The F train to 2nd avenue.

On the way home the first time, we cried straight through New Jersey. And now, as I type this on a word document thousands of miles in the air above Wisconsin, the pain is still the same. On this trip I fell in love with many men that I may or may not ever see again. I also fell in love with 19 college age friends this week, my team. I believe the sadness our entire team is experiencing only proves the existence of love. God is love and I say with confidence that after the things I have seen, I know there is a God. He is the love that flows between the volunteers as they work together. He is the compassion experienced as two people share their faith love stories. He is the bond between complete strangers united in Him alone. He is the joy that breaks people to tears. 

Nothing on this trip or the last one compares in any way to the glory our team witnessed in our last meeting. It was for this trip that God protected the passengers of a white Toyota Corolla two weeks ago. Because of one man living out his faith at the Bowery, a life was changed. All I can pray for this man is that he would have a life full of abundant joy for what he has done.

These men have the answers. They know what faith is. They know what hope is. They know what love is. They know what joy is. They know what worship looks like. They know how to serve. They definitely know their God. I have never disagreed with what the Bowery has said or has represented until the last morning in our most humbling chapel service ever. They thanked us for coming and serving the least of these. This statement could not be more incorrect.

WE, the least of these, are eternally grateful that they allow us to come and serve the  

greatest of these!

the fearless team themselves

Hoy más que nunca te amo, Señor!

Not as bad as Pearl Harbor

The GPS took us directly to the Spanish consulate, parked at one of the many available meters. We walked into the consulate and walked back out within fifteen minutes.  After everything going so smoothly at the consulate I thought I would have nothing to blog about. This, however, is not the case. After driving me and my roommate around the city buying us Starbucks and matching mugs and having dinner together my mom took us back to Richmond to get my car so we could head back to school. All in all the day was perfect, especially because I crushed Katy in our favorite car game! Two miles from the Farmville exit we were in a car accident. Neither one of us remembers how it happened. Both of our mom's think a deer hit us from behind and the insurance adjuster thinks it was a truck. I just remember rolling and there was a lot of dirt. Later I remembered asking Katy if she was okay and she said she couldn't move her arm. For the rest of the night I just have 5 second snap shot memories like being on the phone in a cop car, being on a stretcher, in an ambulance, getting my finger pricked, getting a cat scan, and talking about Pearl Harbor (This happened on Dec. 7th) Katy left the hospital with her arm in a sling but no broken bones and I had a minor concussion.

Nothing had really set in that this was reality until my mom took  me and Katy to see my car at an auto shop in Farmville around 10:30 that night. The car is completely totaled. Seeing the car left me truly thankful to be alive and be able to talk to my roommate again. Surviving and living to tell about it is a complete blessing. What we found in the car was just icing on the cake:

 

One day a squirrel went out looking for acorns and he found a friend!

These are the matching Starbucks cups my mom bought us. I don't know what the survival of these mugs should symbolize but I know that I will keep my mug forever! They were just sitting in the backseat of my gymnast of a car, not a scratch or a chip was to be found on either one. I think Katy and I have more proof of the accident on our bodies than these porcelain cups do.

I remember sitting in the waiting room after a cat scan thinking that the distance from Farmville to Colorado, to Georgia, and to South Carolina had never seemed further. This picture was the last thing I took out of my room in Portsmouth on moving day and has been riding in my visor above me ever since the day I pulled out of my driveway. All I wanted that night was to be with my brother and sisters. At some point after getting out of the car I remembered that BJ and Tracy aren't coming for Christmas and I was even more devastated then, than when I saw the suspension of my car poking out of the framework. I was afraid and in shock and I just wanted my brother and sister to be there with me. Thankfully, they were with me. I felt their prayers and this picture left completely intact in my backseat is proof.

Now my dad is here with me. I have an incredible dad, he drove all the way up from Tifton, Georgia for me. This shouldn't surprise me though, once, he drove the same distance just to see my senior swim meet. This time, I couldn't think of a better or more necessary time for him to show up. Even just listening to me vent about life tonight was enough. Tomorrow he'll hold my hand through one of my tougher days ending one heck of a semester. Tonight is my last night ever sleeping in the Cunninghams. Surprisingly, I'm actually a little bit sad about this.

Who knows why accidents happen but for now I will count my blessings. Thanks to anyone who sent me a text or a wall post or a note of love and encouragement. I am blessed more than I know what to do with!

Visa   ---   check

We're one step closer to Spain people!!

A Couple of 17ths

Today marks exactly two months until I fly out of Norfolk, Virginia to New York, New York. From New York, New York to Madrid, Spain. From Madrid, Spain to Valencia, Spain. Where I will call home for the following four or five months. All of this happens in just two months, January 17th.

Twenty minutes ago I was in the process of applying for a replacement passport. The process of leaving the country for an extended period of time is tricky. You have to apply for a passport through the post office which will take at least a month to arrive. Once you have a passport, then you can make an appointment in DC to get your visa. Visas take at least seven months to arrive. In total the whole process takes a minimum of eleven weeks. I leave the country in EIGHT WEEKS! Knowing that these time frames don't match up, I had to seriously considered what next semester would look like if I wasn't able to go to Spain. Immediately, I panicked at the thought of taking Spanish classes here at Longwood again without the perks of immersion. I considered whether I prayed about it enough. Is this God's will or not? I thought this was the answer to prayers that I've been waiting all semester for, I would need more than a counsellor to get through another semester at Longwood after the one I just had! When else would I go to Spain if not this semester? It doesn't exactly fit in anywhere.. All of this and more was racing through my mind all day and for the past week or two. In this panic I realized just how badly I want to go to Spain. To me, Spanish has always been more than a language. For the past six years I've studied words and the meaning of these words that Spanish speakers have been using for centuries. I want to hear these words come from native Spaniards. I want to hear Spanish children use them effortlessly. I want to experience the language alive and tangible.

Well then, I guess it's a good thing I found my passport today and the Spain is that much closer! I just had to check one last place before my appointment in the post office at 12:00 and there it was, my beautiful passport complete with stamps to and from Peru and my awkward bob hair cut picture from the end of tenth grade. Now on to DC for that visa!

Half way in between now and Spain, the 17th of December, 21 brave students are coming with me to New York. This missions trip is the last thing I will be putting together as a Baptist Collegiate Ministries council member. Serving on council as the missions coordinator has definitely been a growing experience. Right now, my heart is in New York waiting for me and soon it will be in Spain!

Accepted.

Getting the email announcing that I am accepted to Longwood's study abroad program came more quickly than expected. This was definitely the most surprising moment of my day. My decision to study abroad was made, after extensive prayer and advice seeking, within 6 days and they made their decision that I was good enough in 2 days. Easy for them, they aren't committing to live in a foreign country for five months. Reality is definitely setting in now and I haven't even gotten my passport or visa. This is going to be an adventure!