Hormonally Challenged Teenagers

July 13, 2008
How many could you handle at one sitting? 
89?
 
This is the challenge for Edgar and the 9 strong  team leading the  GBE national end of year youth camp, 20-27 July in Valencia. A group of 13-17 year olds arriving by public transport from all across spain.
 
Jane and boys tagging along to offer moral support, hand over the destress ball, regularly check out the pool temperature,  and remind Edgar why he really loves working with teenagers, when he is still trying to sort out tantrums over dorm sleeping arrangements.
 
Apart from the amazing food, weather and pool, we have the lovely addition of seing Anna, a gap year student from our home church in Glasgow at the camp. Anna is working at the camp all summer  and we look forward to meeting her on Sunday and catching up.
 

wir   goaing   tu   valencia.   wer   going   tu camp and    play   football      .and    have           good    time     we’re   going   to     have      a     good      time.
Gabriel xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

                         My first footie boots

  Getting in some good practice in our 
                     Communal Garden Pitch.    
                

 
 
 
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Football Fever

June 29, 2008
Our 2 year old son seems to think mummy is an expert on the Eurocup 2008 final!! He keeps asking who is who and what is what….
 
Having moved from a definite football widow, I admit to a nervous exciement as the Spanish National team are about to kick off  in the final against Germany. After seeing Spain’s amazing play in the quarter and semi finals my usual apathy towards football this championship has changed.
 
Whatever the result, we are in for little sleep tonight….tooters and hooters sounding all around, flags dangling from neighbours balconies…it feels like they are in our lounge watching with us, the whole street is buzzing.
 
Well…have to go…. the party is starting…. I  predict a 2-1 win for Spain.
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Feliz Cumpleaños

June 14, 2008
Asier helps prepare the birthday cake and tries out some face painting ideas for his big brother’s 5th BIRTHDAY PARTY!
 
                   
 
 Gabriel celebrates his birthday with his nursery friends.
 
After so many rainy days, we celebrated Gabriel’s 5th birthday Spanish style in our communal garden on a beautiful warm and suuny spring afternoon.
 
We had expected 10 chums from his nursery class to join us ,making 12 in all. As the first first families arrived to drop off their kiddies, it looked like the great exodus from Egypt. People just kept arriving and I am kissing and greeting mums and kiddies  thinking, "who are all these people!" There were 19 kids in the end including  a couple of wee brothers and sisters and a baby. Some of the mums and dads stayed and helped out and we had a great time.
 
Beginning with face painting and ending with a " piñata" a paper mache type model filled with sweets and party goodies,which Edgar makes each birthday, this year a football, which the children hit with a stick to break and then collect the goodies as they fall. It was fantastic getting to chat to the mums and dads of Gabriel’s nursery school chums and to see how happy he is.
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Salamanca Life

May 18, 2008
                                        
Laura leads the GBE youthgroup in the beautiful university city of Salamanca. Using many creative ways of presenting and understanding their faith, the teenagers have posted several videos on Youtube. See for yourself on link: http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=d0zr-gKt61M.   
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General Elections

March 21, 2008

Just 2 days before commemorating the 4th anniversary of the 11th March Terrorist bombings in Madrid, the Socialist government got back into power for a second consecutive 4 year term. No easy task.

Just days before the general elections on 9th March, ETA, - the basque terrorist movement -killed at close range a former socialist MP as he was out walking with his daughter. How to move forward to finding peace needs our prayers for wisdom and perserverance. Meanwhile families continue to lose fathers, husbands and friends as ETA continue an erratic campaigne of violence and non negotiation.

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Baby shower: pink and blue

February 19, 2008
             
Mostly pink gifts for new baby Norah and her Spanish mum Cristina, cute blue things for baby Jude and his mum Tricia. Add a beautiful homemade cake, fresh coffee and a handful of happy toddlers and a cute family dog and you’ve just spent an hour and a half at our babyshower.
 
 
 
Celebrating with these 2 mums, as with the various other young mums Jane has met from the English Speaking mums and toddlers or Friday book/bible study group that Jane has been going to first with Gabriel, then Asier is very memorable, especially when your own family are not nearby.
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Feed me Now!

January 23, 2008

 Craving more chocolate?

 
Our sticky-fingered 2 year old is….

 

What are you craving right now? Our craving for seeing family and friends in Scotland and enjoying some great chocolate treats over Christmas period were wonderfully satisfied.

However at the back of all that for me I returned to Spain, with a deep craving, a need for soul food this year, not more christain books but fed on bible truths, as well as encourage my friends to read the bible for themselves.

" Thanks for the Christmas gift," said my friend as we caught up yesterday for the first time since Christmas  " I loved the book." Nicki added. We had given her a copy of "The message of Hope"  by Eugene Peterson. Marks gospel and some other NT readings.

Nicki hasn’t read the bible for a long time, probably since she signed herself up for a bible corrrespondence course as a girl, feeling left out by not going to sunday school with her parents back in her native New Zealand.

I want to feast with friends this year, not just on the amazing variety of Spanish foods, but on the real satisfying, eternal life- giving words of Jesus. I want to wake up to opportunities to encourage many of my girlfriends to read the bible for themselves. Wonderful girls, some interested in spiritual things, some not really, mostly not church goers. How about you? Hungry?

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While Shepherds Watched

January 7, 2008
 
 Among the sheep while the "Shepherds were having a quiet wee time when they were really scared by an angel." Walk among the life sized Belen, Bethlehem scenes on the Kings Day, 6th January.
 
After spending a wonderful Christmas time with family and friends in Scotland we returned safely to Madrid, and with 5 minutes to the midnight bells on New Year’s Eve. This year no traditional 12 grapes to pop in one by one as the bells chime.
 
On 6th, Kings day, we spent a lovely afternoon in El Escorial, enjoying the life size Belen, or nativity scene, which is spread over several streets and squares every year in these dates. 
As we counted the sheep by the frightened shepherds, the parable of the Good Shepherd came to mind and it seemed impressive to think of leaving so many sheep to look for a seemingly unsignificant one.
 
 What a brilliant way to exprience the First Christmas.
Feliz Año Nuevo. Happy New Year!
We step into the adventure and unknown of 2008. Let’s keep the Focus on Jesus as we walk with the one who knows the way. Gabriel asked me over Christmas where Jesus house was. Being stumped for a while and several poor answers later, I realised what I really wanted to share with my 4 year old. "Son, I don’t know how far away Jesus house is or exactly where it is, but we don’t need to worry about that, as Long as we keep taking Jesus hand" " Because Jesus knows exactly where his house is," came the reply, "and he can take us right there."
 
Asier, our determined and outgoing 2 year old spent these christmas weeks with the delight of no pram but constantly saying " walk mummy hand" as his way of saying he wanted to accompany me on any type of trip. He would happily reach up with his warm chubby hand and grab mine, keep talking and walking beside me, knowing we were going together. 
 
 
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