Day 5: Barcelona....more Barcelona...more Barcelona.... to Avignon

Josh here. I'll start and Bek will be sure to pretty-fy this post later.

What a blessed day of trusting in God's timing!
We awoke to another hot Barcelona morning, had some yummy pastries, fruit and hardboiled eggs for breakfast, and set about getting ready to leave. We had a lot of time, since the new tires for our van weren't supposed to arrive at the autoshop until 4pm, mas or menos.

We went for swim break to the same pool we visited last night. As Providence would have it, we happened to set up shop right next to a church group of American Christians all doing missions work of some kind or another in Barcelona(hope to post more about their ministry later). Rebekah was refreshed by sweet fellowship with two women there, and the swimming was delightful.

Quick trip back to the apartment to take 90 degree stale-room naps, then we loaded up and went downtown for tires. Sike! Mas o menos means Mas. 2.5 hours mas. so a little after 7pm we left the autoshop, but with 4 reliable tires!!  Thank God for little spares that can! I don't know what the wear life is on a donut spare, but we put at least 300 miles on that sucker.

A 4.5 hour drive north was filled with travelling mercies- a beautful sunset over the Pyrenees, fireworks along the route, and a fair in Avignon, which is apparently one giant castle!

We arrived at midnight local time to a beautiful, clean, modern home with ceiling fans, a washer AND dryer, and clean floors! Praise the Lord for these things that we otherwise take for granted.

I will end this post with the thing that impressed me most today. Every bump in the road, every turn I've made in the past 3 days has been wrought with anxiety, expecting a tire to blow out, leaving us REALLY stranded. Getting new tires on the van was such a relief, but I still cringed today with every speed bump or turn. It struck me how we take for granted these simple things, like a tire that stays inflated, for years! I believe that the things that work in this world work because our Creator binds them together with His sovereign power, but I so rarely stop to truly appreciate the vastness of a power that can accomplish such a feat. So as I took the corners fast and plowed past speed bumps I sang a little praise with every cringe.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!