New Realities

The G42 House on Calle San Sebastian is always bustling and teeming with interns and guests who are running around the house, laughing, cooking, working, and talking. It's rare that the house is ever empty or left alone to one person, but right now that's where I've found myself. The whole group, including some of the G42 staff members, has gone to hang out at a local pub, something I would normally love to do. All the G42 interns here are well aware of my enthusiasm for social events and have quickly learned how keen I am on getting out of the house, going new places, and meeting new people. However, tonight I had to decline the invitation to go be a social butterfly and be a part of all the excitement and interaction. Instead I decided to stay home and have some alone time.

So the house is quiet. And I'm enjoying sitting here and having the chance to reflect.

A lot has gone on in the last couple weeks. I think I've experienced a little bit of every emotion possible. After I got back from London, we had an incredible and intense week with a teacher from the U.S. named Ted Hanson. Ted is from Bellingham, Washington where he has founded House of Bread Ministry and a training school called the School of Eagles, both ministries in which he is currently involved. In addition, Ted is an apostle and a prophet and does much international travel and public speaking in order to train, activate, and release people into the future God has planned for them.

While he was here, he taught on New Covenant Realities - basically the differences between the old covenant God made with the Israelites and the new covenant that has been established through Jesus Christ. The way he taught was innovative and offered a brand new interpretation on things that I had never considered before. As a result, I found myself mentally and spiritually challenged every moment we were in class. Most of the interns left class every day overwhelmed by the amount of new information that we heard and exhausted by trying to keep up with Ted and understand it all, yet we still felt full and satisfied because we knew that we were retaining and understanding exactly what we needed to for the time being. Throughout that week, I frequently heard phrases along these things: "I have no idea what's going on, but my spirit is getting it and I'm feeling really good about what I am catching onto!"

Basically, we knew we were hearing truth and being changed, but our minds were being blown beyond our comprehension. All that to say, I can't really explain yet what I learned that week. I'm still processing it all, still trying to make sense of it, and still recognizing places that it has hit me in my life and seeing the changes it has caused in my mindset and actions. The good thing is, Ted is coming back next semester and we get another chance to soak up the wisdom and passion that are dripping off of him. That's gonna be another intense, but insanely good week.

The whole week that Ted was here, we had a group of seven people from England visiting to check out G42. I was also cooking dinner that week, so my afternoons were spent cooking and my evenings were spent making new friends :) 

cooking dinner

While cooking, I realized these important things:

              1. I like cooking (even when it's for 22 people!)

              2. I'm not that bad at cooking

              3. Cooking can actually be kind of fun

I know... not all that novel of thoughts, but they were quite revolutionary for me! I always hated cooking and thought I was never capable of doing it, but I actually found last week that not only can I do it, but I can do it without anxiety and stress and can actually have a decent result! Of course, it helps a whole bunch having AnnieRose, my cooking partner, working alongside me in the kitchen with her easygoing and peaceful demeanor, because we always figured out a way to deal with whatever went wrong... and it was never a big deal! 

setting out the yummy food!

I also had a ton of fun with all the English folks visiting, and spent lots of time discussing different English dialects, accents, and odd phrases. It was also really nice having some extra people to hang out with throughout the week. On Friday night after tapas, we all headed down to the local pub (the one where everyone is at now) and hung out there for a bit. When they kicked us out at closing time, we then relocated to the terrace at home where we could sit in the cool night air and look up at the stars. It was brilliant.

dinner with our English friends

Dave Hearn

In the midst of all the fun and excitement with visitors and the thought provoking times with Ted, we were assigned a vision project. I've known about this project since before I even arrived at G42, and I knew that it was going to be a lot of work and a big deal, but I was really looking forward to the day when I actually created it and completed it.

Basically, our vision projects are an opportunity for us to communicate to others what our passion is and what we want to do about it. As I've explained before, this can be anything from a business to a non-profit organization to a ministry - essentially something that we want to start and put into effect in order to share God's love with people around the world. 

