A City on a Hill

drops of sunshine

2012-03-06T14:58:00.001-08:00

I go through phases with our laundry.

Some days I whisk it right out the window to clip on the lines, and other times, I am more inclined to keep it inside, pinned on our laundry rack out on the enclosed veranda, safe from the pigeons. The change in the weather has been so refreshing. Today we awoke to a beautiful sunny morning with the birds chirping and the sun pouring in through the glass doors of our apartment. I decided to transfer our laundry outside to whip back and forth in the sunshine. On my last clip, I looked up to notice that the sky had become a dark shade of Payne's grey. A cool breeze brushed past my cheek- one drop, two drops . .. . down pour! Big wet drops of rain. I was a sight to be seen. Our veranda is on the back side of our apartment building. When you open the windows, you directly face the back side of several other apartment complexes. With the third and fourth drop of rain, like a coo-coo clock, all of the windows immediately flew open! Laundry was flying left and right, clothes pins were clipping all throughout the piazza, and the women couldn't pluck the laundry off their lines fast enough!

The rain was a wet cool rain. Even though our laundry got a little damp from the drops, I couldn't help but enjoy the rain.

I feel God's spirit moving fluidly in these past months since we have returned from America. Some things are changing with our work, other more unfortunate realities stay the same, but more than anything I am noticing Him. He is with us at the post office, the supermarket, our Bible studies, in our home. It seems that He is again preparing us for new things and to be honest, I am, as always, a bit apprehensive on the front end of change, but in the middle of it, I find myself in a joy that I cant ever seem to find elsewhere. Change is refreshing, like the rain- a newness; it brings with itself a new sense of hope.

We have learned so many things on our journey here in Italy- one of the biggest is the ability to maintain hope. One reason Ive always believed that God blessed me with Eric as my husband is because of His unwavering faith in God. Nothing gets Eric down- he's one of those "the glass is half full" thinkers ;) I on the other hand, tend to be the other side of that mentality. Yet, lately, I feel like I am learning the joy that comes with our faith. Its a calmness and sense of security that is all too refreshing.

Some of the newness that we have been experiencing lately are new contacts. Reminder: never underestimate the power of prayer. After only a few prayers , the opportunities came knocking. Suddenly we were meeting all of our neighbors, making plans to visit for cafe and dessert, planing to meet with the lady at the pharmacy next to Pam for English lessons, going out with our students, and even meeting a new couple who are now attending our weekly Bible studies! I cant even count the things He is doing right now, and I am pretty positive this is where my sense of hope is coming from. Where would we be without the help of our Lord??? When we get frustrated as Christians, I personally always fall back on the necessity of humility- do I have it? Am I shining through humility for Him? Even something so simple as my Bible class with the girls, the Lord convicts me and humbles me to bring me closer and closer to Him. Its amazing and so beautiful. This is joy. This is what we need to communicate to the world! He died so that we can have life!

More specifically...aside from the normal . . . in these past couple weeks we. . . .

. . . have meet and visited with a teenager from Latiano named Mino (not the Mino who we have mentioned before). We discussed organizing some activities to bring all the teens in the southern Puglia region to a closer unity. We have planned on trying to visit different congregations in the south once a month. I wont go into too much detail, but this boy was such a blessing to us that day he came to visit us. He took the morning train from Latiano to Taranto and we met him at the station around 9 that morning. He was straightforward telling us how much the youth of his congregation is searching for edification. He said, 'when I saw you guys, I just immediately latched on.' His hunger for the Lord and for wisdom is just written all over his face. After lunch before he left our apartment he said the most beautiful prayer and left us in tears.. . I cant help but be excited about what God is drawing up for the youth here in the south....

. . . . are becoming more acquainted with our neighbors. After Carnivale, I went to take some of the left over Oreo balls to our neighbors. As always, they were excited and so sweet to us. We are planning to have the 2nd floor neighbors (They are a BIG family... we first meet the grandmother last year and we always stop and chat when we see each other out and about .. However, the first time we went to her apartment, we discovered that she lives with her son and his wife and their two daughters! ), and our 4th floor neighbor (who is an older woman who is always walking her dog around the piazza out front of our apartment. It wasn't until recently that we discovered that she has an older son as well) over for a visit next week after we return from Florence.

The 1st floor neighbors are another story! I first met the daughter (who is probably in her late 40's) when I went out one morning to get some laundry detergent. She had with her the sweetest little pup and of course I couldn't help but ask to pet him! ha. We exchanged some small talk and I went on my way. That night we left the apartment to go to church because it was Friday , and when we turned the corner, I ran into her again! I thought it was sort of a coincidence, but then just assumed that she must live around here close. The next morning we went out to take a walk (because it was SUCH a beautiful day!) and there was the same dog, but this time with an older man. Well, of course, the dog pulled me in again. We got to talking with the man, turns out it is his dog, and the other woman was his daughter. While we were talking, she came out of nowhere and joined our conversation! Her sister enjoys learning English. . . and the parents (with the dog) live in our apartment building! ha!

Anyways, this past Saturday we went to their place for a visit and talked alot. . . about everything. Also turns out that she knew the past Italian missionaries who were here in Taranto for many years! We talked about the church and the Bible and our beliefs.. . . which by the way I am learning alot more in depth about the doctrines of Catholicism. . and I honestly, I have to admit that many times, I remain sort of shocked . . . I think a part of it may be living in the south because the traditions run a lot deeper here. One example is the importance placed on the church and Mary. It is quite substantial.... One point in the conversation I learned that, Mary is considered by some to be even more important than Jesus. It was explained to me that Jesus cant relate to us because He is so far above us, so perfect, where are Mary is like our mediator who protects us from the punishment of Jesus... I immediately remembered these verses: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:15-16

When you really consider their outlook, it is a sad one. Many times we see alot of fear here in the Italian people. They are so afraid to mess up or to miss "the mark"..... . . but they dont realize that "the mark" is Jesus. It is like a master deception. . . They are so close to the Light, but instead of going straight to Him, they are broken off into paths that circle around Him.. . Please pray that the people can see the Light, the only Way, the Truth, Jesus the Christ. I am certain God is doing something here with this family. I do have to laugh that that God pulled me into all this with a sweet little puppy! :)

This was taken the day we met our 1st floor neighbors on our walk about Taranto.

ahhhh....Lungo Mare :)

They have for the most part kept this little stretch pretty tidy lately .. . complementi!

Even though we know the dangers of the waters here (all the poisons from L'Ilva), I couldn't help but be refreshed by looking at it this day. . .

We also began visiting Anna Maira again, who had been sick for some time now. However, yesterday when I called her, I learned that she is sick again! Please pray that she can recover quickly!

Another area that God is working is with our students. We are making closer connections them in these past weeks... it seems as if our friendships are growing a little deeper :) Please pray that these relationships can continue to grow so that we can have even more opportunities to share His Light!

One night a couple weeks ago our students took us to go and eat some meat in Martina Franca (a small town that is known for it's meat).

Francesco, Eric, and Luca

This was one of the first times that we have got to really talk with Francesco. He is not one of our students but he is the boyfriend of Federica, my student. Anyways, he actually speaks English really well and it was fun to talk with him in english that night!

Antonella, me, and Federica :)

Luciana, Carmela, Zia Tina, and Monica

This night Eric and I went for pizza with Carmela, Zia Tina, Monica, Laura, and Monica's daughter Fiorenza. When we got to the pizzeria, Carmela told me that her other friends would be coming as well- Luciana and her husband Giuseppe. It was a great night! We really enjoyed getting to know Luciana and Giuseppe. That following week, Luciana came to our apartment for the womens Bible study and Giuseppe met the men at the church for the mens study! They are really interested in learning more about the Bible and having a closer relationship with Christ, especially Giuseppe. Not only have they been coming to the studies, but last Friday for service at the church, we watched the film "the Grace Card " here in Taranto (like we did at Mesagna), and they came and joined us for this as well. It was a really great turn out- Zia Tina, Lucia, little Samanta, Luana and thier mom Madelaina, plus members of the Taranto congregation came. It was a wonderful night together :)

Samanta loved her Sponge Bob coloring book! thanks mom :)

We hope that you are encourgaged when you read about the ways God is moving and working in Itlay. Recently we feel surrounded by opportunites to shine for Him. We are praying for God to give us couragetly we feel surrounded by opportunites to shine for Him. We are praying for God to give us courage and stregnth so that we can be ready for every opportunity He sends our way. He is increasing our confidence daily and providing endless opportunites to show His love to those around us. Thank you for your support and your prayers that allow us to be here in His service in Taranto. We are truly grateful. xoxoxoxxoxoxox

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23

Carnavale

2012-02-20T12:48:00.000-08:00

Who knew sinus infections were so persistent? I waited probably a week before I decided to go to our doctor (mainly because Im not so supportive of his in office smoke sessions), and by this point, the entire left side of my face was clogged and my left ear hadnt popped for 2 whole days. . .it was brutal. When I finally went to the doctor, he wrote me a prescription, we took it immediately to the pharmacy and got it filled. Because I had to take it with dinner, I didnt even glance at the medicine until around 8 that night ...turns out he write me up for amoxicillin- to which I am allergic! Thank goodness I noticed it and didnt take it. I waited until the next morning to return to the doctor's office. Somehow we missed that he wasnt open that day until 6pm that evening, and we already had plans. I didnt end up getting my medicine (I translated what a zpack was for the dr and asked for this instead. ha) until this past tues! craziness. Anyways, all that to say, I am so thankful for medicine! Even after just the first 24 hours of the Zpack, I was already feeling so much better!

