Estoy siguiendo pasos

I am following footsteps.

Well, for those of you who know me well, this post is going to make you laugh.
I was perfectly content in my room Friday evening, pondering going out and doing anything because I was exhausted (a theme of study abroad) and felt like hanging out with Youtube. The phone rang, shattering my illusion of privacy, and it was my friend inviting me to go out with everyone.
This is important, so pay attention: I was informed that we would be going to the beach to meet this girl and her Spanish friends for a potluck dinner.
 I so badly wanted to stay in, put sweatpants on and go to sleep. But since I only get to study abroad once, off I went.
    We met Ingrid at the Arc de Triomf and I instantly liked her. She is another international student, studying here for a year, and she is one of those people you meet and instantly want to hug. So open and sweet. It's also hard not to love a good Australian accent.
  She told us that the dinner was moved to a church due to the torrential Mediterranean rain. One would think that the word "church" would have been a clue for me that this was no ordinary potluck. Also, as my hilarious boyfriend pointed out to me later, most potluck are usually associated with church events.
     But no, it was not until we were standing outside a Spanish church, surrounded by dozens of college students speaking in Spanish, that I realized this was a meeting for International Christian Students. Well. Imagine my surprise.
    So there we were, a pack of terrified American girls at a church meeting in the middle of Barcelona being introduced to all of these Spanish students, one of us (me) fuming that she was not told this was a Christian studies group.
Despite my irritation, I was pleased to have an opportunity to use my Spanish. But my happiness started to disintegrate when we all went inside and I heard the word juego used. Juego means game.
I hate games.
Especially with other people.
And thus, the icebreakers began. I will let your imagination fill in the blanks about my talent with them.

          But even though I was uncomfortable, everyone I met was incredibly nice, and they even had someone translate the Spanish for us when we needed it. Several students got up and gave speeches about what the group and God meant to them and it was a personal triumph for me when I understand the majority of what they were saying. I am sure I was quite creepy, sitting in the front row, staring intently at them as they spoke; but it helps me to see a person's lips moving if they're talking fast. One of the girls said something that literally smacked me in the face. I wish I could remember exactly how she said it in Spanish, because it is more beautiful than in English, but I will just tell you what she said.
She said that God is always here, and friends are always here, and we need to reach out to each other and to Him for help and we cannot do it alone, which is why church groups like this one are so important.
We cannot do it alone.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I have joined a Bible study group that meets every Tuesday. Tonight is my first meeting. Details forthcoming.

It's pretty obvious that this is out of my comfort zone. But I know that God didn't bring me to that church meeting on Friday to scare me. He did it to remind me that this path I am taking, this journey I am smack dab in the middle of, isn't something that should intimidate me. I wouldn't be handed all these chances, all these perfect coincidences, if I wasn't walking on a path that was simply waiting for my footsteps.