Bec Hearn

We haven't presented our projects to each other yet, so I haven't seen or heard about everyone's vision specifics yet, although I know that there are some really cool ideas that have been thought up. During the moments when I wasn't racking my brain to make sense of Ted's life-changing wisdom, cooking dinner, or hanging out with new friends, I was spending time with Andrew or his daughter Bec and son-in-law Dave to try to refine and sharpen my vision. I had a general idea of where I wanted my focus to be, but I had a lot of options and wasn't sure how to narrow it down. A nice conversation with Bec over lunch helped open my eyes to where my heart and passion truly lie and almost instantly provided me with more direction and plans for the future. After recognizing where my heart is and what I want to do, I had a much easier time sitting down to complete my project.

The project itself is simply a five page magazine article that explains our vision and includes the problem, existing solutions, and what our solution to the problem is. Sounds simple, but there's a lot of heart and passion that go into this article, so I definitely took my time with it. I wrote several pages about the problem and how it needs to be fixed, and then I got to the end and suddenly realized I didn't have a concrete solution. Another visit over to Dave and Bec's house, and I walked away with a crystal clear idea for how to materialize my plan. 

the awesome Hearn family

Of course, the plan is flexible and subject to change over time as I grow in my vision and define it more specifically, but for now I have a good lead that will take me where I need to start, and then I can proceed from there. I am quite anxious and excited to share this project with you, as it expresses my heart and is the beginning of what might be something really big in my life. I have a few changes to make still, but be looking for my article to be posted in the next week or two so that you will be able to read it and hear about my vision!

In the meantime, I am going to get some rest and relax and enjoy the last few weeks of the semester!

The Little White Village

After spending about five weeks in Ireland, the time came for me to say goodbye and continue on to the next part of my adventure: Spain. I arrived in Spain on July 4 (a little sad to have missed my favorite U.S. holiday) to participate in the G42 Leadership Academy as an intern and student. At the airport, I was greeted by one of the teachers who drove me back to the G42 house where 8 other interns and a few other staff members had dinner waiting for me.

There is so much I would like to share about G42 and what I've been doing here in Spain, but I think the best way to start is to tell you a little about where I'm at and the town I live in.

the gorgeous Costa del Sol

G42 (which you can be sure I will write more on later) is located in Mijas Pueblo, Spain, about thirty minutes from the city of Malaga. If you aren't familiar with Malaga, it is the sixth largest city in Spain, located on the Costa del Sol in a southern region of Spain called Andalusia. Mijas Pueblo, a quaint "white village" set off the coast of the Mediterranean and nestled up in the mountains, is about thirty minutes from the city center of Malaga. Only twenty minutes down the mountain lies the decently large city of Fuengirola, home to the G42 interns' favorite beach (of course!).


If you come to Mijas, surprisingly you might not find too many Spaniards. What you will find, in abundance, are tourists and travelers on holiday from all over the world. Walking the cobblestone streets of the picturesque town you are certain to pass Japanese, Germans, Scottish, Indians - people from all countries and all cultures - shopping, sightseeing, touring, and relaxing. Along the sides of the windy, narrow roads of Mijas, dozens of tourist shops, trinket stores, and authentic Spanish restaurants boast their bright colors to draw in naive travelers who are convinced they need one more piece of pottery, jewelry, key chain, or glass of Sangria. With unmistakable hats, sunglasses, and cameras, excited new visitors are everywhere you turn, adding a lively and bubbly spirit to a sunny and friendly town.

a little restaurant we often refer to as "the blue chair place"

Beginning around ten in the morning, the town swiftly buzzes with excitement as new tourists arrive, coming spend the day discovering the charm of Mijas. And charm it is - at any moment walking down the street you might need to pause and stand aside to let a horse carriage with delighted passengers spin through or to allow a long line of donkeys transporting weary travelers clop by. In addition to the alluring brightly colored Spanish items outside of every shop, you'll be enchanted by the brilliant white of the traditional houses and apartments all through the town. A leisurely walk out to the Lookout Point offers not only a panoramic view of the Mediterranean coastline but also a perfect display of the white village houses stacked up on the side of the mountain, perfectly accented with red tiled roofs, tranquil terraces, and tiny dark windows.