This past week we have been planning and getting ready for Laura's Carnavale party. Carnavale in Italy is like Halloween in that, for both holidays, kids get to dress up. However, I would argue that the two holidays are more different than they are alike. Carnavale is basically all the glits and balloons and colors of a carnival/fair combined with an explosive circus- a circus minus the animals-make sense? Its celebrated by huge parades with people dressed in bright colors, adorned with glitter and sparkles, feathers, and beautifully designed masks. Unlike Halloween, the kids get to dress up not only for a one night candy quest, but instead, they dress up for a period of 3 weeks; they wear their costumes to the mall, the grocery store, and around town.

Anyways, the cracks in the past week was filled with efforts to find decorations, make desserts, plan the games, and hope that it would all come together!

Wednesday, Mino came from Latiano to have an English lesson with Eric and to stay for the men's Bible study afterwards. In the mean time, I knew that it was Zia Tina's birthday, but I thought I wouldnt see her until later in the week to give her a small gift and wish her a happy birthday. She called me around noon on that day to tell me that she wanted to surprise us by inviting us to her birthday celebration that night! Eric and I of course already had plans with Mino and the brothers, but I couldnt say no to Zia! We decided it would be best for Eric to stay with the men, and for me to go and celebrate with Zia Tina and the rest of the family. In the mean time, I called my student Antonella and asked if she wanted to go with me to help me pick something out for Zia. We decided on something from Thun. In Italy Thun is a very popular ceramic company that makes figurines and things for the home. Zia Tina loves rings, and I ended up picking out a butterfly shaped ceramic piece to hold her rings!

I think she liked it!

The other uncle and aunt of Carmela- I can never remember their names!! :( Laura and Zia Tina.

While Eric enjoyed pizza with the guys, Zia Tina picked me up around 8pm and we ate at a lovely restaurant/pizzeria across from Ponte Girevole in the center of town.

The Ricciardi Family :)

Zia Tina

JFK on the wall opposite of our table.

I could tell Laura was sleepy this night. Povera!

Marco and Laura

Im not sure, but I think this was a pizza topped with artichokes? In the south artichokes are a big thing! So are leaks and capers, and . . .

Rucola! Which I think translates as Arugula, which is a type of strong green lettuce. This pizza was excellent! A new favorite of mine!

FANTA! another Italian must have. . .

We are so blessed to be a part of Zia Tina and Carmela's family here in Taranto.. . memories and relationships that will last forever. . . .

The next day we organized some more for the party and did some grocery shopping at our favorite supermarket A & O. Later in the evening we left with Fabrizio, Luca, and Andrea to visit the community in Mesagne. The church members organized a film night together! We watched "The Grace Card," if you havent seen it, rent it tonight! It was excellent. There wasnt a dry eye in the building.

Andrea, Mino, and Eric

After the movie we visited and enjoyed some pizza and desserts together :)

Friday I had class with Antonella. We decided to take a trip to Auchan and to speak only in English for the afternoon! When I arrived back at the apartment after our class, I finished up my lesson for the girls for church that evening, while Eric put some finishing touches on his lesson for the evening as well. Vito had called us during lunch and asked if Eric could take care of the lesson for the night because he was feeling ill. Eric presented a wonderful lesson. One of the best parts about our time here in Italy for me is watching my husband grow. Its so obvious to everyone around him, the ways that the Lord is working through him and using him for His will. Eric has been working so diligently with the community here with some of the basic principles of our faith as Christians, and we are starting to see some fruits. I see God illuminating a path for us, and its refreshing and so comforting knowing that we are not doing this work alone. He is certainly guiding us and directing us towards the hearts that are searching.

Say what?

Saturday was the day for the party! We woke up extra early, had our coffee and hit the pavement trying to figure out how we would blow up all of these enormous balloons! Luckily, we didnt have to go too far. Below our apartment and around the corner is a mechanic shop that is always open. We thought we would just pop in and ask if they would help us by using their air pump to blow up some of our balloons.. . . . .no problem!

The man that helped us was so nice. After he finished blowing them up, we took the balloons up to the apartment before heading back out to get the desserts from the pastry shop. We decided to give the men at the mechanic place a plate full of Oreo balls that I had made for the party to say thank you!

Eric decided to blow up a couple more once we got back...

After getting the last minute desserts, pop, and face paint, we came back and ate an early lunch. Then, it was time to DECORATE!

The balloons were basically all of our decorations, with a couple streamers here and there. I think our plan was pretty successful! I couldnt help thinking about the movie "Up." :)

House decorated? check. Desserts ready? check Confetti? check. Games? check. Organized living room? Music play list? photo both created? Check, check, check!!

Laura as an ancient Roman.. . featured here with a mustache. . . :)

I thought it would be fun to create a "photo booth" where the girls could take some silly pictures. We bought a hat and a couple silly masks, while I made these fun mustaches and the angry bird mask (thanks pinterest!). FYI looking at these pictures now, I cant believe I didnt iron the background sheet! oops :/

This is Alessia. She is only 7 years old. Carmela keeps her after school while her parents are at work. She is a sweet little girl. It was good because she and Samanta are the same age.

Samanta! Isnt she the cutest thing ever?! I still wish you could hear her little laugh- its almost like a little shrill! so cute! We were thrilled that she and Luana got to come.

This is Fiorenza. She is one of Laura's friends from school.

Take one all together. . . .

This is my favorite :)

Carmela and Laura

I really wanted to be creative with our costumes, but we were cheap instead! haha. I just got a mask and some feathers to match Eric, because we found him an awesome Zoro hat, mask, and sword. fun! :)

In Italy group line dancing is the most popular party activity. Young, old, teens, they all love it! I was following little Alessia (the ballerina) the whole time!

Please notice Samanta (snow white) . . . :)

1, 2, 3, .... . .. . . GO!!!

I almost didnt even do this game, but last minute, I decided to try it. Apparently Twister is sort of a new thing here in Taranto Italy. I saw the game at Mister Toys last Monday with Carmela, but I decided to make one instead! why not? I had an old table cloth that had a bunch of stains on the front, but on the back was perfectly white. I googled the original twister game to remember how the colors went, dug out my acrylics, and went to town! Then I was trying to figure out what to put underneath it while we played the game because our floors here are marble- I didn't want one of the girls to fall and get hurt. . .when Eric suggested our work-out foam mats! They were the perfect size! It all came together great and the girls loved Twister!

Eric and Carmela trying their turn at Twister.

Laura, Fiorenza, and me.

Fiorenza and Laura

Even though Twister turned out great, this game was even better! Whats funny is, when I first found it online I thought it sounded a little dull, when actually it was hilarious to watch! You have to string up doughnuts (which don't exist here in Taranto without a cream center, but as luck should have it, I found these perfect cookies instead!) from a door way, and the kids have to eat the entire doughnut without using their hands, and without letting any of it drop to the ground before they finish!

Samanta and Alessia

The little girls were the cutest. They kept bobbing after the cookie- Samanta couldnt keep from laughing, and Im not sure that Alessia ever got a bite off of her cookie! haha

Eric making sure non of the girls were using their hands!

