The first week

We have now completed our first week in Spain.  I won’t lie.  It’s been a very rough week.  There have been many tears and meltdowns (by grownups as well as children), but God has proved faithful.  

One of the biggest things that we have been blessed with is a beautiful house.  Although we aren’t living there yet, I am excited to move in soon.  Where to live was a concern for us.  Base housing for the enlisted is pretty awful here.  As soon as we saw our temporary house, we knew we would need to look on the economy and explore our options.  The very first day we were here, Ray’s sponsor took us to see a house that she knew was available.  It was more than we had ever hoped for.  It is going to take us a while to furnish it, but the space will be a huge blessing for our big family.

Another blessing was that we were offered a ride to church last Sunday.  I stayed home with Kay and Melly because of illness, but Ray was able to go with the three older kids and was very uplifted by the fellowship and message.  Church is going to be difficult for us until we have a vehicle, but it was good that Ray was able to visit.  (As a side note, we *think* that our church is within walking distance of our house!  That would be a HUGE blessing since we likely won’t have a vehicle for several months, but we will be moving into our new home as early as next week.)

I also wanted to share a small blessing that felt really big during some pretty low moments.  Drew was devastated when he realized that he left his Nintendo DS on the airplane.  I held him and we cried together over the lost toy, but we thanked Jesus that we were all safe because that’s what was important.  A family member heard about the loss, and without being asked she offered to pay for a replacement.  With all of the expenses that we are facing right now, there is no way we would have been able to buy him a new one so soon.  The generosity blessed little Drew more than I can describe, and it made my mommy heart soar when we gave it to him and talked to him about God providing for even the things that we *want*.

The kids are doing great so far.  Everyone is sleeping through the night (mostly), and they are learning to play outside.  They often talk about the things and people that they miss, but they don’t seem to be terribly homesick.  In the last few days, Melody has learned to sit up without tipping over, and she is eating lots of finger foods in her new booster seat.  It’s hard to believe she is almost 8 months old already!

God is good.  He continues to provide for us and show us His love even in this far away land.