La Diada de Sant Jordi

La Diada de Sant Jordi (St. George's Day), also known as el dia de la rosa (The Day of the Rose) or el dia del llibre (The Day of the Book).

St. George is the patron saint of Catalonia. His day is celebrated on April 23rd and this has been Catalonia’s own Valentine’s Day since the Middle Ages. That was when St. George slew the dragon, saved the princess and plucked a rose from a rose bush that had conveniently sprouted up from the dragon's red blood, so that George could gallantly give his true love a red, red rose.

Roses have been associated with this day since medieval times, but the giving of books is a more recent tradition. In 1923, a bookseller started to promote the holiday as a way to honour the nearly simultaneous deaths of Miguel Cervantes and William Shakespeare. Barcelona is the publishing capital in both Catalan and Spanish and this heady one-two punch of love and literacy was quickly adopted.

On Barcelona's most visited street, La Rambla, and all over Catalonia, thousands of stands of roses and makeshift bookstalls are hastily set up for the occasion. By the end of the day, some four million roses and 400,000 books would have been purchased in the name of love. You will be hard-pressed to find a woman without a rose in hand, and half of the total yearly book sales in Catalonia take place on this occasion.

(Most of this information was gotten from Wikipedia.)

I need your help

For the few of you that actually read this blog, you're probably more than aware that I'm not very good at this blogging thing. I realized part of the problem is that I struggle with what kinds of things would be interesting to people. So I would like for you to post a comment to this blog, or send me an email if you'd rather, and let me know what kinds of things you would like to see here. Thanks in advance for your help!

Visitors

We had friends from the States come to visit the first week of April. Kathy and I had fun showing them Barcelona, Montserrat and Tossa de Mar. Jon stayed at home and worked so we could play. I drove them to Zaragoza for an overnight visit to some other co-workers where we also saw some sights. We had a great time. I just hope we didn't wear them out.

This past weekend we hosted the women of our mission team here in Spain. We spent a lot of time sharing with, and praying for, one another. We also saw some sights in Barcelona. It was a great time of being together, something we don't get to do very often because we work all over the country and most of us are about 4-5 hours from the closest teammate.

I always enjoy these visits from State-side friends and our teammates here in Spain. They refresh my soul and give me encouragement to continue my work here.

March Update

My New Apartment
I’m just about all settled in. All the boxes are unpacked and my pictures are hung and my plants are on the balcony. And I finally have internet! There are some minor electrical issues that need to be taken care of, but one of the men at church is going to come and take care of them for me very soon. I think Biscuit likes it too!

EET Course Offerings
A lot of my work is centered around our online school, the EET (Escuela Evangélica de Teología or Evangelical School of Theology in English). We are currently in our third year and have a total of about 60 students in our system. We average about 30 students in any given quarter. I thought you might be interested in seeing our course offerings for this academic year:

Fall quarter - Synopsis of the Old Testament I, Synopsis of the New Testament I, Principles of Biblical Interpretation, Christian Spirituality, Theology of Missions I

Winter quarter - Synopsis of the Old Testament II, Synopsis of the New Testament II, Evangelism and Discipleship, Christian Doctrine I, Theology of Missions II

Spring quarter - Synopsis of the Old Testament III, Synopsis of the New Testament III, Christian Doctrine II, Homiletics, Romans


English Students
I have added another English "student" to my regular activities. Emi and I meet on Tuesday nights twice a month. She is the girlfriend of one of our Wednesday night students, Mariano. Her English is good but she is taking courses and wanted some more practice and help with some of her class assignments. She is a delight to meet with. Please pray that God will use these meetings to further His kingdom.

This month’s quote:
“It’s a bit of a mystery what God chooses to remove from your life--and what he allows to remain. You cannot help but ask for that heartache, that nagging difficulty, to go away...But when the challenge remains--when it insists on coming along for the trip--the great question inside us swings in a new direction. Might this thing I long to be different be the actual crucible on which God chooses to shape my soul into something of beauty that perhaps only he sees? Could this disturbing interruption of my plans be the actual way God is molding my heart in some new manner? Will I let God transform me in this?”

Paula Rinehart, Better Than My Dreams

Have a Blessed Easter!

I came across this video today on Max Lucado's website. If you have about 10 minutes, I think you will be blessed by watching it. It's a wonderful reminder of what Christ has given us through His death on the cross.

May your Easter be blessed! And may your times with family and friends be sweet.