Maria Carla, Fiorenza, and Laura

Maria Carla was a pro at this game and finished her cookie before any of the others even had a chance to catch up with her! Carmela had brought 2 prizes fro the night, and because she won this game, Maria Carla took the first prize- a high school musical watch! :)

Maria Carla came a little bit later to the party than the other girls. She was dressed as a princess! Carmela and Laura do a lot with Maria Carla and her mom Carmen. They are actually from The Domincan Republic, but they have lived here in Taranto for several years now.

Samanta decided she wanted a couple more photos! I love this one!!

. . . and this one of us :)

I am so grateful to have met Samanta, Luana, and their mom! we are very hopeful for the possiblities with this family. Please keep them in your prayers :)

The second prize that Carmela brought was for the best costume. All of the girls voted and when I counted them, every single one of them (except Laura who voted for Alessia) voted for Laura! She was SO excited! It was all I had been hearing about all week- "who do you think will get the best costume??" she'd ask. . . and turns out, she won!! :)

We also played musical chairs. . .

The next day, I brought my down stairs neighbor some cookies to apologize for the noise :/ she was very sweet .. . I hope she'll appreciate the Oreo balls!

Laura and Luana

And then there were two. . .

As hard as she tried, Laura couldnt get it together with Twister!

Alessia and Laura

Alessia, Fiorenza, and Maria Carla

One last round before its time to go!

Since recovering from being sick, last week was a really great one. We are getting deeper into our work here and feel so blessed to have all of these opportunities. We are in prayer that God will continue to give us the strength and courage to do His work here in Taranto. We love you all! Thank you for your constant support and love. xoxoxoxox

Oh the possibilities. . .

2012-02-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

Eric and I are officially sick. Really, as soon as we arrived back in Italy the flu bug was making its rounds. We had successfully (up until 2 days ago) kept it's forces at arms length.

Because literally everyone at the church in Taranto has had the flu, the past weeks of January weren't as go go go as usual. However, we do have bits of new and excited news to share. Its probably a blessing in disguise that we have to slow down long enough to recount the going ons around here.

Our second weekend back in Taranto, we were refreshed with the visit of Stefano and Rina Spina. Stefano and Rina were the Italian missionaries who worked and lived in Taranto about 5 or 6 years ago. They stayed in Taranato for some 10 + years?? This number obviously is not exact, but we can conclude that it was a substantial amount of time. Anyways, we had met them previously at the family retreat in Velletri last year, but didnt really get to talk to them much. It was nice this visit to get to know them a little better and to learn more about their experiences with the church here in Taranto.

I believe they arrived on a Friday and stayed until late Sunday night. Stefano spoke Friday night about faith, Saturday about hope, and Sunday morning, he concluded with Love. I actually didn't get to hear him speak because I stayed with the girls in our class, but Eric really enjoyed listening to his ideas.

Eric and Enzo

Sunday after worship we enjoyed Agape together.

All the ladies :)

Me and Anna Maria

The whole Taranto gang + Franco, Anna Maria, and Mino from Latiano

Laura and Guilia (the daughter of Stefano and Rina) with Fabrizio!

Luana, Guilia, Laura, and Samanta

Saturday night instead of having a thrid lesson, we decorated Tshirts instead :)

Speaking of my class with the girls, there is much encouraging news to be told on this subject. First of all, I have occasionally written about Samanta and her sister Luana attending Bible class on Friday evenings with Laura and me. When the girls first began coming to Bible Study it was sporadic and usually just on Friday evenings. Luana is still sometimes here and sometimes not, but now her little sister Samanta brings her mom to church every Friday evening and Sunday morning! I see so many ways that God is working through these girls. Samanta also has been sick (bronchitis) for the past couple of weeks. Finally this past friday she came bouncing through the door with a huge smile on her face. Her mom told us how Samanta couldnt wait to come back to class and see us :) talk about warming your heart!

There are several things that I am working on with the girls. When I first started, we learned several of the parables of Jesus and followed up the stories with activities/crafts. Just before we left for Christmas, I really felt like it was time to introduce some "meat" into the lessons for the older girls. Laura is growing so fast. I was looking at pictures from when we first arrived in Taranto and when I compare the little Laura with the girl I know now, its incredible how much she has grown and changed in just one short year. In May she will be 11 and the thought of her being so close to the teenage years honestly freaks me out a little bit!

Just this Sunday afternoon we were trying on her new Pointe ballet shoes because she is already old enough to start dancing on pointe!

Anyways, all of this to say that I'm consciously trying more and more to make our studies deeper. I really want her to understand that believing in God and becoming a Christian is more than our Sunday school Bible class. Its more than just the stories. I want her to be able to understand and apply it to her life, and I believe that we are at the point where she can.

Laura learning to jump rope.

So, before Christmas we talked alot about the Holy Spirit. She can identify with God and Jesus, but the Holy Spirit was a little difficult for her to understand. We did a couple lessons about the Holy Spirit- which by the way, I want to credit the website-------> : Ministry to Children for all of the wonderful teaching tools, lessons, and crafts that it has supplied me with. It is great! Check it out if your get a chance! After we established the Holy Spirit, we moved onto the fruits of the Spirit. Easing back into our lessons, we are using what we learned before Christmas to connect with our new lessons. I am using a book that I bought while in the states called "God and Me 2." It is exactly what I have been searching for! It has a real life short story with a page of activity questions based on the short story and the Biblical implications of that story. The book is perfect because it starts with lessons concerning the 10 commandments and the importance of obeying Gods commands. But then, it slides into how we need to put God first and the importance of loving Him and others. Anyways, it is a great aide to me and I am so thankful to have found it! The girls are learning the basic principles of our faith, while at the same time, the little stories in this book, put it into a real life situation for them.

While this has been excellent for the older girls (Laura and Luana), I was feeling a little guilty that Samanta wasnt getting a "tailored for her" lesson. (She is 7 while the other girls are 10 & 11). . . . but God had something in store.

Last Sunday afternoon after church we headed to enjoy lunch with the Verardis at their home in Latiano. We enjoyed a fabulous meal (as always) and afterwards began checking online to make sure the train would be on time (there have recently been several strikes going on. The last one was a strike of the semi-trucks which lasted a little over a week. This meant low stock at the grocery stores.). We saw that it was listed and so around 5, off we went to catch the train back into Taranto. Well 10 min passed no train. 30 min later we were calling Luca to cancel our date with to go to the movies. We decided we would wait in Latiano until around 8pm to try and catch the next train.

While waiting on the 5 oclock train I enjoyed the art work :)

In the mean time, a boy named Andrea from Latiano, was having a get together for his birthday at the church in Latiano and had invited us that day to come! We originally had already had plans with the brothers and Carmel's family to go to the movies, but because the train didn't come we were free to go! We took a stroll through the narrow white marble roads of latiano and within 15 minutes reached the church building.We actually have never been inside this church building (Again, the culprit is always lack of transportation.) and knew very little about the community there.

We walked in expecting a few young people. . . and were pleasantly surprised to meet 5 + Mino, Andrea, and Mino's sister Maria and her fiance Salvatore! It was sort of a surreal moment, because for a year now we have been living and working day in and day out with the small community of Taranto , that we really never gave much thought to the other churches in the same vicinity. We would have never guessed that we would meet so many young Christians in one place! They are between the ages of 17 and 26, and they are all from the Latiano area- which is about 40min train ride from central Taranto. Ok so that was part one of God's surprise evening.

Part 2. During the hours while we were waiting for the arrival of the 8pm train, I stepped out of the main room where everyone was, to a kids classroom while I was telling Carmela on the phone everything that had happened with the train. While I was in there, I noticed that they had a bookcase filled with teaching supplies! I have to admit my heart kind of skipped a beat... Bible lessons for kids...already translated into Italian.....Bible coloring pages with Bible verses in Italian....studies on Mark, John, Genesis.....I mean I just kept pulling resource after resource!!

The "studies 'on Mark and Genesis were actually more like workbooks than lessons, but they could still come in handy. The main thing I was interested in was a giant blue plastic briefcase that held lessons for the life of Christ according to the gospel of John. By this point I had already hung up with Carmela and was frantically flipping through all of the different lessons. There are about 30 in all. Each has a story accompanied with a coloring sheet and sometimes a worksheet -again already ALL in Italian!! I could barely control my excitement as I went back into the main room and asked the teens about all I had just uncovered. They were happy to bag it all up for me to take and copy in Taranto as long as they had it back for next Sunday!

