Celebrating Easter 2012 in Salerno, Italia! Our holiday consisted of a very Italian meal all together, a little football on the Lungomare (we stood apart from the crowd just a little), and kids, kids and more kids! An Easter for the books :)
Earlier in April, Rosita had a dance performance in Naples! Missy and I got to be part of her lucky audience! Love sharing many passions with this sweet Italian friend.
Back for more!
*These pictures range from the end of January to mid-March!
1. Christina and I at our midyear conference in Nerja, Spain! This conference is when everyone who works with Agape (Campus Crusade) in Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa come together for encouragement and more training!
2. A visit to Gibraltar during midyear conference. You can see both Spain and Africa right behind us!
3. My lovely roommates and I after a wonderful dinner in Florence. At the start of February, we had a week long Bible Class in Florence with teaching on 1 John. Incredible.
4. The circus came to Salerno. Hilarious.
5. We have celebrated many birthdays in the past few months!
6. Spending time on the beach with friends from all over Europe.
7. Time on campus!
8. For two months, we had the lovely Cindy Boyett, an old friend to my roommates and a new dear friend to me, live with us and serve the families as babysitter! Before she left, we took a Saturday trip over to Pompeii!
9. Rosita, Sarah and I at an event put on by Agape Roma called “Tu Sei Anima e Arte” (You Are Art and Soul).
10. Enjoying Rome with students after the Agape Roma event.
Mamma mia! It’s been far too long! Pardon the silence, but I am back and ready to share about “la vita italiana.” I thought I would begin with a couple of posts of pictures as a quick survey of the past handful of months. Enjoy!
*this post covers November to mid-January. Stay tuned for more! (you can click on the pictures to see in full or bigger)
1. A dinner adventure with friends and viewing the top of the city at night
2. Preparing lasagna (mmmm!) with friends right there in our own kitchen!
3. Some students at the final Wednesday night Bible discussion before Christmas break
4. A little Christmas eve dinner! (we enjoyed a very American meal of fried chicken)
5. Christmas day!!!
6. A team Christmas trip to Bardonecchia (northern Italy) for some skiing!
7. We made it to the top of the mountain! The trick was getting down…
8. Happy New Years!! (rounded out the team trip in Lyon, France)
9. A three-day dance workshop in Rome with dear friends, Rosita and Ilaria!
10. Giving our English friend, Sarah, a taste of America!
A presto!
(…makes me think of a theme the Lord has shown me over and over this Thanksgiving holiday season…)
“giving thanks always and for everything to God the father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:20)
What a mysterious and glorious exchange the Father offers us: if I will only offer Him my thanks regardless of my feelings, He will offer me endless joy despite my circumstances. I’d say we got the favorable end of the stick, don’t you think? Charge for today: finding something I am thankful for in every situation. Bring on another rainy day :)
“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 118:1)
(*see the Nov. 24 entry for Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling)
(via plumnellie)
Felice Ringraziamento!! I hope you all had such a great Thanksgiving holiday, and know that in this thanksgiving season I am so thankful for YOU! Praise the Lord for the Thanksgiving celebration we got to have here in Italy. Wednesday night, we had our Thanksgiving outreach and had the joy of sharing our American holiday with our Italian friends. They loved it! We brought to them all of the Thanksgiving favorites…turkey hands, construction paper Indian and pilgrim hats, tissue paper pumpkins, stuffing, sweet potatoes, you name it! It was an incredible moment to bring all of our Italian friends together in one place, serve them, show them a little piece of America and share all that we are thankful for, including (and especially) the Gospel! We had both an American (our boss, Jim) and an Italian believer express thankful hearts for the Good News: that despite our own depravity, Christ has credited our empty accounts with His perfection so that we can live for eternity with the Lord in paradise. It is hard not to express thankfulness for such a beautiful and undeserved thing! It was key for all of us (Italians and Americans alike) to hear these words from people of two different backgrounds and nationalities, revealing that these are absolute Truths, not just culturally relevant thoughts. We have seen friendships grow deeper and interesting conversations sparked. Please continue to pray for these relationships and conversations!
Campus. We have spent a lot of time on campus: meeting people, developing relationships, investing in wonderful new friends and sharing this Light that has so radically changed our lives. Some days are better than others. Some days are filled with rejection by a culture that has for so long been programmed to resist the Bible while some days are sweet tastes of God’s faithfulness as we see friendships grow and seeds planted. No doubt, one fruitful day is worth a whole hard week.
“He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.” ~2 Corinthians 5:5
Sometimes all I need to do is just tune in. It really is amazing how if I just will tune in to God even a wee bit more daily, He has SO MUCH to show me. I still manage it over here—to let “busyness” and all my “to do’s” to distract me to the max and take me away from tuning into and spending time with God—and my number one requirement from my boss is to love Jesus. Anyways, the fact of the matter is, the Truth is so refining and so clarifying. It’s amazing how the Lord refreshes us and sheds light even in just a moment’s pause to meet with Him. Praise God for His Truth and that it never returns to Him void!
Our team is reading through the Bible together this year, and I am currently in Exodus. Feel free to join us in doing this!
Salerno becomes the city of lights about two months prior to Christmas! (And I thought America was premature with the holiday decorations…) For the past month, workers all over the city have been committed day and night to putting lights made from recycled plastic all over the city. A little different and feels a bit like Easter decorations, but it’s growing on me :) They finally lit them this weekend, and they are beautiful! We got to enjoy the lights with our Italian friends (old and new) this weekend!
