Jon Huckins

This will be a quick one as we are packing up a our backpacks and have to catch a train in a few minutes.

We are up in the mountains of Spain in a small town called Montserrat (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montserrat). It is known for its monastery that sits atop the cliffs overlooking the town. It is a small town of about two thousand people and we are staying in the one an only hostel in town. It is a beautiful place. Fog is thick and laying low in the mountains that surround us. There is a river that runs right through the middle of town and the poeple are very friendly. We just finished our breakfast of coffee, juice and crossant that comes with each night of staying here. Good stuff.

Our first night here, while searching for hot water for our cup of noodles we were eating for dinner, we ran into some new friends name David and Juan. They are brothers that were thilled to meet Californian´s. Through our language barrier, we used lots of hand motions and laughed for a couple hours. They want us to teach them how to surf and they made fun of our crappy Spanish skills.

Yesterday we took a cable car up the cliffs to the monastery. Jan was not a big fan of the bouncing, suspended and rusty tin can of a cable car! I wasn´t in love with it myself…It is a couple thousand feet high and it was freezing cold, but full of life and interesting history. There are 80 monks that live there. We brought up a bottle of wine and bread to have for lunch between audio tours that we went on. Incredible art and construction. For the most part, it all had to be rebuilt after WWII.

We still are having some trouble with jet lag…I was reading and writing at 3am. Not easy to wake up once I finally fell asleep.
After two nights up here we are going to catch a train back to Barcelona to continue the adventure. Hope you all are doing well!

Jon and Jan

Well…we are officially traveling once again and we love it. After about 22 hours of flights and busses. We made it to Barcelona, Spain. It was beautiful. Tons of energy and lights in the city for the new year. Of course, we were pretty tired once we got here, so I think we slept through most of the action and woke up before it all got going again. Kinda nice actually.

We love the new perspectives we gain while traveling. We have already had 2 rich conversations that stick out to me. One was with our hostel manager named Fernando. He actually studied in Fresno of all places. Really nice fella, who was really accomodating.

Last night while drinking some REALLY good Sangria on Las Ramblas(barcelona´s most popular street), we invited a gentleman who was selling roses to sit with us. His name was Justice(in English) and was from Pakistan. The conversation started by me declining the option to buy his flowers and he politely asked, ¨Are you another mean American? Why is the world so mad at you?¨ That led to a long conversation on a variety of issues. He was a very humble and understanding man with a very different story than our own. Hard to imagine all he has been through. Ironic his name was Justice.

We are now up in the mountain town of Montserrat outside of Barcelona. Beautiful area, with lots of cool air, rivers and huge mountains.

Hope all are well!

Welp, today was my last official day of responsibilities at Harbor Chapel. It was a somber, sad, exciting and hopeful day all in one. Wierd. It will take weeks, no probably months, to process my transition out of this role that has been central to my life for the past 6 years(w/SVCC and Harbor). Janny has her last day at Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley tomorrow and then we have a few open weeks of no responsibilities or work! It will be an important time for us to slow down and process the past and prepare for the future. Especially in evaluating how our vocations are going to connect with our work/careers. Looks like a teaching credential/master’s degree is leading the pack for me, while we are still very interested in starting or working at a local non-profit. We will see.

For now…We are going to continue to pursue what has been so formative to our perspectives and relational growth with each other…Traveling!! We found some ridiculous travel deals and will be leaving on Wednesday for Europe and the Middle East. I am really looking forward to stops in Ephesus, Corinth, Malta(where Paul was shipwrecked if I remember correctly) and Egypt. We are also going to spend a few days driving through Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

I will do my best to get some pics up of our travels as soon as I can. Hope all of your friend/family gatherings have been relationally rich and hopefully not to disruptive to the digestive system!

My old roomy and one of my best buddies, Ryan Mcrae, just left tonight after hanging out with us this weekend. It was a GREAT time. I didn’t think anyone could love our little, cripple dog Harry more than Jan and I…I may have been wrong. Our couch held two males this weekend. Ryan and….Harry. Inseparable.

Jan and I are at a crazy spot in our lives right now. Weird, exciting, scary and hopeful all at the same time. The things we have spent 90% of our time being part of are all now ending: My work at Harbor Chapel in one week, Jan’s work at Bernardus Lodge in one week, and we both FINALLY got our Bachelor’s degree’s finished in the past month. Now we contemplate Master’s, credentials, neither or both. For now, we just look forward to getting our barrings and soaking in/learning our new community here in Santa Cruz. We are excited to experiment in new ways of living out community, church, service, work and lots of fun! Of course, it seems they are all connected anyway.

With most of our responsibilities wrapping up in the next week and no commitments until my next speaking engagement in the end of January, we are going to do some more traveling! We have found that traveling is something we greatly value for a variety of reasons. Especially since we are still holding out on kids! We will keep you all filled in on what we end up doing.

Pic of Annual Broomball Trip

Last night was a night that Jan and I won’t forget for the rest of our lives. As most of you know, we are stepping away from our role as Youth Pastor at Harbor Chapel as of Dec. 31. We have been part of that community for the past 4 years and last night they threw an incredible appreciation dinner for us. Not only did they serve one of my all time favorite meals, Lobster Bisque, but we were showered with some serious love.

It is easy for me to feel like I could have done a better job in my time at Harbor. Whether that means spending more time with students or leading in a different direction, etc…Last night, as student after student took the mic and shared memories of our time together, I was blown away by how much God has used what I often feel was so little. I rarely cry, not that I am proud of that, but since crying in my wedding ceremony(take that however you want!), I can only remember crying once. Last night, I couldn’t keep it together. Jan and I were both a crying mess and at the end of night when we were handed the mic, I just about lost it. I squeaked out a few words that sounded like the voice of a 6th grader. Humbling, but very real.

As I reflect on it now, I realize that is exactly how it should have gone. Our time in this community was not marked by words…it was marked by action and relationships. No words needed.