Yes God had this surprise planned for us. Although the lessons are actually too young for Laura and Luana, they are perfect for Samanta! I tried out lesson number one this Sunday with Samanta, and it turned out to be a blessing also to Laura. I started class and asked Laura to read Samanta the story (one-Laura speaks Italian, and two- to give some responsibility to Laura). We went through the story and talked a little about it and answered the questions. I could tell Samanta was loving all of the attention and on the flip side that Laura was enjoying the role of being a helper / sort of an older sister figure to Samanta. When we finished the story, Samanta finished her coloring pages, while Laura and I did Laura's lesson. Samanta listens while she colors and so she enjoyed chiming in on our lesson as well.

We both are really overwhelmed by the way we see God working in this city, with the youth, the little girls, the church members, our students...He is everywhere! Not a second goes by that I dont stop and think how lucky we are to be a part of His will here in Taranto.

Luca, Eric, Marco, and Andrea

Waiting on the Latiano crew to arrive!

The good news doesnt stop with the girls.. . . Remember right before we left for America we had the first youth meeting at our apartment? We decided that we want to offer this night for the teens once a month. So this past Sunday after eating with Carmela and her family, we came back to the apartment to set up for the second youth meeting at our house! This time, we invited our new friends from Latiano to come and join us and three of them were able to come; along with some of the teens (and Laura :) from here in Taranto. We had a great turn out and the study went great. Eric is working really diligently with translating the Francis Chan studies (While we were in America, we found study booklets to accompany the Basic videos. He is working to translate these week by week, so we can use them to guide our Bible studies after we watch the video.) and he is doing such an amazing job! We are so excited about this new outreach that God has given us! We have great expectations for this work.

Also.. . . we started our men and women's Bible study last week. Instead of meeting all together on Thursday, we have split the men and women into separate studies. There is something about the environment that changes almost instantly, and we're excited to see where this change will lead us.
Carmela and Enza both came from the church in Taranto. Then, Carmela's aunt Tina and her friend Lucia who we have gotten to know pretty well over the past year, decided to come as well. Zia Tina is Catholic and her friend Lucia doesn't attend any services but she is very eager to learn and understand more about the Bible. Honestly the evening with the women couldn't have went any better.

I will say, though, that I am going to change the study that I was using as a guide. The first night we went by a book called "Experiencing Jesus" by Max Lucado. While I think the over all approach of the book is good, for the women here, it was still too much. I need to start at more basic level and move upwards from there. I originally thought about a Life of Christ study that I have. However, it is a longer study and it has sort of a loose structure. Then I remembered Andy Miller. Thank you Andy Miller! I have already looked over the study and translated some questions in advance for us to review while we study. I think this is going be very beneficial to all of the women as it lays out all of the basics of our faith- and we will be reading them for ourselves during the study! On Sunday, I invited Samanta's mother to come and Carmela invited her friend Carmen to come to our next study. Please pray about this. We are very hopeful that this will be a huge encouragement to the women here. Hopefully they will gain confidence and strength as they delve into His word and discover the plans God has for them. Eric tells me that it went well with the men also. They have started doing the Francis Chan video series too. The first lesson they started was called Fear God. In short, what it means to have a healthy Fear of God. As they move on in the studies they will progress to Following Jesus, then the Holy Spirit, then Fellowship, then teaching, then prayer, then communion. They are excited about the studies and have already had some great disscusions. Aside from the church members that came we also had Giovanni and Giuseppe to attend :) Again, we are very hopeful about the possibilities these studies will provide.

About 2 weeks ago, Eric and I went to meet Enza at the market in Talsano to spend the day with her and eat with the family later that afternoon. I thought you might enjoy seeing how we buy our fruits and veges in southern italy :)

Fish heads anyone?

Giant frozen fish fillets!

I never know which cheese to choose! too many options!

Enza picking us out some fruit for lunch.

I took this one for you Mom :)

After the market, she took us to her parent's house where she grew up and we visited a little with her dad . . . . and her brothers dog :)

Enza making her famous fried chicken cutlets. YUM.

I feel like I have to appologize every time for the long post! I dont realize all the things I need to write about until I actually sit down to do it. Then I realize that maybe I need to post shorter posts more often! ha. Anyways, we hope hat you are encouraged by the work that God is doing here in Taranto. Please continue for God to use us here and to strengthen and encourage the members of the Taranto church. We love you and miss you all very much! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Welcome to Taranto!

2012-01-19T05:25:00.000-08:00

We love Taranto.

I don't know when this moment happened exactly, but somewhere along the way, we have fallen for this city and its people. Taranto- how we have grown to love you. You are not pretty to gaze upon, nor are you a refreshing cool breeze. You have so many difficulties piled all around you, but somehow, we feel connected to you in a way we have never experienced before.

This time when we returned to the states, it was obviously wonderful to get to squeeze my moma!! and spend time with all of our family and friends . . . and puppies :) However I can also be truthful in saying that I also felt kind of misplaced...a little off beat in some ways.

It wasnt really until this past week since returning back to Taranto that I realized that in more ways than expected, this has become our new "normal". Against all odds, everything that has come up against us since moving here, rather than pushing us away, has instead drawn us nearer and captured our hearts. Our love has grown so much for these people and we truly appreciate the strength that they have to find joy here in this city. It is a beautiful thing that we are forever grateful to have had the opportunity to witness.

ok before I get to America I wanted to include a couple snapshots of our Taranto Thanksgiving!

Angela, me, and Andrea

It was SO nice of Angela and Andrea to come down and help us! Those girls peeled potatoes from sun up to sun down, literally. Poor Andrea didnt even get to see Taranto! I really dont know what we would have done without them!

Federica's mom, Federica, Franceso, and Loredana

Federica is our new Italian tutor/friend. She is in her last year of high school and is pretty much fluent in English. If you have been reading the blog for awhile, you will rememer my friend/student Clizia from Florence. Federica reminds me a lot of Clizia. I cant help but think that God sent her our way as a sweet blessing :) Francesco and Loredana are our friends from Grottaglia. It was really great to get to see them also!

Luca, Antonella, Federica, and Francesco

Some of Taranto students! Luca is our student who is a lawyer. He has been so great to help us with all of the legal aspects of the car accident.

Monica, Carmela, me, and Zia Tina.

All in all Thanksgiving went great. The two turkeys were cooked all the way through- both came out nice and tender-the mashed potatoes were great and so were the desserts. (We made apple, pecan, and pumpkin pies.) Almost all of the church members were able to come, plus some of our friends and students! We really couldn't have asked for a better day :)

Before we left for America, Laura and I set up the Ricciardi family Christmas tree. .

. . . while celebrating her dad Enzo's birthday!

Laura, Luanna, and Samanta. . . The girls and I studied about the fruits of the spirit!

As of the past few months, Luanna and Samanta have been coming pretty regularly to our Bible studies on Friday eveings. This past Sunday, they even made it to sunday morning worship! This is such an encouragement to me, and I am happy that Laura has someone else in class with her as well. They are all doing really good with our lessons and memory verses each week. I guess I have to admit I am pretty proud of them. :) I bought a couple little "devo" books for girls their ages while in the states and I am excited to translate these and send them home with the girls each week. If they complete the activity and reading, they earn another star on our Star chart in the room. So far this "system" is working pretty good. We also are extremely thankful and excited to receive the new curriculum that West Side has purchased for us to use!!! We can't wait to get it in the mail and to start using it!! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Please continue to pray for these young girls that they can understand all of the love God has for them and that they will decide to follow Him.

We also went and supported Laura at her jazz dance competition!

Carmela and me

Zia Tina, me, another of Carmela's aunts, Carmela, and Laura

Just days before departure, we visited and had our first of the month lunch date together!

Mino, Marco, Andrea, Fabrizio, Luca, Eric, and Pier Francesco

Also, just before leaving we had our first youth devotional at our apartment. If you heard Eric speak while we were in for the Holidays, this is the one he was referring to. It went SO GREAT! 5 out of 6 of the teens boys came, as well as little Laura, Mino from Latiano, and our Italian tutor/friend Federica! There are too many things to list about this for which we are so thankful and so excited! It feels like the wheels are finally rolling, not just inching along but rolling! :) Please continue to keep these youth in your prayers as well! We plan on having at least one of these devotionals per month. We cant wait until the next one. .

Ahhhh...... AMERICA!

What an absolutely wonderful feeling to be home for the holidays this year!

