Good food, blessed couple

Do we look happy? Well, yesterday was a pleasant day. This is us in front of the national library after enjoying a free museum, some window shopping, and a pleasant stroll. Just an hour later, we would be enjoying our first meal in a restaurant we would recommend to others - delicious, great atmosphere, and reasonable prices. And, I guessed the right bathroom ("C" is for "Caballeros").

Spaniards have been happy lately, too. Spain is on to the final of the Euro Cup against Germany after giving Russia a drubbing for the second time in the tournament. This shot is from the Plaza de Colón (Colón = Columbus), where lots of folks gather to watch the games. I decided to stay away from the Plaza and the pubs, which I'm sure were crazy again last night. Alas, we will miss the final...

...because it's Sunday night, and we'll be up at Aguas Vivas (Living Waters) by then. Aguas Vivas is a retreat center where one of the churches we're connected with is having its children's camp next week (they call the week Pequeños Gigantes = Little Giants). We will go there tomorrow and get back to Madrid next Sunday. While there, we'll be corralling the kids, teaching dance (Meggan) and rhythm (Ben as the assistant) workshops, doing a dance for the kids during the counselor talent show, teaching two Bible lessons (Meggan), and doing whatever else our wonderful leader Enrique tells us to do.

Please pray for us throughout the week; it will probably be our most intensive immersion experience, which is a great learning opportunity and probably a high-stress environment. In addition, we might not have much time alone together to encourage one another, so we will need to press into the Lord (and be creative in carving out some time together). Also, of course, pray for the camp kids. The church's hope is that we will have a mix of Christian kids and their non-Christian friends. Pray that God would be at work in children's hearts and minds (and in their parents' lives as well).

We probably will not have net access all week, so we expect this will be our last post for awhile. When we return to Madrid, we will jump into ministry with ARS School of Music and the Arts. ARS has day camps throughout July. Tonight we are meeting with the directors, Héctor and Lilli Ramírez, to discuss our roles with them. We have been anticipating this conversation for a long time! Meggan could potentially see herself serving with ARS when we come here in the future. We'll have more to share about all that a couple weeks down the road.

A pretty tree in Retiro Park. Hasta luego.