In less than two weeks, Tony and I will be making our maiden voyage across the great pond. We will be spending 8 days in Barcelona, visiting my dear brother. He is there, doing great work, with great people, serving a great God. I have not seen Derek since August. I get to read his posts and e-mails and occassionally hear his voice over the phone/computer. (Thanks for the birthday call, bro. I’m just glad you remembered this year!) However, it’s just not the same. So, I am really looking forward to seeing him again, in person, and seeing first hand what has drawn him to Spain.

Also, it is a dream come true, for both Tony and me, to travel to Europe. We will spend the majority of our time in Barcelona but we are taking a day trip to Paris. (I promise to take a lot of pictures and we’ll have them up in our gallery as soon as possible.)  We both really enjoy traveling and are looking forward to taking on our biggest trip so far!

We decided last year, when Derek was talking AGAIN about moving to Spain, that if he went, we would visit him at some point during his first year. So, off Derek went in October…and now we are going in just two weeks. We bought our tickets a couple of months ago. I NEVER knew that time could go by so slowly!! But, it has come upon us and I am frantically searching the stores for a nice spring-time jacket and great walking shoes!

So, I’ve been reading a book on anxiety. Why? you ask. Well, if you were in the process of buying a house, moving 6 hours away, quitting your job, taking a trip to Spain, entertaining both sets of in-laws, AND dealing with rush hour traffic over the next couple of months, YOU MIGHT BE A BIT STRESSED OUT, TOO!!

Anywho, the book recommends not ingesting too much caffeine, annnd I’m pretty sure I’m about to cross that ever looming threshold into “caffeine addiction”.  Now, I love morning coffee and I generally only have, on average, one cup of coffee a day. Well, I have now become acustomed to an afternoon cup of coffee, as well. (I swear that it’s turning my teeth yellow and eating through the lining in my stomach.) The thing is, I generally regret having that second cup right about the time my arms start to feel jittery. But, I can’t seem to stop.

 I’m drinking coffee and giving myself the jitters in order to wake up my weary body because it’s tired from carrying around so much anxiety. You want to know the crazy part? I wouldn’t have to be so weary if I would just hand over the anxiety and believe God when He tells me that He’s got it all under control. What am I really trying to control, anyway? Things that I have no hope of changing, like whether or not we get the loan on the house or what my boss will say when I resign. Truth is, we will have a place to live and what others think of me will never define who I am. (these are only two of a very long list of things I worry about) But oh how hard it is to let go.

So, until I do let go, I’ll be medicating myself with Starbucks and Crest Whitening strips.

(This was suppose to be a post about our upcoming trip to Spain. Guess I had other things to say!!)