Spain trip

To those readers who do not know exactly what we are doing, let me give a little background. For the next three months or so, I am going to work with Dr. Christian Blum at the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC) in Barcelona, Spain. I got the contact information for Dr. Blum about two years ago from a mutual colleague. Dr. Blum is a  world-renowned expert in a special type of algorithm called Ant Colony Optimization (ACO). Dr. Blum has also been very helpful, congenial, and accomodating throughout the last two years as we have planned this sabbatical - we met last summer and he seems to always be cheerful.

As for Deborah and the family, they will be . . .  learning. A few years ago, I remember telling my cousin that if our family ever went overseas we would only take Math and English for formal study and everything else would be "cultural". By that I mean whatever history that they learn will be based on whatever museum or public building they are in. Art, geography, foreign language, government, social studies will all be covered as we explore Barcelona and other parts of Europe. I do not know if seeing a museum full of Picasso or Salvador Dali paintings or going to the Louvre will awaken an interest in Art in the children, but it certainly will be more stimulating than seeing pictures on the Internet. I do not think they will have to look at a map later in life to know that Spain and France touch each other or that Spain borders the Mediterranean Sea or that it is a long plane trip from US to Europe. At the last minute, I have tried to add Science to the Math+English core subjects, but the children insist that the Science books are just too heavy to pack. Oh well - it looks like they will need to visit all 6 of the science/natural history museums that are in the Barcelona area.

But there is another type of learning that is even more important. It is my prayer that the children will be "world Christians" (not worldly Christians). I want them to have a sensitivity to people from other parts of the world. I want them to appreciate the many material benefits we have living in the US. I want them to be aware of needs outside of Murray, KY. I want them to know what "exchange rate" means if they work in a bank. (True story: the local bank could not tell what the exchange rate or fees would be if I used their check card overseas. Had to open an account at another bank to facilitate transactions in Europe.) I want them to be unafraid to be salt and light in places that are outside of their comfort zone.

The Sagrada Familia(Josiah)

Our apartment will be a few blocks away from the Sagrada Familia, a world famous church building.  When it's finished, it will have famous sculptures, like the nativity, engraved into the walls.  A man named Antoni Gaudi began the church, but in the Spanish Civil War, one of the armies destroyed it.  Then, as Gaudi and some others began to rebuild it, Gaudi died.  But, his successors have followed him up.  Today, they're still working on the church and trying to finish it.  We'll be able to take pictures of it, and hopefully we can post some of the pictures on the blog.

        

                                                                                                           

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                  

                                                                                                         

                            

Busy, Busy, Busy

Holly and Ivy, my two favorite stuffed animals

By Kathryn:

Dad printed out a list of things that need to get done before we go to Spain. Some examples of things that need to get done are: Figure out who's going to mow the lawn while we're gone, Pack, Move stuff over in the garage so we can fit both of our cars in it. The list goes on and on. It's about 2 pages long. Everyone is helping get things done, even Marianna(5). Before we pack, we have to lay out what we want to take. That's what we're doing now. I sure know what I want to take! My two favorite stuffed animals, Holly and Ivy! Anybody who knows me knows I love them. Everybody in the family likes them, too, including Marianna, Liam(7), Me(10), and Josiah(12). I know it sounds a little kiddish that I like those dogs so much, but then, you know, everybody has their favorite stuff. I've already got all my clothes laid out, and, in case you want to know a little hint, rolling clothes up makes 0 wrinkles, and takes up less room. So I've got all my clothes rolled up, and ready to pack. Here's a glimpse of what luggage we're going to take: 6 huge suitcases, 4 small ones to work as carry-ons, and 6 backpacks. Wow, what a busy week!

Priorities

Something happened this week that made me (Jim) stop and realize that there are more important things in life.

Amid all of the "what I need to get done this week" thoughts that were swirling in my head as I prepared to leave for work on Monday, Marianna (age 5) came downstairs and sat at the kitchen table. Just as I was heading toward the door, she said "Oh, Kathryn said I should tell you that I want to give my life to Jesus." Wow -  praise God. But I immediately had conflicting thoughts. The first thought was "great" and the second thought was "I wish we could postpone this for a few years". So I told Marianna that we would talk about it later that night.

You see, I was young when I became a believer (7 almost 8 years old). And while I feel that God was calling me at that time, I think those who are older when they trust Jesus understand the depth of the commitment that is being made so it means more to them. So I have never "pushed" our children to make a commitment to Jesus, yet the older two on their own just wanted to become Christians. The Bible is clear about Jesus welcoming children and rebuking the disciples when they tried to turn children away, so I certainly do not want to get rebuked!

Back to Marianna: I postponed talking to her about Jesus till later. The slightly secret hope is that we could postpone it a few years till she understood more about what trusting Jesus means. But that night during the family "talk and pray" before bedtime, she raised her hand.
"Marianna, would you like to say something?"
"I told you this morning that I wanted to give my life to Jesus and you said that we would talk about it tonight."
Well, yes I did, didn't I.
So as a family we went over the basic plan that all people are "bad" and that Jesus died and was resurrected so we could be "saved". She understood and prayed to God. Since the angels rejoice when a new believer enters the kingdom, so we also rejoiced.

Pictures from Angela's wedding

Deborah's sister (Aunt Angela) got married this past Saturday on a beautiful day in Huntsville, AL.

Jim was sad; not because of the wedding but because of the thought that one day Kathryn and Marianna would get married and they would love another man more than they loved their "Dad". At that point, I will become a distant #2 male in their life. Sniff. I pray that will marry a man of faith and Godly character.

Following are pictures from the wedding. Trust me, these are not the professional photos.

             Guest book attendant - beautiful!                                     Flower girl 

                                 

Matron of honor

Ring bearer - best "little man"