Outta Sync, I Think
“I’m sorry. He’s not available. Most people are out of the office day because of the hol-i-day.” The receptionist said this last word slowly and very distinctly as if she were talking to a small child, or someone with a ve-ry low IQ.
“Holiday?” I was confused. “What holi…oh..wait…is today Saturday?” We’ve been in such a sort of time and space warp for so long now, rarely sure of what season or month we’re in, let alone day of the week, that I figured I just hadn’t realized it wasn’t Friday but Saturday.
“No,” she said, again very di-stinct-ly, “Memorial Day.”
“I thought Memorial Day was on Monday,” I said to Annette after I extracted myself from the chat with the helpful secretary. “When did it become a four day weekend? You don’t even get that at Easter, do you?”
This was just another reminder that we might be in the US but we’re not yet in sync with it.
Another Incredible Day
We woke up this morning to the bells of the monastery (they're loud) and looked out the window of our simple little room. I took some pictures and here is one of them. Under those clouds and a couple thousand feet closer to sealevel is Barcelona. 
Montserrat, Spain
We're in a 986 year old benedictine monastery surrounded by monks in black robes who maintain - for the most part - a vow of silence, there are people from at least 7 different countries and 6 different languages, we're talking about how to communicate the good news of Christ in a world that is growing in it's openess to spirituality, Jesus and God but not to the church. It's incredibly stimulating and fun.
(In the photo, Felix Ortiz translates for Jusep, our host monk, who speaks Catalan)
In the Air Again
We're on our way to Spain. (In fact, I'm on a plane filling out the visa in this picture) We've been invited by Felix Ortiz, one of the authors that Annette wrote the youth ministry textbook with, to be part of roundtable discussion on how to impact youth in a post-Christian, post-modern Europe. We're also continuing our work with Felix on the online, interactive youth ministry courses that his organization, Campus Crusade, is presently promoting.
“I’m sorry. He’s not available. Most people are out of the office day because of the hol-i-day.” The receptionist said this last word slowly and very distinctly as if she were talking to a small child, or someone with a ve-ry low IQ. 
