listening to the silence...

I'm going to Africa tomorrow. Part of a dream that I've been dreaming for about five years or more. I'll be going into North Africa for a few days.If you have questions or are interested in knowing more about my trip, feel free to shoot me an email. Its easier to communicate that way. (charityjoyvoelker@gmail.com)

I know God has so many things so show me and I'm asking that above all you pray that I listen closely to His voice. The words from a song I heard recently have been running through my head. They say "I've made You promises a thousand times, I try to hear from heaven but I talk the whole time..." I feel like that is the case so many times. I try to pray, to sit before the Lord and hear His voice. But, somewhere along the way I've confused prayer with talking to God and have left little room for listening in silence for His voice. Sometimes I wonder how many times a day I fail to recognize it.

A quick update about my actual internship: I have been reworking a design I originally started that wasn't quite what the project supervisor was looking for. Its been a difficult time in some regards, I've battled a lack of creativity and personal frustrations and stubbornness, but have also experienced the excitement of new ideas and the joys of working through the rough spots. It has resulted in some random work hours(when inspiration and creativity finally hit, you have to run with it!...even at 2:30 in the morning sometimes...) and a lot of days of research, brainstorming, and trying to muster up some inspiration. But, I've come up with an overall theme that I liked and decided it was time to show it to my project supervisor. So, I took my computer to his office today, braced for constructive criticism. I've had a lot of "getting over myself" to do the last couple days so this meeting really could have been a great thing or an awful thing. I tried not to hold my breath as I entered his office. But, good news! I had two designs to show him and he really liked one (the same one as me) and really disliked the other (which helps, actually, in a strange way.). It was a successful meeting and I came away really encouraged. So, I've got some tweaking and reworking as well as a few pages to keep working on but I feel like I have some direction which is a wonderful feeling!

I'll probably be out of contact for the next week or so but will be back in Malaga soon! love and miss you all. Que la gracia del Senor sobreabunde en vosotros!

dad

I've got a little bit of "Daddy's girl" in me... ok maybe more than a little bit. He's an amazing man that i love deeply and respect greatly! Happy Father's Day Dad! I'm a lucky girl, love you!

weekend and a sleepless night...

Well, the weekend was great! Friday night was a piano/violin/flute recital for some of the missionary kids which was so much fun! They are really talented. After the concert I went down town with some girls to celebrate one of the girls's birthdays. I really like the city at night. Saturday I slept in then had a lazy morning with my roommate. We cleaned the apartment and just took it easy. Then, we went downtown again to revisit a photo exhibit we had only gotten to glance at the night before. It was photos and short essays about water contamination, human rights, natural disasters and poverty around the world. Talk about intense. There was a section of local issues too which was cool. While we were reading the local essays, we ran into an old man who told us stories about the local stuff and then we just got to talk to him for like 30 minutes, it was the highlight of the evening. We walked around the city a bit more and had Doner Kebab for dinner; it was wonderful! Sunday we went to a church along the coast and then had lunch and spent the rest of the day on the beach with some girls from the church. My spanish was definitely stretched but it was fun. The coast is so beautiful!

I started feeling sick on Friday night with a headache and thankfully was able to rest a lot on Saturday. The headache returned on Sunday, unfortunately and I'm still not feeling well. I stayed in bed a good portion of the day yesterday and that seemed to help. However, I have had a pretty rough night and have only gotten a few hours of sleep tonight. So, I'm up before the sun with a soar throat and plugged ears. Hopefully this doesn't last long. I really need to get work done on the project I'm supposed to be working on. For my prayer warriors out there, I would definitely appreciate your prayers for health, rest (I'm realizing I'm still pretty weary and run down from the school year), and motivation/creativity for this project! I'm having a rough time pulling it together. It will come in time, but it would be nice if that time was soon!

I leave you with a picture of the beautiful Malaga coast.

smith seven shout out

I just wanted to say that i miss these girls a lot today. So many precious memories. But, I will be back on Smith 7 in less than two months! Love you girls!! (if any of you even read this...)living with you is a joy!!

