Spain Day Four

We had dinner with all of the men again. Chuck and Markie and I ate with the Swedish contigent. We had great conversation with a few national Swedish pastors and their American counterpart. We talked music, worship, kids, family and the things of the Lord. We laughed...a lot. Markie has been crowned the king of fried food. Anything fried looks American to him and he is all over it. They serve wine with our dinner every night--as much as we want--no worries, we don't want that much--though the Irish missionaries are a type of wine expert and a lot of fun to be around.

It has been interesting to see how our worship evolved quickly from a mixture of hymns, psalms and choruses to mostly hymns and psalms. You have got to hear these men sing the psalms. Tonight, I read Romans 5 to the men through verse 11. I shared a story about my dad's love for us--even to a fault. I related my dad's love to the love of God and the love each of these men have for their own children. God loved us so much more than we love our own children. He loved us so much that while we were still his enemies he gave his son over to us to die for our hatred. After I read Scripture we sang How Deep the Father's Love for Us. This song resonated with the men as they sing it in their own churches and deeply appreciate the theological depth to a modern song.

Today, the three Amigos (Chuck, Markie and Myself) walked along the Mediterranean Sea yesterday for a few moments of sunshine. Previously, I was feeling very homesick and was typically worried about the future travel plans. I sat down and prayed in my room. I asked the Lord for peace. A few minutes later, the rain stopped, the clouds broke and the three of us were able to get outside, laugh and just debrief with all that we were learning. What a direct answer to prayer.

God really has been good to us even in the small things. The conference will be coming to a close tomorrow and the three of us will be taking in some of the sights.