CAUTION From here down I will be talking about our trip home to America. Much of what is written below describes how thankful we are for our friends and family back home. I'm aware that not everyone wants to read all of these details, so I am telling you up front, feel free to scroll through and just look at the photos! :) There are many things that I include in this blog just for personal reasons, many times just to remember how we felt in certain moments or about certain people. Memories we will cherish. Anyways, feel free to skim some of this blog post and enjoy the photos! Just make sure not to miss our note to all of you below- (I made it in red.)

Is this what you would call relaxing???

As most of you already know, our schedule was a little bit packed in the beginning. The first weekend that we arrived, we drove down to my home town of Danville West Virginia. We had planned to spend the first two weeks of our stay visiting all of the churches that support us. In West Virginia we have one in RockCreek and another in Danville.

Mandie, Aunt Penny, Eric, Carlie and Katie (Mandie's sisters- my younger cousins), and mom

We came and stayed Saturday and Sunday evening in Charleston with my cousin Mandie, her husband Jon, and their newborn Baylie! I hadn't realized it, but this was my first time back in West Virginia since before Eric and I were married over 5 and 1/2 years ago now! Meaning, I haven't seen Katie since she was about 6 years old. I remember rocking her to sleep as a baby! crazy. It was good to remember some things from from the small town I grew up in and even better to see my family.

Jon and baby Baylie

Opening gifts :)

If you look closely you can see Carlie with her rain stick that she wanted for Christmas! I have to admit it was pretty neat!

Me and Eric, Wayne and Sandra, Mom and Dad, and Aunt Penny

Eric's first of 4 presentations was Sunday morning at RockCreek! Our family goes way back with Wayne and Sandra. They are life long friends of my parents, and growing up we always went to Myrtle Beach together. It was really great to see them and cut up together like old times.

Carlie and Katie inside their Bumper Balls!

Afterwards, Carlie and Katie tried out one of their favorite gifts from mom and dad- their body bumper balls! No one had ever heard of these things, but I think Carlie had seen them on TV? I'm not sure, but no worries, mom found them! It was hilarious to watch the girls run and bump into each other with these things!

That evening Eric spoke for his second time at Danville COC where I grew up as a little girl. The congregation there was so welcoming and loving. We are very much appreciative of their support to this ministry here in Taranto!

Aunt Pen, me, and mom

After church service, on our last night, we went and visited again with Aunt P at her new apartment! She had made home made cheesecake that was to die for. Honestly, I've never tasted anything this good! Thanks again Aunt P! After enjoying our cheese cake, we did some crocheting while watching some really old home videos of my great Aunt Arnie, that Aunt P had helped her to transfer to a DVD. It was really neat to see everyone so young and full of life. There wasn't any sound, but to see the way they lived back then, even their clothes... it was really cool. I had such a wonderful time that night being with my family. love you!

Dad and Gene

(Even though they really aren't, Hannie and I like to pretend that Gene and his wife Donnie are our grandparents! love you guys! )

After returning from WV, we had only a few days before we would fly out to Arkansas to visit some there, and so we decided to have our fund raiser at mom and dad's house somewhere in between these days. We are so fortunate to have had so many people who came and supported us that night. We couldn't do this work without all of you! Thank you!!

me and my high school friend Donna

YOU MADE THE BLOG! :) It was so wonderful to see you! Thank you for you support and love as a friend. We had such a great time visiting and playing Euchre with you and Nick :) We're looking forward to seeing you in September!!

Ida, mom, Donnie, and Stephanie

The scarves look great ladies!

Starbucks with my sis!

Before we knew it we were off to Arkansas! Finally time to see my sissy!! She even surprised me by picking me up at the airport with one of my best friends from college Jessica Rutledge (now Sasak). I was so happy to see her that I didn't even stop to think about taking a picture!! :( She looked so radiantly happy, it really lifted my spirits to see her and to remember what a wonderful blessing she has been in my life. Love you Jess!

Lisa and her scarf I made her! :)

If you remember.....before we left for Italy, we had a two week training program in Searcy. Eric and I stayed with my mom's childhood friend from WV Lisa and her family. We got to know them so well over that time, that we couldnt wait to see them and catch up this time! It was so fun to spend the week together. Eric and I feel so blessed to have so many "families" all over the world because of Avanti Italia! Thank you Lisa for being such a support and blessing in my life. I will always think of you as we strive to "transfer the life" here in Italy. Love you!

Andrew, Eric, me, and Deedee

Our first night in Searcy we got to see even more of our close friends! Standing there looking at Deedee I couldnt believe that over a year had passed sinced we said goodbye! She looked absolutely amazing and so beautiful. Since we left she has completed her PA program and is now working in Orthopedics as well as in the emergency room! Way to go Deeds! I knew you could do it! You are amazing!!! I am so incredibly blessed by her friendship. She makes me wish Taranto and Searcy were a lot closer together! I miss you my dear friend.

Our Highway heart group family!

Beth had facebooked me before we left Taranto and told me that she had this idea to get everyone from our heart group together to see each other while we were in Arkansas! My sweet friend Lindsay even drove all the way from Van Buren to be there with us! It was such a comforting feeling to return to this type of support and love!!

The following eveing Eric spoke at Cabot COC, which I would call our home church. It was the first church that we really felt connected to as a whole, not just with a small group of friends that we found there, but with the church as a body. Stepping through the doors, again, it felt as if no time had passed. We saw all of the same smiling faces and were encouraged by the same loving people. Again, another "family" that we are so blessed to have and be a part of. Eric spoke that Wednesday night in the auditorium and he did a fantastic job. Again, we were so happy just to be there and to see everyone, that I didnt take any pictures! :( This is my only regret.

After church we were delighted when Charlie and Barbara asked us to go and get an ice cream together at Mc Donalds. We have really missed them so much and it was such a treat to get to spend some quality time together with them. What a fresh breath of air they are to us. We love you guys!

Throughout the week we were happy to get to visit with the missions committee of West Side at the Allen's home. Another sweet encounter was getting invited to the Woodroofs for dinner. Eric always enjoys talking to Jim so much, I know this was a highlight of his trip. It was great to hug them and see them face to face- especially since this time it was in America :) That Sunday morning we attended West Side COC and Sunday evening we went to Highway with Mike and Lisa.

Thank you to all of you who support this work in Italy. Whether it be with prayers, love, by monetary means, THANK YOU. Thank you for allowing us to be useful in this service for the kingdom. Thank you for your encouragement and love that gives us strength everyday while we are here in Taranto.

May God bless each of you for your willingness to believe in this work and your help that makes it grow. We love all of you so very much.

"Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints." Philemon 1:7

Before we knew it, it was time to return to Ohio for our remaining time in the states!

Marie and me

Of course one of the things we did while in the states was. . .

to squeeze our baby girls!!!

Me and Hannie

Hannie is 5 years younger than me and is currently in the second semester of her sophmore year at Harding. It was really fun for me to get to see her with all of her friends at school. This time, I really saw many of the ways that she is growing up. Its crazy to think that she will soon be out of college...and then I guess I will have to admit that she is a grown up?! not just my little sister?! Im so proud of the young Christian woman she is becoming, and thankful that she is my sister! The gift of a sister is something that one can't explain...other than to say that it is a life long gift of complete love and understanding. We are different in so many ways, but yet, we are the same . . .

simply because we are sisters.

[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]

BY E. E. CUMMINGS

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Sisters enjoying some light holiday shopping?? YES!

Hannie, me, and Moma

I can't remember where we were going here, but if you'll look closely. . . .

Minnie is all buckled up and ready to go!

Meet Gracie. Over Christmas break Hannie helped out some of our family's friends by watching their 3 dogs for a couple of days! One of which is Gracie. I was definitley frightened at first, but she really thinks that she is just a little lap dog! I had to watch out though because when she would get excited and start swinging her tail back and forth it didn't feel so great when you got hit! haha. I'm excited to go and see her the next time we come home :)

While I enjoyed some fun girlie activities, Eric enjoyed and Ohio State B-ball game with his dad!!

Thanks again mom for finding the tickets!

Merry Christmas!

Love- Eric, Jessica, Marie, and Minnie

Take 2

this one might be my favorite. . .

Christmas Eve is always spent at the Smiths house in Lancaster! All of the grand kids are about to search for the stockings with grandpaw!

The Girls

Ashley, me, Christi, Stephanie, and Angie

The Smith's

Stephanie, Eric, Steve, Nate, and Angie

Eric and his mom and dad

Love this picture :)

Grant, Trenton, Kilynn, and Taylor

Cant forget about the kiddos!!

Me and Eric

We had a lovely time with Eric's family. We always enjoy when we can all be together at the same time! It really does make us miss home!

