heading to hogsmeade
i’m not a huge fan of viña del mar. occasionally i describe living here as having the life sucked out of my soul. the dementor effect if you will. it’s really not that bad, but i’m just not that fond of living in a city. and it’s not a very pretty city. lots of pavement and apartments and slightly run down buildings. it’s the resort town of an almost developed country that is trying really hard to be attractive to tourists. but the gold leaf is peeling back to show the plain old wood behind. there are definitely pretty parts, but they are often marred by spray paint and dog droppings and food wrappers. and after living in places that have amazing parks and gorgeous trees…well, what could possibly compare?
fortunately, valparaíso is 113 pesos and ten short minutes away on the metro. if we’re continuing with the harry potter theme, then valparaíso is the honeyduke’s and zonko’s joke shop of chile. still a city. still developing. still filled with cement and ramshackle buildings and an utter disregard for trash bins. however the winding cobblestone streets of the hills are bursting with character. there is gorgeous european style architecture, funky shops and cafes, brightly painted houses, and incredible murals of graffiti. whenever the routine and monotony and suburbia of viña del mar combine to feel like hogwarts under the rule of umbridge, i make the point of journeying down to valpo for a change of pace and an attitude adjustment. monday was such a day.
But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his counsel. In the desert they gave into their craving; in the wasteland they put God to the test. Psalm 106: 13-14. those silly israelites. constantly forgetting what God had done for them and complaining and rebelling and trying to do life their own way. so often this is my thought while reading through the old testament. and inmediatamente i realize that i’m daily guilty of the exact same thing. i forget all that god had done in the past four months. all the blessings, all the mercies, all the little miracles. and i ask for more, i put him to the test. i judge and scoff at the israelites for their unbelief and unfaithfulness, while i doubt my father in heaven right alongside them. i doubt his purposes and his faithfulness and his wisdom. i try to take control of my life and i expect more and more from the father, without realizing all that i have already been given. that silly emily.
fortunately god does not hold my unbelief against me. instead, i’ve found that he is more than willing to remind me of all his glory and mercy and grace whenever my own faith takes a stumble. as i turn a blind eye to the blessings already bursting from the seams of my day, and instead ask for more joy, he gladly lavishes me with it. be it a familiar song on the loudspeaker of the metro, a chocolate bar delivered to me by my host father while studying, the sun bursting through a cloudy day, an encouraging word from a good friend, or girasoles painted on the drain pipe of a building in valpo, the lord is more than happy to remind me of his goodness.
One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard:
that you, O God, are strong,
and that you, O Lord are loving.
Psalm 62:11