Late Night Excursion

Tonight has been splendid and full of really odd happenings. I started making some dinner but in the process of getting something out of the fridge, a glass jar of mayonnaise fell out and once the ceramic tile floor. The glass shattered everywhere. (i might add that we just bought it not even a week ago; it was full.) So, after cleaning up that mess I made dinner and Pam and I sat down and watched TV while we ate. After dinner we were both hungry for some dessert but the only thing even slightly resembling dessert in our cupboards were these sugar free, fat free, whole grain, fiber enriched cookies that we bought at the grocery store when we vowed to eat healthily. (They aren't actually too bad and taste significantly less like cardboard than one would imagine...). However, they could never qualify for dessert. So, at ten to 10:00 pm, we headed out on foot to the local grocery store which closed at we were walking up. Luckly for us, there's a gas station next store that never closes. We came home with maria cookies (they fall somewhere in between Graham crackers and animal crackers) and nutella. It was a wonderful night time snack. delicious.

waiting in silence

"For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken."
Psalm 62:1-2

celebrating rest

Well, its been almost a week! So much has happened that sitting down to write almost seems an overwhelming task. But, I'll just pick out a few highlights.

First of all, its so great to be here. Things seem so familiar because the culture and just the way things operate is so much like Portugal. Its refreshing. I really enjoy the pace of life. The day starts at 9:15 with prayer meeting with all the people that I work with. Then, work is from about 10-2. Then, everything shuts down except for major businesses from 2-4 for lunch and siesta. Its wonderful. :) Then back to work from 4-7:30 or so. Dinner isn't until around 8:30 or 9. Then bed comes around 11, or in my case anywhere from 10 to 3 am. Jet lag didn't hit me until about 3 days after I got here, but I'm doing much better now. (For a point of reference, we are seven hours ahead of Chicago/DesMoines time.)

I've started working on the project I've been assigned. I'm not too far into it but its under way! I am working on putting together (designing, laying out, arranging text, etc) a Spanish Bible study booklet. I've never done anything quite this large scale so it will be interesting! I'm really enjoying it though, and learning so much already!

The weather is pretty warm but there's an amazing breeze that comes off the Mediterranean. I have LOVED sitting on the porch off of my apartment. We have a beautiful view that these pictures don't do justice. Right now the moon is full and bright and the trees are gently swaying in the wind. It is so calm and I'm loving the time I get to just sit in silence. To breathe. Its refreshing. I'm trying to make it a habit to just spend time in silence every day. Its harder than I thought it would be, my mind just keeps racing. I'm reading in a book about the idea of creating rest and celebrating that rest in the Lord and when I am finally able to quiet down, its so beautiful.


I'm living in an apartment with another girl who is interning for 8 months, she's been here 2 already. She's about my age and its so great! She is such a God-send. One of the things I was worried about was loneliness before coming and so far, the people I'm with, especially my roommate have displayed that my fears hold no water. These people are an extension of God's provision.

One last little tidbit, one of my favorite stories so far. First of all, I'm in Spain. Not a third world country, we have running water (haha, most of the time, though it does periodically shut off for a few hours, and its not alway hot, but I was used to that in Portugal...), we have electricity, paved roads, etc. However, we do have bugs. The other day after prayer meeting we were standing around the kitchen and two of us spotted a cockroach (the large variety) crawling on the wall, toward the ceiling. We asked one of the men to get it (he's the type where nothing phases him). So, he climbed on the counter and just grabbed the roach with his bare hands, holding it in his fist. He pretends like he's about to eat it and one of the ladies dares him to actually do it. He looks at her, smiles, and pops it in his mouth, chews it up, and swallows, then takes a big swig of orange juice. The rest of us just kinda gaped at him. love it! He works in the office next to mine, never a dull moment. :) My roommate and I are considering putting his number on speed dial in case those cockroaches wander up to our apartment. The girls on my floor at school will appreciate that, i know. At least its not a mouse!!



on our way to the market...

I'm here!

After a day and half packed with training and orientation with 5 other precious girls in Kansas City, I left for Malaga by myself Sunday morning. My flights were pretty uneventful and I am now here! I am incredibly tired because I maybe got an hour of sleep combined over all my flights. But in an attempt to get over jet lag as soon as possible, I'm trying to stay up all day. We will see how long it lasts! It doesn't seem like there is much on the agenda today, which is nice. I'm getting settled into the apartment I'll be sharing with another girl about my age for the summer. So nice! Things are falling nicely into place. I'm trying to put off my larger evaluations until I've had some good sleep. :) seems more fair that way. Thats all for now friends, I'll write more when I'm more coherent!