Running to His Arms: "OH MY GOSH!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!"

Yeah that's all I could say Thursday afternoon when I looked up expecting to see Asaf and saw Rusty standing outside the apartment door where the Hills were staying. I still can't believe he came without me knowing.

I should be going to bed right now, but I thought I would fill everyone in on my wonderful weekend.

So if you didn't pick up on it or you haven't already heard-either from me or all my crazy friends who can't help but tell all our friends back home and that have to take creeper pics of us all the time, Rusty surprised me by showing up in Spain. Yes, Alicante, Spain. I didn't know. Beth captured it on video, don't worry. "But for real"(yes I used that intentionally), I was in shock. I had no idea. We were all sitting and talking at the Hills waiting on Asaf-someone is always late. Always. I mean we are in Spain. So of course I didn't think anything of it. And I was sooooo excited to see the Hills I really wasn't paying attention to anything going on. Even Beth slipped on the bus that morning "Asaf, you excited to see your bro today?" I heard it and didn't even think anything of it. Haha they had to tell me to get up before I could move. It's hard to process something like that in a short time. You think you would stand up and run, but you have to convence yourself it's real first. Haha. It was probably the best surprise of my life. It's going to be pretty hard to top that.

I can't believe the time has already come and gone. Time is going by soooo quickly now. But recap of the weekend. Rusty got there and we all hung out with the Hills for a while. It was great. We talked ate reese's, took pictures, laughed-then we broke off little by little. The Hills had dinner with Hayley's host mom (they said it went great!), we broke off and went to my apartment and made food and talked with Su (my Korean roomate) for several hours. It was awesome. We learned all about her culture and got to explain differences. She is HILARIOUS. I love her. That was so fun. The next day we all went to cine, even Rusty, which he kept up so well. I have been here almost 3 months and I'm still trying to understand it all. But then after that, yeah of course I skipped my other class, there was really no stopping that, so did Asaf, we took Rusty to el Mercado Central. Our huge farmer's market. We got papaya and some other great fruits and just walked around. We then went back and ate lunch and hung out at my apartment till everyone got done with class. We then proceeded to go to the beach and walk around. We all then met up with some of our Japanese friends (very important to understanding our experience here) and got Pakistani food and gelato. It was a good night. We then went back to Brynn and I's apartment to watch "Nacho Libre" of course. Asaf could literally quote the whole thing. Saturday the bros got a haircut (well Asaf) Rusty had apparently inspired him...I don't know why. ;) While the girls had spent the night with us-in which Beth and Karissa ended up in bed with me before they went home. I love bedroom time. I do miss that from OBU. Waking up in the morning and going into one of your best friends bed after they wake up and talking is just great. I then got to rest and try to get rid of this cold thing I contracted. Then we met up again and went to "il duomo" our cafe and saw Ji!!!! It was crazy, Josh ran out and got him and he and Rusty got to talk. So cool. Ji met up to come to church with us too! :) Rusty seriously got a true Spanish experience (well our Spanish experience). Rusty and I then took off to the castle to watch the sunset and grabbed dinner at an italian place called "Sale and Pepe". Let's be real, I was happy. Any time you stick pasta and bread in front of me, my life is made. After that we met back up to go to Valor with Josh, Asaf, Beth and Karissa. It was so fun hanging out with everyone and talking and laughing. Josh never fails to tell us about his cousin, Jake, it's great! Haha he loves his family. I understand. We finished the day with "Feris Buler's Day Off". Sunday we all went to church, Rusty even got to play on the piano some after-that's the first time in a long time I've got to hear him play. We then all ate lunch and met up at the beach again. It was a beautiful day, but windy. I'm still getting the sand out of my hair. Haha. We went out for tapas and then came back and facetimed with my Dad and then Karis. Then Brynn came home and her and Su came and talked with us. Monday came and I saw Rusty off at the bus stop.

It went so fast. But it was SO good. I feel so blessed. Not only did he take all the time and money and planning to come here and surprise me, but all my friends kept their mouths shut and worked with him to make it super special for me. Thanks friends! It means a lot.

This weekend really brought this semester into perspective. I am SOO glad I did this. I am sooo glad the Lord gave me the strength, time and provided everything for me to do this. It has probably been one of the most life-changing things I have ever done. I have been stretched. I have cried. I have laughed hard at times. I have grown close with some people from OBU I never would have probably talked with. I have prayed. I have spent so much time in the Word. I have memorized scripture. I have been frustrated. I have been sick. I have been showering a lot less. I have become domestic. I have grown closer with some of my best friends. I have missed some of my best friends. I missed the birth of my nephew. I have seen my family grow. I have seen my friends grow. I have understood that God is the only true faithful and constant, never-failing person in my life. I have met people from all around the world. I have made two great friendships with Americans I never would have met had I not come here. But I think above all, I have understood my purpose more clearly than ever. I am here on this earth for Christ. I am here to glorify Him and share His love with everyone around me. I want to make His name known. My actions speak a lot of my faith, but I have learned the importance of my words. Prayer is powerful and necessary. I have 3.5 weeks left in Alicante. (I am about to head to spring break for 2.5) and the time is rapidly decreasing. It scares me. I know I will be excited to go home, but it breaks my heart to know I may never see most of these people again. I don't want to waste the time I have left. God is SO good and so faithful and so loving. He has blessed me beyond belief. Right now, I am in a place where I can't comprehend how much I've been blessed. I don't deserve it. However, I am grateful for it. Obviously not enough, but I am grateful. I have a wonderful family and friends and I'm experiencing one of the coolest things ever. The Lord has opened my eyes to sooo much.

Well this may be the last one for a while. Spring break starts Thursday. I will go to Switzerland, Austria, London, Edinburgh, and Galway. I'm so pumped. It's crazy! So thanks for all the prayers and for reading this long thing (if you made it this far).