Inside those windows are stories that go back decades. Most of the Mijaños, or citizens of Mijas, have lived in their houses for their entire lives, meaning there are a lot of old folks around! Since most houses in Mijas don't have air conditioning, you will often find the bright green or red doors of the Mijaños propped open while the sun beams down on the whitewashed walls in the heat of the day. In the evening, the streets tend to empty of tourists and instead fill with Mijaños who have migrated outside to their doorsteps and terraces to enjoy the cool and refreshing sea breeze. If you travel down to the plaza at the end of our street, at any time of the day you will always find a group of old men in wide-brimmed hats, resting on benches and beaming their toothless smiles at all the new faces strolling by. A little further up from the plaza sits a bull ring at the top of a sloping hill, a popular destination for tourists to visit during summer stays. During the summer months, trumpets and fanfares can be heard echoing through the streets of Mijas, announcing the beginning (or victory... to be honest, I'm not sure quite yet) of a bull fight.

old men in the plaza

On Tuesdays and Thursdays in the summer, Mijas holds a market in the Plaza Mayor, proving to consistently be a well-attended social gathering that provides common ground for both the locals and the visitors. Local artists and artisans set up booths to display and sell their creations while salsa and pop music boom through the plaza until all hours of the night. At midnight, salsa dancing lessons start, and teenage girls crowd up at the front while young parents with toddlers and holidaying old couples dance shamelessly off to the side or from the back. Spain is a country of freedom; everybody lives life to the fullest and is not afraid to enjoy it. It's a beautiful thing. Last week at the midnight dance lessons, my heart was warmed watching a mother dance with her baby, a lone traveler with eyes closed dancing with all his might, and a British couple with their arms around each other, nodding their heads to the music. Spain allows people to be liberated, to express themselves, to indulge.... and to be happy. It's a place of family, friendship, laughs, good food, rest, and adventure.

the view from my balcony

The only downside is that the rest part seems to come at the most inopportune time, at least for my schedule. In the past few weeks, I have come to view Mijas as the city that never sleeps. Up until two or three in the morning, people are out eating dinner on the streets, talking in the square, or blaring music. And even if they're not, city workers will be sure to provide whatever noise might have been lacking - like the trash truck at 2 am or street sweepers a 7 am - all great services, but at completely inconvenient times. I suppose the reason it is such a bother to me is because of the location of our house. G42 owns two houses on Calle San Sebastian, a beautiful street near the center of Mijas. In fact, it's so beautiful that it's the most photographed street in all of Southern Spain. That means that at all hours of the day, there are Europeans, Americans, and plenty of Japanese tourists in bucket hats and armed with cameras meandering down our street, peering into our windows. And since we often leave the door open to circulate the air, we even have a few uninvited visitors come strolling into our entryway every now and then ;-) To perfectly illustrate how popular our street is, I can tell you that the very first day I arrived in Mijas, I walked out onto the balcony outside my room (hanging over onto the street) to hear an British girl about my age proclaim, "This is such a gorgeous street!" She then proceeded to nudge her boyfriend and point up to me, the "girl on the balcony," as I stared questioningly from above. "Smile for a picture!" She eagerly shouted as she pointed the camera nose at me.

our house is right next to the wine museum

This happens all day, every day. Some of the interns told me they used to try to get out of the way when people were taking pictures, but they don't even bother anymore because it would virtually mean being unable to walk to our front door. On the flip side, however, we live on an absolutely gorgeous street! The view from my balcony (even if it often includes tourists taking pictures of me) and from our front door is what people travel miles and miles and sometimes halfway across the world to see! In addition, our house is right next door to a wine museum, so we have made friends with the owner and often take leisurely breaks during the evening to pay him a visit and drink some delicious Spanish wine. Everything in the town is less than a five minute walk from my doorstep, and I can get to the beach or hike a mountain within 20 minutes. One of my favorite parts about our house is the terrace we have in the back, the perfect place to hang out on a warm summer's evening and eat tapas and play games with friends.

I feel so lucky to be able to live in a place like Mijas, but I'm not here for all fun and games! It is an absolute bonus that we get to enjoy such a stunning and magnificent place, but the real reason we are here is to fill our minds and grow our spirits. We attend classes everyday and have been working hard to read, learn, and write, growing into the men and women God created us to be. I will share with you soon who I'm living with and what our daily schedule is like, plus a little bit about what we're learning and what exactly G42 is all about, so stay tuned!