A Week on the Battlefield…

    
      While hoping to start accomplishing much last week, it pretty much flopped, fizzled and crashed!  Last Monday, Jared had to be taken to the medical clinic.  He was having severe pains in his lower back to the point of not being able to sleep and his urine was discolored. (This condition started as we were traveling here and continued to get worse through the retreat weekend.)  After much prayer and gathering all the necessary documents (who knew that we would need all of our insurance stuff in the first week here), Mike took Jared to the private clinic to see a doctor that attends our church, Parque Victoria.  At the clinic, he ended up seeing two doctors, had a urine test, had a blood test, had an ultrasound, and had blood drawn.  The doctor determined that he had blood in his urine and sand in his kidneys.  We had to wait 48 hours for the blood test which came back negative for anything that they were testing.   The doctor prescribed Jared a pain killer and sent him home to rest and get lots of fluid. It also came with a hefty cost to us of $420! [I sent out an email regarding prayers for this situation to all who are on our email contact list.]  We were suppose to have gone to the local public school to meet the staff and see what we could do to enroll the girls for the start of school in the fall.  However, Jared’s health and the staff person we were needing to see being absent that day made those plans void. 
    So, we rescheduled with Mike to go to the school again on Tuesday, but again a scheduling conflict prevented us from being able to go. But, thanks to pain killers and prayer, Jared was feeling much better by Tuesday. 

Therefore, we set up Wednesday morning for Mike to come and pick us up, take us to the school, introduce us to the secretary and principal, and be our translator so we could start the process of enrolling the girls into school.
   Last Wednesday was a productive day. We were able to go the school here in La Cala (about a 10 minute walk max) where we had hopes of enrolling the girls.  The public schools here do not operate on attendance by location but rather by available openings.  The enrollment for next fall had already occurred earlier this spring and enrollment into the schools is closed until early September (in the weeks before school starts on the 12th).  We knew all of this information upon visiting the school, but Mike was hoping his relationship with both the secretary (her daughter takes Mike’s English classes at the Community Center) and the director/principal (Mike’s youngest son, Jimmy, attends this same school) would enable us to get the girls penciled in on a “waiting list” to give us some preference for the September registration.  God had even better provision in store for us! 
    While visiting the school, we were able to meet and talk extensively with the secretary and the principal.  We were given all the necessary forms to enroll both girls immediately.  The principal met with us concerning Jara’s grade placement.  Based upon her date of birth, in Spain, she is to be placed into the 7th grade.  Jara, however, just finished the 5th grade in the States.  He made some phone calls while we visited both the primary school (1st-6th) and the secondary school (7th-10th).  Upon returning to see him after looking around, he informed us that he had made arrangements for Jara to have an evaluation test done on Friday by someone from the government’s public school office in Malaga.  This evaluation would let us know where her best placement would be and would be necessary especially to make the concession for her to be in the 6th grade.  So, we waited until Friday and prayed in the mean time for some guidance and discernment concerning Jara’s best placement for the fall.
   While visiting the school last Wednesday, Jara was more quiet than usual and complained of being tired an not feeling very well.  So, after the school visit, we took the girls to the apartment, then Jared, Mike and myself drove to the main street in La Cala to the paint store for Jared and I to pick out and pick up some paint color to paint our apartment.  [While we now have paint, none of it is as of yet made it on the walls….]  While waiting for the paint to be mixed and prepared we were able to have some coffee at a nearby café and were able to talk concerning the Fitness Center at Parque Victoria, the ministry and vision.  It was great to have the quick sit down to gain perspective and insight.  God also confirmed vision He has given us for our rolls in doing His work through the Fitness Center and encouraged us in this calling. 

After being home for a short while from the paint trip, Mike again came to pick us up to take us to his condos to swim in his community pool.

As we went to bed Wednesday night, Jara was complaining of not feeling well still and after feeling her head she was obviously running a temp. After getting the girls to bed, I was feeling extremely tired and went to bed soon after only to awaken throughout the night with chills as I had started running a temp as well. [I again sent out an email for prayer during this episode of attack to those on our email contact list.]
     Thursday was spent for Jara and I in bed feeling absolutely miserable and for Jared and Laila feeling extremely worn down and tired.  By Friday, Jara was vomiting and the rest of us couldn’t stay out of the bathroom and running a temp off and on, having no appetite and terrible headaches and body aches. Needless to say, we canceled Jara’s evaluation at the school that morning and it was rescheduled to this Tuesday.  We were informed that many in the church were ill with the same bug, and our new church family was quick to bring us proper hydration (a gatorade like product, Aquarius) and recommend local remedies (chicken broth and rice).  By Saturday, Jara and I were feeling almost normal and had our first indication of an appetite, but Jared began getting the chills and having the full brunt of the bug that Jara and I had experienced in the day prior. 

     On Sunday, Jara and I attended church alone since Jared was sleeping in (still not 100%) and Laila was sleeping in after a sleepless night.  Jara enjoyed her first Sunday in her Sunday school class after worship.  I found her group sitting outside after service still digging into God’s Word!

I was so happy to be feeling well enough to attend church. Since it was my new friend’s, Pia, last Sunday here. (She, and her husband in a few weeks, will be going to spend a year in Chicago- a requirement of their mission organization- before returning back to Spain.) I was blessed to get to be a part of praying for their family as they leave.  Jared formed an instant bond with their son, Efi, as he was here visiting during the retreat and for the last week while being on break from the university he attends in Chicago.  We will greatly miss this amazing family and look forward to their return in a year!

After church and a little bit of lunch, the girls were restless as Jared and I tried to get some rest.  We decided that the short walk to the beach would be well worth their entertainment and our ability to get some down time.  It was a great decision!  I think that the sun and fresh air did us all a lot of good.  It also made the girls extremely tired which caused them to go to bed early on Sunday night which we were hoping to occur since they had a busy week beginning this week.

   Monday began our summer schedule with a perfectly healthy family! Praise God! (Thank you for those of you who were in prayer.)  Our first full week in Spain was most definitely spent on the battlefield.  We were attacked by the Enemy in our health, in our finances, and in our inability to complete moving forward in our work here. However, greater is my God than He who is in this world!  God continues to prove to be our Healer, our Provider, and our Stronghold.  We are victorious because we have faith in the One who has victory.  These attacks were but the first of the attacks on the battlefield.  I’m know as we continue to put ourselves on His frontlines that many more are to come our way.  But if God is for us, who can be against us! Amen!