my days-each and every one is different, unique…special.  We, in a sense, are like sunsets. We all live our lives just like everyday the sun sets, but each and every one of us is unique, created by God, with different “colors” or spiritual gifts and placed in certain locations, similarly as the sun sets over different backdrops around the world, to shine out towards everyone around us sharing God’s love and grace.