Refreshment

Today, I had the most refreshing day! Mondays are our days off so they are always nice, but today was an especially great day. My roommate Elizabeth and I went to Zacatecas (the city) for part of the day. We live in the state of Zacatecas, but the capital of the state is also called Zacatecas, and it's quite a bit more modern than our city of Fresnillo. The drive is about an hour or a little longer so it's an easy day trip.

We began our "ZAC" day with a quick stop at Wal-Mart to buy a few supplies, and then we had the wonderful treat of going to Starbucks! I thoroughly enjoyed my delicious chai frappachino and was even able to use the Starbucks gift card I'd been given for my birthday a few weeks ago (thanks, Laura!). So fun!

We then headed to the old convent, which was where we had planned to spend the majority of our time. The convent was built in the 16th century and is now a fascinating mix of ruins and beautiful grounds. The big trees, lovely flowers, and incredible green grass were a welcome sight to this Southeastern girl! Needless to say, that's not the typical sight around here. We split up and each found our own little space among the convent grounds and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of journaling, praying, reading, reflection, etc.

As I was reading the familiar words of Psalm 139, God gave me a fresh insight into one of the verses. "Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them." (vs. 14) For some reason, the words DAYS just jumped out of the page for me today as I thought about my days here in Mexico. After only being here for just over two weeks, I am not exactly sure what my all my days here will look like. I usually know what I'm doing this week, and I have a picture in my mind of what I think this year will look like, but it's only blurry right now. As I thought about this verse, I was struck by how the Lord knows what EVERY one of my days will be like here. He knows when and why I will have a day that makes me cry. He knows the days that will cause me to be elated with joy as I interact with children and watch them grow in their understanding of Christ. He knew that today I would have a great day, complete with my chai frappachino. As they say in Mexico, "que chido" or "how cool!"

Elizabeth and I with our Starbucks!

the ruins of the 16th century convent

Some girls show how delightful the grass is!