The girls went CRAZY for their Christmas toys!

Eric, Hannie and me Christmas morning :)

YUM.

Mom and Aunt P

Aunt Penny came for Christmas too!

I love when I catch Marie doing this. .. too cute!

Board Games anyone?

Aunt P learning to play Clue!

Dad, me, and Marie.

Nice glasses Dad :)

Yes, you saw right. Marie likes to stay snuggled up like this when we play board games! haha.

Eric and our girls in their holiday sweaters!

Eric, Stephanie, Taylor, Kilynn, and me

One night after Christmas we met up with Stephanie and the kids for Genjis!

Hannie, Taylor, Kilynn, Minnie and Marie

Naturally the girls spent the night with me and Hannah at my parents house, while Eric took the boys for a sleepover at his sister Stephanie's house. After Genjis we came back and made bracelets, drank hot chocolate, and watched Mr. Popper's Penguins- which btw was so cute!

The next morning, we got up and made sugar cookies!

It was really great to get to spend time with my nieces!

Minnie

. . . Just some pictures of the girls :) . . .

Marie

Minnie

Marie

Minnie and Marie enjoying the sun on a cold winter's day.

Eric and me with our last Starbucks in the Charlotte Airport in NC.

We had such a wonderful trip home . We really could not have asked for anything more special. Thank you again to all of our family and friends back home who are praying for us and supporting us here in Taranto. We love you all so very much! xoxoxoxox

filling in the gaps.. .

2011-11-21T09:15:00.000-08:00

It has almost already been a month since the accident and we are continuing to move forward.

We have experienced a period of blessings and are happily returning to our work here.

Sometimes when we reflect on all that has happened, it feels sort of as if we have been in a small time warp. The first weeks following the accident I was unable to move and do anything normally, and eric stayed busy by tirelessly taking care of me. Now I believe we are in the middle the healing phase. I say the middle because while moving about is easier, making plans that involve getting on the highway is still not something we (or maybe more I) have yet to conquer. However, we are confident that God is with us! Each day He brings us more and more joy... He is our confidence.

"But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength. . . The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom." 2 Timothy 4:17-18

I wanted to get a post into you asap because Wednesday Angela and Andrea will arrive from Florence to stay the weekend with us! Before the accident we had already made plans to have a Thanksgiving feast for the members of the church here, as well as our students and friends. We eventually had to place a limit on the invitees for several reasons: space, funds, man power....etc. As of today, our grand total is approximately 40 people! We are so thankful that Angela and Andrea are coming to help! I especially am a little nervous about the responsibility of the turkey. . . . . but God brought me to it and He will bring me through it! :) The menu includes: turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, corn, green beans + desserts: apple pie, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie.

We also wanted to fill you in on some happenings before and after the accident.

One such happening was having the members of the church over for Sunday lunch!

Me and Carmela getting things started.

We did this in two separate Sundays. The first Sunday was in October with Carmela's family, and Anna Maria and her brother Bruno.

Carmela's oldest son Marco and Eric

I LOVE THEM!!

I gave the camera to Laura for the afternoon- I think she did a pretty good job!

Bruno and Enzo

Eric and Marco

Pasta for the first plate . . .

. . . Chocolate chip cookies to finish it off :)

Next, in November we had Franco and Enza's family and Ninetta over for lunch.

Ninetta and me :)

Simone, Andrea, Eric and Franco

Also before the accident, we spent alot of time with Carmela furniture shopping. She wants to redo her living room and dinning room. Their design sense is really interesting to me, especially for the living room furniture. Above is something like what Carmela decided on purchasing. I guess it would be equivalent to our entertainment sets? What was so interesting is that basically all the stores offer this type of furniture. There are several colors and combinations on how you can choose the above furniture. For example, you see this in the store and you sit down with an employee from the store and explain in detail how you would like the final product to be. Maybe you dont want the glass cases up top, so they switch them to solid wood. Maybe you want two column cabinets instead of just the one of the left and you want two doors instead of 3...they can do that too. You can tell them the height, width, wood color... basically design it yourself, and they calculate the costs. Interesting. Ill have to update you when Carmela's pieces arrive in January :)

One really sad outcome of the wreck was not being able to host a Halloween party for Laura and her school friends :( we were SO excited about this. However, we were blessed on the behalf of my mom and the post office. I had originally called my mom and asked her to send a few things that would be fun for the party such as jello, koolaid, candy corn, Halloween cupcakes... things that are unheard of to them, and it arrived the day of the party! Because I wasnt able to organize and do all that we wanted ( we had all kinds of fun games, desserts, activities) we were at least able to make the cupcakes, koolaid, and jello and take it over to Carmela's. They loved the candy corn and the cupcakes, but they were a little nervous about the jello. :) I have to admit it was a little strange for me to see it again as well!

Laura and her hand made Joseph's colorful coat!

Mine and Laura's Bible classes are going GREAT!

I really feel like we are getting plugged into the Word. We are starting to dig in a little deeper into the foundations of our faith and I am excited and proud of her as we are studying together. I love this little girl so much! On top of all of this good news, we have had some visitors in our Friday night Bible class! There is a man named Nicola who comes only to the Friday night study. For the past few weeks he has began bringing her sister along, who in turn, has been bringing her two sweet daughters! I have to admit to you, teaching class with these three girls on Friday is the highlight of my week!

As girls often do, these three had a case of the giggles last Friday night!

Samantha, Laura, and Luanna

Italian! haha. A couple of times I got a little off track (like on Thessalonians- in italian sounds like. . . tess-ah-loan-ah-chezi! ), but now, they have sang it enough that they are really getting it! Samantha is especially cute! I will have to film her for you this friday so you can really know what Im talking about- 100 % happy and excited all the time! l cant explain how happy she gets- its honestly contagious. Anyways, I believe this group of kiddos to be a big blessing to me during this time and I am thankful!

Out for pizza with the brothers...isnt this a great picture of them?

Eric and me at our favorite pizza place in Taranto! yum!

After pizza we returned to our apartment to surprise Luca with an ice cream cake we made for him!

Eric is organizing a some get-togethers with the boys and the brothers. They will meet all together the 4th of December to talk about things they would like to do together and studies they would like to try. Its important just to get the teens together. Especially here in the south, the teens feel in many ways removed from the larger groups of christian teens in the north. We are searching for some things to inspire them and help them to grow. Eric is doing a great job at encouraging these young men. Please pray about these efforts.

Yesterday afternoon we ate in Talsano with Franco and Enza and their family. Afterwards, we went for a walk with the boys, Andrea and Francesco, to catch up on Francesco's trip to Vicenza. We are really pulling for Francesco. He has a lot decisions to make in these upcoming months. Please join us and pray for God to strengthen him, guide him, and protect him.

We also stopped and visited their brother Simone who was at work.

Later that evening, we went for a movie night at Ninetta's! She is quickly becoming one of my favorite ladies...Eric and I always enjoy visiting with her, and it was during our last visit that Eric had the idea to have a movie night with her! She was excited, I could tell. We invited the brothers and their mom Adele also. We had already said that we would bring the popcorn and the movie and assured her that there was nothing that she needed to cook or prepare....of course when we got there, she had home made focaccia, fruit, cake prepared! Im telling you, there is no stopping this lady when it comes to food and hospitality! :)

Eric makes the best popcorn, and I separated it into ziplocks for each of us. The ladies thought the zip locks were neat. (they dont have them here) It was sweet though because Ninetta insisted on pouring hers onto a small plate and eating it at the table before the movie :)

The boys!

The night was a great time together. Anytime we come together, we know He is with us, and it feels great. This is what its about- relationships. Its the love we have among us that keeps us going and inspired to share it! These people will forever be in our hearts. Over the past year, they have become a family to us. Each day that passes we are more and more amazed of God's power and perfect love ...and this is why we are here. To share His free gift of love! We hope our letters are encouraging to you when you read about the work God is providing us.Thank you for all of your many prayers!

We love you! xoxoxoxo

"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously though Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:4-7

Update

2011-11-09T12:40:00.000-08:00

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust God; trust also in me." John 14:1

I will admit that I have in more ways than one been putting off this blog post, because it requires an analysis of what has happened over the past two weeks.

Let me just say that I will not go into detail about the accident itself, other than to proclaim the positives that are so readily flowing out of it.

