Putting down roots

We have lived here in Span for 4 months now. Wow! The first 2 months were extremely hectic: moving into a new house, buying a new car, waiting for household goods to arrive, enrolling the children in school, and just generally finding our way around. Add to that mix the fact that terrorist activity made this unit busier than usual, and we had a perfect storm of stress and disorder. November and December things calmed down a little: my husband's schedule became more regular, I started making friends and learning how to buy things in town, and we were even able to take some day trips and a big Christmas trip out of the country, but the holiday activities prevented us from establishing a regular routine. Now here we are, in 2013, finally ready to hunker down and settle into a normal schedule and get used to our new life here in Spain. Because this is home for the next 3 years.

When we first arrived, before we even had keys to our house, my husband insisted we get flower pots and flower seeds. It was September, and still warm enough to plant some annuals before winter. So the children helped plant them, and water them, and around the time we got a gps and started having family adventures... the flowers bloomed.

I think it is important that we keep a positive attitude and continue to "put down roots" here in Spain. In December, I was praying about the idea that Christians are "in" the world, but not "of" it. We live in the temporal world, and have to deal with our flesh every day. But our true desire and focus is on heaven. Similarly, for the next few years we are "in" Spain, but not "From" Spain. We will remain American, and I have no desire to become Spanish. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't study them, engage them, and embrace their culture. Sure, we could stay on base, speak English, use dollars, and watch American tv all the time. But if we did that the whole time we would quickly become frustrated and disappointed by how different things are in Spain. No, it is not America, but I refuse to let that get me down the way it has some other people we have met. Cultural differences are not good or bad- they are merely different. It is a mental and physical effort to learn the Spanish culture, but it will be worthwhile. I will keep planting seeds in my children, keep watering my own feeble roots, and eventually-this year or the next- the flowers will begin to bloom.