Happy Thanksgiving

* I am thankful for a wonderful husband that has given me another wonderful year. Each year keeps getting better and better. This year has been hard but our love has won over all trials.
* I am thankful for answer prayers. He gave the girls a great school in Gijon with great friends and now in Granada He is doing it all over again. They have learned the Spanish just as if it was their first language. They have adjusted to Spain so well.
* I am thankful for Nicole getting saved and the privilege to be the one to lead her to Him.
* I am thankful for the time God gave us in Gijon and the people we got to meet there. Many of them have become more than just friends, but family.
* I am thankful because I can see God molding me every day. He is patient with me and merciful. He is turning me into a different person, one that with His help, seeks to follow Him closer and closer.
* I am thankful for great friends that understand me and love me anyway.
* I am thankful for the new ministry God has given us here in Granada, and praying that His name would be honor through it.
* I am thankful for this blog and the people I have “met” because of it. I didn’t know it was going to be such a blessing to me, but now there is no way I can do without. Thanks ladies!!

For all those things and so many more (but I have to go before my turkey gets burned :-)) I thank and praise God for this year.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

Lesson 5: Giving thanks to God for our trials

Hey there. I just finish the book, "Trials, don't resent them as intruders" by Juanita Purcell. It was a great 12 lesson devotional book, and in the last weeks I have been sharing with you my notes from those devotionals. I will be posting the rest of the lessons, since I started it.

Now, I am starting, a different devotional book by Juanita Purcell also tithle "How to deal with those difficult ones". Will let you know how it goes. :) Now I will share lesson 5 from "Trials..."

Lesson 5: Giving thanks to God for our trials

1Th 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Auch!! Now that is a hard one. So, not only we have to be learning from our trials knowing that God knows best for us, and be joyful through them, but we also have to thank God for those trials..

It is difficult, but God not only says that we need to do it, but that it is His will. Is God asking us for something that is impossible? God can and will give us the grace we need to do what He is asking us to do.
In 1 Th 5:18 and Eph 5:20 God tells us why to be thankful (it is His will) and how to do it (in the name of Jesus).
How can we be strong enough to do so? Phil 4:13 -I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Usually it is easier for us to be thankful once the trials have passed. But it is not so easy when we are in the middle of them. Our feelings of pain, suffering, hurt, get in the way. Sometimes we may not feel thankful but we still have to do it. Just like when we are having problems with someone or you are even angry with someone, we have to pray for them, because it helps us to heal our hearts. If when we are suffering we praise God, God can use that to heal us, and slowly it will help us to go through that trial with a different attitude.

Psa 107:22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing

It is an act of faith to thank God for those trials. We praise Him for what we know of Him (that He loves us) instead of what we can see (the trial).
God loves us and He tells us in His Word that He has taken the task of taking care of us completely. Is 43:2, Mt 10:29-31, Job 23:14, Rom.8:31,37-39. Everything that touches my life is planned or permitted by God.
“For the children of God, everything comes directly from the hand of the Father… It could be that the difficulty we are going through is the reaping of a sin; for that matter, this situation in itself cannot be call the will of God; but when it reaches us it turns into the will of God and has to be received and if it came from Him…. If God is with us, it doesn’t matter who is against us: nothing can hurt us unless He allows it because it would be the best for us”—(Translated from the book)
When we are going through a trial, we must pray that the will of God may be done in our lives.

1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Why is it so hard for us to see trials as blessings?

Isa 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

When we are going through life, whatever it is bringing us at that time, we need to remember that we are not object without value for God. We are very especial to Him. When we are going through it, we need to remember that He is still with us, working on us, making us pure as gold.