First we are humbled. We are thankful. Thankful to be alive and well. Thankful to have a God that loves us enough to save us, physically and spiritually. Thankful for His mercy, and His grace, and His promise of life everlasting.

I will tell you that during the accident I was fully aware of everything that was happening, and I remember thinking, we're going to die. This is it. Im not ready! I dont want to die! God please save us! The scary truth is that we are here as missionaries to these people, proclaiming the good news. We are in service for His kingdom. . . and I wasnt ready to stand before Him that Monday afternoon. Even now admitting this to you my hands are trembling at the thought of what so easily could have been. But at the same time, we are strong because, all facts considered, we should have died that day but we didn't. There was nothing we could have done to save ourselves. There is nothing that says, it was probable that we came out fine the way that we did; the only explanation that I can exclaim to you is that HE SAVED US.

We like to imagine it as if his hands were around our tiny tin car. Carefully placing us in safety.

There are so many ways in which I know He was with us. For me, I can tell you that I was speaking perfect Italian in the ambulance and the hospital. I was understanding everything that was happening and being said to me.. . We were able to have this strength and calmness ...and it wasnt because of any ability that we ourselves had stored away, it was in fact just the opposite. During all of this, I realized just how powerless I am (humanly speaking), but because He was with me every step, it was His strength that was moving through me.

The event has been etched into our minds. One half of me is trying to forget it, but the other half is keeping it always in front of my eyes... we are trying to forget the terror we felt..., but the strength and the joy that He has provided us (which outweighs all of the trauma) I am keeping in the front of my mind. We've witnessed a miracle! Who wants to forget that? There is so much peace that has came from this happening, I dare to say we count it as a blessing.

Thank you, everyone, so much for all of your thoughts and prayers! We have been thinking about all of you and this has been such an encouragement to us! My stitches are healing quickly and we are easing back into life here in Taranto :) Keep us and the work here in Taranto in your prayers. vi vogliamo bene!

. . . A Time to Dance . . .

2011-10-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

These past two weeks, I am happy to report to you that we have experienced a joy and peace that we know has been sent from the Lord. Thank you for praying for us and the situations that we find ourselves in here in Taranto. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:7

Ta-Da!

Because the weeks in September were a little complicated and I didnt get to post about the happenings outside of the confusion, there are a couple of them that I want to share with you before I begin to tell you about the past two weeks. One of which is introducing you to our blue fiat panda!

size ratio :)

I especially like the plaid seats! By the way, almost all of the cars here in Italy are manual. Its a good thing eric and I both already knew how to drive them!

Again, thank you so much for supporting us to purchase this vehicle. It has been a blessing in SO many more ways than I know how to express to you! Thank you thank you thank you! :)

Inside Bulletin Board

Another small "catch up" is some new plans Eric and I have been making. One of which was to pay some attention to organizing the bulletin boards inside and outside of the church building. We decided to design this one as more of an interactive board. There is a weekly Bible verse, a calendar, an encouraging idea/thought for the week, a space for prayer requests, and lastly a spot to pick up weekly Bible lessons that Eric has been preparing for the congregation here. There is a great need for the members here to become more involved in searching and studying the Bible. Eric and I are trying to really help encourage the fundamentals of our faith as Christians with the congregation here in Taranto. One way we thought that we could approach this need, was to offer personal Bible studies to the members. Eric has been reading a new book of Jim Woodroof that is about grace and the Beatitudes. It is really helping him as he is putting together the the "take home" Bible studies. The focus will be understanding the fundamentals of our faith.

Cinzia and Onofio

The last detail is getting to know our new members! Cinzia and Onofio were baptized this summer and began attending worship with us in Taranto at the end of September. They actually live in Bari which is a good hour, hour and fifteen minutes drive, from Taranto. A few Saturdays ago, Eric, Fabrizio, and I drove there to visit them in Bari. They are a sweet couple and we are excited to get to know them better in the months ahead.

Carmela, Monica, Lucia, and Aunt Tina

Ok starting from three weeks ago, October 1st to be exact, Carmela invited me to join her and her girlfriends for a girls night out around Taranto. I had met Monica before when she came to one of the potlucks at church with Carmela. Her daughter Fiorenza is friends with Laura. Next is Lucia. She is a friend of Aunt Tina. I first met her one evening while we were at Carmela's house.

Fiorenza and Laura

Also, during the weeks of September, we went with Carmela and Laura to see The Smurfs movie in 3D (like the one on Firoenza's shirt). It was so cute. I wasn't aware of this until I came to Italy, I guess I just assumed that movies translate the titles literally, and that names such as "smurfs" would remain the same. However, the titles change dramatically .. . you will never guess what The Smurfs are called in Italian....i Puffi! Lately, I have been lucky to have the opportunity to spend more time with Laura and Carmela. I feel as if we are family- especially with little Laura. What a sweet blessing she is to us here in Taranto :)

The restaurant where we went that night is famous for its long flat bread pizza. Everyone orders what type they would like and it comes out on a long serving tray like this one above. You can't tell from the picture, but the pizza is actually sitting on little blocks on top of the table. It was really good, I was impressed.

Monica and Lucia

I am really thankful to have the opportunity to have some women friends. After eating pizza together, we decided to take a walk along Lungo Mare (After meeting together to have dinner, it is typical here in Italy to take walks around the city and enjoy each others company. When friends get together, they spend the entire evenings together. I think I arrived back at our apartment around midnight. Its so different from our western culture of an hour and a half lunch date, isnt it?) I got to talking with Monica, and it turns out that she was really interested in learning English! So, we set up to meet the following Tuesday and we had our first English class. She is so eager to learn that we have scheduled to meet twice a week. This is going to be an interesting friendship and I am excited to see what unfolds. Please keep her and her daughter in your prayers.

The next morning Eric gave the message at worship. Again, he spoke about the fundamentals of being a Christian. He did an excellent job. :) Afterwards, we had lunch at the home of Franco and Enza. Later that evening Fabrizio, Luca, and their mom, Adele, came over to check our translation for the Thursday night video devo. Afterwards, we went and got pizza together, and ended the evening by watching a movie at our apartment together.

Monday morning,we had planned to make a run to Auchan to get some some things we needed for the upcoming week (now that we have the car, we can go to the superstore Auchan! Another bonus of having a car.). On the way there, we passed this park! From the road, it didnt look like much, but we noticed that there were several joggers coming in and out of it. Because of Taranto's pollution, there isn't much greenery around so, when we walked in, we were in complete surprise! Italy has oodles of this type of Pine trees, and I love them. It felt like we were in a completely different city. It was very clean and well kept. There was what I guess you would call, a track that went around the area of the park, where people were walking and jogging. There were also lots of little stations - some for picnics, some for kids to play, there was even a spot for a gazebo! All of this to say,it was a really nice surprise to find this green get-away in the pines.

Me and Eric.

The wind from the sea was blowing like crazy that day!

The far end of the park that led to the sea.

Before . . .

Another new approach to our work here in Taranto, was to create a schedule. Aside from our students, the kids school, creating lessons, visiting with members..etc, we decided to allot one morning a week to be at the church building. We wish that we could be there more, but the church does not have a phone or Internet. The Internet is very much needed for us while we create our lessons, do emails, blog, etc. Anyways, this first Wednesday at the church building, we decided to take on the outside windows. What I mean is that we re-designed them! It was sort of intimidating to design something to "represent" the church. After we thought about it for a while, we asked ourselves, what is the most important thing that people need to know when they approach this "new" church? (to an approximate 90 % Catholic population, Christianity -meaning.. only following the Bible and Jesus Christ... is something new, and unknown here in Italy) We decided on the Greatest commandments. We wrote Matthew 22:37-40 on the first board (pictured below), and this Wednesday we will complete the second board with the scripture 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. The members seemed to like to first board. We are excited for this new project.

. . . After!

Sorry for the terrible glare! :(

While we were in Florence in September, Robbie (the director of the HUF program), gave us a number of a young girl he knows (and her family), who lives here in Taranto! Later that evening after we finished up with the window, we met up with her and her dad for a coffee. Her name is Federica and she is 17 years old. She was such a breath of fresh air! She attends a private school here in Taranto that specializes in languages. I am assuming that she does speak English, although, we spoke Italian that night. She said she would be happy to ask her friends if any of them would be interested in English lessons with us! On the flip side, she also has offered to give us Italian lessons once a week! I am excited about this. When we first started school, I have to admit that the school part didn't help me as much as I had originally thought it would. We were so busy at the Bible School, and living in Florence, where everyone speaks English, that at times it was hard to practice and really understand the language. However, since we have moved to Taranto, we have learned it so much more quickly! We laugh when we tell others that it was probably because we knew if we didnt, we wouldnt be able to survive! ha. This is a prime example of a blessing in disguise. Anyways, all of that to say, we are finally at the point with our Italian that I feel like critiquing and perfecting it is useful. We understand enough of the language now that we will be able to ask questions and work on learning new vocabulary, and pronunciation. We meet with Federica for our first lesson this Wednesday!

