Mid-year

The last week in January, we had our STINT mid-year conference in Nerja, Spain. It's such a great time to relax, be encouraged and refocus our hearts on minds on the real purpose of why we do what we do. Last year on our day "off", I went to Gibraltar, so this year I went to the Alhambra in Grenada. The picture above is of Jennie and me by one of the many intricate parts to this amazing palace. Unfortunately our tour guide, though very knowledgeable, wasn't very good. He was very quiet, seemed flustered and confused and his cell phone kept going off. And he kept apologizing for it being winter right now and telling us that we should come back in the summer. Anyway, the actual grounds of this city/palace were awesome (even in the winter!). The thing that was most striking to me was the smell, which seems strange, but it was so fresh, sweet and piney. I don't know how to best describe it, but it was very distinct. No wonder the richest and most powerful lived there! It was also interesting how, as the palace went from being controlled by Muslims to Christians, the architecture was changed or added on to in a very different way. I also learned that the word "grenadine" actually comes from Grenada's pomegranates of the gardens of the Alhambra. Who knew?

It's exam time right now for Berlin students. As you walk on campus, you can just feel the stress in the air. The semester ends next week and we'll soon be evaluating and planning for the next semester. Please pray that we'll be able to evaluate and plan well and really seek after what God wants for this city.