Optimistic?

Mom left yesterday. We had an amazing 2.5 weeks together here in Europe, and I am so incredibly thankful for every minute and experience we were able to share together! God blessed us with lots of safe travel, fun laughs, and amazing experiences and sights. :) I can't wait to post pictures and blog about all of it! Here is a quick overview of the trip:

*Sevilla
*Rome
*Paris
*London
*La Antilla
*Back to Sevilla (today for Mama to fly out)

It was really hard to say goodbye to Mom -- that is absolutely, positively my least favorite part of living abroad -- saying "see you later" to friends and family. And the way it works in the Sevilla airport is incredibly painful when you see someone off -- you kiss them goodbye, but then you watch them go through the long, twisty security line. You can't stand with them because you don't have a boarding pass, but you can stand close enough to see them and maybe even talk to them -- but not close enough to touch them. And this saying goodbye process goes on for about 15 never-ever-ever ending minutes. It's like you're a little kid with a really bad scrapped knee with a band-aid on it and an evil nurse decides to peel away the band-aid millisecond by millisecond. Ok...maybe it's not that bad (I am exaggerating for the purpose of writing), but you get the point. :) After being teary-eyed and saying the long goodbye to Mama, I hopped in a taxi and then a couple buses to head back to Antilla. And here in Antilla, God gave me a great quote of comfort:

"There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year's course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose it's meaning if it were not balanced by sadness." -Carl Jung

What a true and optimistic statement. :) The sadness helps us understand and appreciate the happiness more -- and this holds true for my time abroad as well. There are moments, glimpses, of sadness or homesickness. But that's ok. That's part of life abroad. And we can always be certain that the sun will shine again. :)

Thankful for all of God's blessings and for all of your prayers and for you! Look out for more blogs about our trips soon...



Love and optimism to you,
Brittany :)