A Blessing in Disguise

The older I get, the more complicated life becomes. Some of you are probably laughing because you are thinking: Kristin, you are 25, you are living in Europe, really how complicated could your life be? Yes I know my life is less complicated than others, however, I feel like it can be complicated at times.

I have learned over time no matter what new 'complication' I am going through, God is walking right beside me and He has already seen what is going to happen and how that 'complication' will be resolved. Recently, Ben and I were trying to change the return date for our tickets back home this summer. My program told us that if we booked round trip tickets with a particular airline we would get a free date change. This deal worked wonderfully last year and so we did the same thing again this year. A few weeks ago we finalized our plans for our summer trip to Eastern Europe, looked up return flights and sent an email requesting to change the return date. The answer was not what we expected. We were told we could book the return flight no later than July 1 because the ticket issue date was July 1, 2013 and you can't change the return date for later than a year from the ticket issue date. This presented quite a problem since we will not be returning to Madrid from our trip until July 24. I emailed back saying it was not possible for us to leave July 1. The lady looked at our flight info again and said there might be a loop hole that could help us out.

Last August before we left we had some trouble with our tickets. The airline had changed the flight to leave Seattle earlier but we had already bought tickets from Portland to Seattle and would be arriving after the plane to Madrid was scheduled to leave. I emailed a good friend of mine whose mom works for the airlines and she helped us out explaining that an airline couldn't force us onto an earlier flight if the current one we booked was still available, which it was. So after some emails back and forth with her and a call into the airline they re-issued us our tickets and we left at the original time we had booked the flight for. At the time, I remember thinking: This is so annoying. Why does this kind of stuff happen to me? Why can't everything just be simple!

Well, therein lies the loop hole. Because of the trouble we had back in August we were re-issued new tickets, giving us a new ticket issue date and that gave us the chance of being able to change our tickets to come home on July 26. It was a couple of stressful days praying and hoping we could change the tickets and not be forced to buy new ones when we finally heard back that all was good and we were set to leave July 26.

It made me think. When I was complaining to God last August but how this was so annoying and why does this have to happen He was thinking: Oh hush Kristin, I am doing this for your own good! I have a greater plan for you and I know what needs to be done right now in your life so that your future plans will go more smoothly.

God has a greater plan and we usually don't see the bigger picture. We get so focused on the little things that inconvenience us we can't see how these little inconveniences cant sometimes be a blessing in disguise. God longs to take care of us and He longs for us to come to Him and ask for help and to seek Him and His plan for us. He has shown me that if I do these things, He will bless me beyond belief. And these blessings come in many shapes and forms, like a complication with tickets that in the end saved us from having to buy new tickets.

As Ben and I look toward the future, we haven't a clue what it holds. The closer we get to moving back the more people ask us: What are you going to do? What are your plans for when you return? Where will you live? Where will you work?

We just kind of laugh and say: We don't know!

And I am actually ok with that....for now. And then I freak out and think: Oh my gosh!! What are we going to do? Where are we going to live? Where will we work?

And then I remember, God has a plan. He has looked into my future and seen what will happen. He is doing things now that I am unaware of that is in preparation for finding jobs, a place to live, a community. God is faithful and He is good and all powerful. I know I can trust in Him because if He is faithful in the little things like making sure we have a loop hole to change our tickets, how much more faithful will He be in the big things, like finding a home, a job.

I have enjoyed living over here and we have gone through many similar situations to the one above where we didn't know what was going to happen or how we would fix it. God has been faithful to take care of us and I know I can trust in Him to take care of us in the future. 

Praise God from whom all blessing flow.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

The Cornishes visit

Ben and I were very excited to have Amy and Jack come visit us the last week of February. We still had to work so Amy and Jack went off by themselves to be tourists during the day. In the afternoons, Ben and I took them around to some of our favorite places. Fortunately for them, the weather ended up being pretty nice most of the time; much better than the snow that Bellingham was getting. At the end of the week both Ben and I had Friday off so we took them to one of our favorite cities, Sevilla where we enjoyed 70 degree weather! It was beautiful.

Crammed into our apartment for dinner. We found an air mattress for them to sleep on so they didn't have to stay in a hotel.We were quite cozy in our little apartment.

Retiro park

 

Sevilla: We stayed in a nice apartment not even a five minute walk from the cathedral and castle.

A thorn from Jesus' crown of thorns.

Christopher Columbus was laid to rest in Sevilla's cathedral.

Amy and Jack got to experience a Spanish protest while in Sevilla.

Plaza España, my favorite plaza out of all the places we have visited. Also, we recently learned while watching Star Wars, it has a cameo in the movie as Queen Amidala's home world, Naboo.

We couldn't take them to Sevilla and not see a flamenco show!

When we got back to Madrid, we rushed to Plaza Cibeles to see the end of the Carnaval parade. It was pretty neat! Following was a fireworks show from the top of the Palacio Cibeles.