One fine dog

In many different cities in Spain you can find this mimes trying to get some money. Some are good, some are bad, some get your attention in a way that makes you want to give them some money for the "entertainment"; and others you wonder what are they supposed to be and why are they doing it. But this one tops them all (all of the good ones that make you want to give them money). It wasn’t the girl but the dog. He was completely froze, just like good mimes are supposed to.
So everyone was around them to see if the dog would move, but he wouldn’t until you put some money in their little basket and then, he would let you pet him. It was amazing, I have never seen so many people giving money so fast to a mime….
She better baby this dog, or her show will be over. :)

Update from the doctor

Just wanted to put everyone up to date about my doctor visit today. Thanks to those that have been praying for it. It was completely different from the last one and the doctor lady was super nice.

I am having an ultrasound the 5th of December in my breast and area around it. She found another lump other than the one that I have found, but she told me she thought it was a liquid lump, still wanted to check it to make sure. The one I have found before she thought was too far from the breast to be dangerous, but still wanted to have it checked . So, so far the reports seem to be pretty good.

I have to come back to the doctor the 15th of december with all of the test results. Will let you know then.

Thanks so much for your prayers.

My in laws are here

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that I won't be able to get in here as often because my in laws are in town and we will be pretty busy this days.

The girls are especially excited to have grandma and grandpa here with them, and Noelia has found in grandpa a best friend.

I will try to get here at least to share photos. God is so good!

Christmas movies

Got a question for ya'll (yeah I learned english in the south) and this time everyone has to comment ok? even if you don't know me :)

I am looking for the best christmas movies to watch this season. So I would like to hear at least 2 of your favorites. Do it soon because I have to start looking for them. One hint about me so this can actually be helpful: I don't watch black and white movies and also the newer (but clean) the better. Yeah, I know, the best are the classics but I don't think I have ever watch "It is a wonderful life" and those other ones that everyone considers a must every christmas........ don't kill me.... I don't know what happens to me when I see black and white or old... my mind colapases ;)

Thanks ladies, looking forward hearing what you have for me.

10 Random facts about Matthew and I dating time

So, my friend Deanna tag me and I was suppossed to write 7 random facts about me.... so... I can't think on any right now, so it will take me a bit more to do that.... when I tried though I found myself writting this facts of my husband's and I dating time. I thought I would post them anyway. Enjoy :)


-I went to visit my sister to the States for 1 ½ months not looking for a boyfriend at all but actually running away from one ;) . Then I stayed for 3 months after finding the man of my dreams, my wonderful husband.

-When Matthew and I first met he thought my look said “I hate American boys” but what I was thinking was “WOW, he is sooooo cute”. It was really love at first sight for me. I beat myself up for the next few days because my sister also caught the same look that Matthew and told me about it. Could not believe it.

- When he picked me up for our “first date” I was all nervous and he actually came a little late. He came to the door and said “Hi, my sister is coming with us”. Hahahahha. He said that he couldn’t get her not to come (sorry Kristi), he wasn’t too happy.

-We said “I love you” to each other a week before he asked me to be his girlfriend. We had known each other for about 1 month.

- When we first met I couldn’t speak much English and he couldn’t speak Spanish. Still his dad was the one that introduced us and the first words out of his month, after his dad said “Pilar, this is my son Matthew, but he doesn’t speak much Spanish” was “Yo hablo mucho español” (which means “I speak lots of Spanish”)—how did we do it??? Love, God… I still don’t know.

-The day he asked me to be his girlfriend he gave me a beautiful gold band. He wanted me to know that his feeling were for real.

-The day we had to say goodbye at the airplane when it was time for me to go back to Spain was one of the saddest moments of my life, my heart ached so much. We had met about 2 ½ months earlier.

- He came to Spain and asked my dad if he could marry me only 2 ½ months later. My dad didn’t understand that he meant 6 months later, so he said yes. The story that follows is an interesting one all by itself.

-He gave me the most beautiful ring I had ever seen and he picked it out all by himself which is the part that I love the most.

-We married 1 year minus a week after he had seen me the first time. 1 year minus 1 week after we met. I don’t think it was fast, it was God’s will. My husband is the best gift after salvation God has given me.