#16 - Friends Who Ask

This month I am realizing more and more that God created us to be people of relationships.  He designed us to desire first a relationship with Him and second a relationship with each other.  For women, this is especially true.  Since arriving in Spain, one of the most difficult changes has been friendships.  I worked in the church so I knew "everyone" at church.  I couldn't walk down the halls without being stopped.  Holidays were filled with invitations that we were either offering or we were receiving.  The calendar was filled with "lunch dates."  The email boxes were constantly sharing stories and laughs and tears and prayers requests.  And then September, 30, 2011, we met at the airport with more than 50 friends and family members, said some tearful goodbyes, and left for Spain.

Things changed in that moment.  Friendships were tested.  We changed, they changed, life moved forward.  And we landed in a city with no language and no relationships.  It has been a challenging year in many ways, but especially for me in relationships.  The first year we spent developing relationships, yet knowing a day would come that we would be moving.  We held on to relationships from the states and strived to find our place in relationships within our SEND team and struggled to make new relationships.  And then, in July, we moved again.  And in essence, the whole process started all over.  We have been blessed by friendships that span the size of the Atlantic Ocean.  We have been blessed with fabulous neighbors (that is another day of thanksgiving all in its own) here in Illescas.  We are slowly making friends with others who live here.  Our teammates are fabulous.  And yet, it is still different.  It will probably always be different.

Yesterday, a friend shared her family update (we love to get these - we sit and read them as if we were sitting across the table from them - they are touch of life and are totally grateful to hear the mundane happenings in others lives) and then she asked "so how are you really doing?"  She was safe to say that there are days that are hard and that I keep praying to wake up tomorrow and be fluent in Spanish.  She was safe to share some of my embarrassing, yet funny, stories.  She probably got a longer answer than she expected, but I knew she honestly wanted an answer.  Not the traditional American answer of "fine."

These moments are gifts that we relish and today I am saying thanks for.  They are those moments when I can take a deep breath, connect with a friend who understands my language and my heart, and be refreshed.  These are the kind of relationships God intended us to have.  They are a small glimpse at the picture of the relationship He desires to have with us.  And a good reminder, that He too is asking "so how are  you really doing today?"