Gracias a Dios

“El Señor esta en medio de ti como guerrero victorioso. Se deleitara en ti con gozo, te renovara con su amor, se alegrara por ti con cantos como en las días de fiesta.” Sofonias 3:17 (Zephaniah 3:17)

The Lord your God is with you. That is what I have been telling myself all throughout this trip. As you know, Brooke and I are now living with my wonderful friends (Franseca) grandma who is just as equally sweet as her granddaughter. It has been so great since we have been here and I can finally say I am happy. It has been a journey to say the least and I could very well cry at just the mention of Brady’s name, but all the soppy romance stuff aside, things have been really good. ☺
School has been good. As of yesterday, Brooke and I are the only ones in our class, so it’s a lot more individualized attention and so we can learn at our own pace and what we need. I love it. I feel like its almost like a science or a math that you have to figure out. Fran’s parents have been here too, they are awesome and very encouraging! One of my biggest concerns was having a poor accent, but according to them (they are native to panama), I sound great. By the way Fran, your mom said I just might have to teach you some Spanish when I get back! ☺

Here are some of the specifics of the week:
Fuimos a la playa! (we went to the beach)….and let’s just say I can now say I know the value in sunscreen. Since Tuesday I have felt like my skin is bleeding. So you can imagine I’m just a little bit tired because every time I move, even an inch in my sleep, I feel like someone put a razor to my skin. But I can already tell its going to be a tan, so at least something good came out of it.

Last night we played scrabble, in Spanish, while watching our favorite soap opera, “Mas sabe el Diablo” (“the devil knows best”...a ridiculously corny soap with the dramatic music and all. The redeeming quality is the “devil” himself. Hilda (the grandma) said it best-“if the devil looks like that, he can take me!”). Anyways, Hilda and Corina fell in love with scrabble! I’m not sure which one was more entertaining, playing the game or watching them try to figure it out! By the end of the game, they were ready to play again. By this time it was 9, the time they usually go to bed. So it was late for them! So as we get ready for the second round, the electricity went out. All Brooke and I could do was laugh hysterically as we watched these sweet little ladies roam around the house, with the aid of a single match, trying to find candles. So when all was said and done, we played our second round of scrabble in candlelight. I can easily say that was the best night since we got into panama, hands down.
So now we have 8 days till we go down to Panama City to meet up with Brooke’s church for the missions trip, which will be interesting. Brooke and I received and email from some people at her church telling people how to prepare. They said, with confidence, this will be “the most interesting of all trips” and greatly emphasized the safety tips. Haha so needless to say, it will be interesting. But we are looking forward to it, nonetheless.
After, we plan on coming back to Boquete. Fran’s grandma said we could come back and stay with her for the last couple of weeks we plan on being in Boquete. So that was an answer to prayer!
I thank God everyday I am here with Brooke. Honestly if it weren’t for her I would be back in Colorado by now for sure! Its been really cool to see how well we compliment each other. We have learned she is very task oriented with what is in front of her and I am extremely relationship oriented. So while she keeps me focused here, I keep her plugged into Colorado. Good balance. So happy she is here, but the only downfall is too much English! We need to try hard not to talk to each other in English, por favor!

Anyways, as I conclude what I’m pretty sure is my longest blog thus far, I just want to say, once again, that I serve an amazing God. I am thoroughly convinced that I am here to learn much more than Spanish. In these 3 weeks, I have learned more life lessons than I would have expected to learn in a years time. So I am looking forward to what else could be in store (I could only imagine!). Sure, at times it is extremely hard, and I want to just go home (thank God I have Brooke with me) but I know God has me here for more reasons than I could count. So, I have 8 more weeks left to my adventure here in Panama and then I will continue the adventure in Colorado! Lucky me!