This picture just makes me laugh.

It makes me feel as if we are part of a star wars episode or something :)

The next day was Thursday. Before film night at our apartment, I got up early to go to the beach for a couple of hours with my student Antonella, then we enjoyed lunch with Anna Maria and Bruno, and afterwards I met again with Monica for our second English class of the week while Eric met with Andrea. For the film night, I baked a yellow cake from scratch from Debbie's recipe, and topped it with homemade chocolate icing. Debbie if you are reading this, it was a hit. Eric did a great job leading the lesson, and we had some good conversations.

While we were in America this past June, I tried to pick up little things for Laura as I saw them, things that I know she's never seen that Italy doesn't have, or just little things that little girls like. For example, stickers, things by Hello Kitty, pop rocks, ring pops, crafts etc.. . one of these things were these glow in the dark bracelets that I found at the dollar store. After our study on Thursday, I was thinking what to bring out for Laura (as sometimes its hard for her to be the only kid in the mix) and I picked the bracelets. Luckily, I brought back two packs because, I was just pulling out one for her when all of the sudden everyone was wanting one! ha. Hence the star war photo above.

We decided to get creative with our light show!

We had a good time laughing and enjoying our bracelets! 2 dollars well spent.

Carmela, Laura, me, and Enza

Andrea, Luca, Fabrizio, Eric, and Franco

The guys on the left are yelling Taratino slang "ma c'è weh?!" Slang for "but what do you want?!"

Just showing off our glow bracelets!

Carmela and me

Luca, Fabrizo and Eric

Oh silly boys!

Me and Ninetta

After going to Laura's school, we went to visit and have lunch with Ninetta. Each time we go and visit her, we get to know her a little better. She lives a very simple life, but one that is dependent on the Lord. She is 85 years old and insists on having us for lunch! After lunch, she always loads us up with left overs to take home with us, pasta, meat, fruit and desert! This past time, we had a really good visit about what it means to follow the Lord and be a Christian. She lost her husband some 5 years ago and always talks about him and how she wishes that they would have went together. For me, when I talk to her, its a reminder of how short this life really is, and how important it is to remember who and what we are living for. Many times she will say to me how she is ready to be with the Lord, and how she wonders when her time will come. But when she says it, she says it with a slight hence of frustration because she wants to be with Him now. Possibly more than you were interested in knowing about her, but just pray for her. She is a dedicated woman to the Lord, and we are thankful to have met her and to be a part of her life. Just before we were leaving she had an idea, and zoomed off to her bedroom where she called for us, saying she said something she wanted to give me. It was a ring of hers. She looked at me and Eric and told us,"I've loved you both since the first moment I saw you. I love you both as if you were my own kids." I tried to control myself as I felt tears in my eyes- I felt beside myself, completely humbled. At first of course I tried to ask her if she was sure, that it was such a nice gesture! But she just insisted and kept a great big smile on her face. . . wow.

Later that evening we had evening Bible study at the church, and afterwards, Eric and I met up with my students Antonella and Federica for Chinese food! Im sorry to say I forgot the camera :( But we had a good time and it was fun to try a Chinese place here in Italy. It wasnt the same really, but the rice was good, and they had soy sauce- which in Itlay is really expensive- about 7.5 dollars for one small bottle!

Saturday night, we spent with Enzo,Carmela, Laura, Aunt Tina, and Lucia. Carmela invited us over for her homemade panzerotti! (they are like hot pockets) This time I thought Eric had the camera, and he thought I had the camera...in the end, no one had the camera! :( Just trust me and know that the panzerotti were amazing :) Afterwards, we ended up having a very interesting conversation. Aunt Tina is a practicing Catholic, but she is a very open-minded person. Her friend Lucia, from what I could gather was raised Catholic, but is unsatisfied with religion in general. I can't remember how we got started talking, but Lucia brought something up about religion or the Bible. Anyways, Lucia had many questions about life and suffering, and of the purpose of our lives here on earth in general. We talked about many things, and in the end, we (eric and I) talked about the importance of going to the Bible to find the answers to life's questions. I really enjoyed talking to the women. That night when we had finished our conversation, I mentioned having a ladies Bible study, just the 4 of us. The ladies seemed interested.I am in the process of organizing ideas to find a good Bible study to start. Any ideas, or studies that you know of are much welcomed! Eric also just met with Fabrizio and Andrea last night and discussed the idea of them meeting for a time to study and even learn new songs together. We believe that this can/will be a very positive force.

We got up early the next morning before church- I, to finish baking sugar cookies to take to Fabrizio and Luca's after church, and Eric to go and pick up Anna Maria and bring her to church. Usually, Fabrizio and Luca would pick up their mom, Ninetta, and Anna Maria. Now that we have the car, Eric has been participating as Anna Maria's new chauffeur!

The weather here is finally cooling down. We are so thankful for this cool breeze in the air! I know Im getting ahead of myself, since its not even Halloween yet, but sugar cookies just sounded good!

Eric, Ninetta, and Adele at Luca and Fabrizio's apartment.

Fabrizio was our cook for the afternoon!

He made Pasta Carbonara!

Ninetta and Fabrizio

Luca and Eric making a strange face :)

It was so nice of the brothers to have us over for lunch! We appreciate them so much.

After our English lessons in the day, Laura and Carmela met us at our apartment to decorate Tshirts! I dont know about you, but when I was little, my grandma and I did this for almost every holiday! I didn't tell Laura what we would be doing until she got there and her face was priceless! She was SO excited! Before she came, I found some pictures online of things she likes, such as Hello Kitty, Hannah Montana, stars, hearts, flowers, music...etc for her to look at and copy onto her shirt. Notice the first thing she wrote: Hannah Montana!

After we finished, Laura took my camera and decided it was time for . . .

. . . . Dress up/ Picture Time!!!

These rings were one of the things I had bought in America for Laura- they came in handy for dress-up!

I don't remember the inspiration here :)

Look at her!

Sweet!

Why not scarves?!

Laura kept trying to tell us to be serious..this was as close as we got!

Laura was getting picture happy here! haha.

Cute!

Ta-da! The finished products!

Ermenita and Me

The next morning, Wednesday, Eric and I took off for a short visit to Florence. When we were there in September buying the car, we were not able to finish the process because we didnt have our Italian "Identity Card." Once we returned back to Taranto, we did the necessary paperwork to obtain the card, and booked a three day trip back to Florence to finish up the paperwork. We arrived into Scandicci around 5 pm that evening. Eric had already made plans with his student Behzad to attend a conference and go to dinner together. I, on the other hand, spent some girl time, catching up with Ermenita.

The Duomo at night. . .lovely.

The next morning, we left the Bible school around 8 that morning and set off to finish up the paperwork with David. It took us a while to find the right offices, but eventually we were successful! Afterwards, David dropped us off in the center of Florence where Eric and I enoyed some fresh air and the beauty of Florence in the fall together.

Piazza della Signoria

Angela and Kelli

After a couple of hours of enjoying Florence, we took bus number 17 and met the rest of the gang for lunch at a pizza place close to the church.

Ponte alle Carraia

After lunch, I went back into town, while Eric and Peter went to the Scandicci fair.

Ermenita and Lisa

A few hours later, we met back again at the church for English conversation class and the Thursday night Bible study. I had class with Lisa. She is 5 years old now. I know that we have only known her since last September, but it seems like she has/is growing up so much!

Thursday night Bible Study.

After lunch on Friday, we began preparations for the Bible School's American cooking night!

On the menu was scalloped potatoes and stuffed hamburgers! YUM.

Laura preparing the veggies to go into the burger.

By 4:30pm we were basically set. There were still a few preparations to be made, but I had made plans with Clizia to meet at Piazza Matteoti downtown Scandicci to hang out together!

Peppers? Olives? or Garlic anyone?

I can never say enough how much I love Clizia! I feel like we are sisters in many ways. It is always such a breath of fresh air when we get to be together. I am so thankful for our friendship! We had a few hours to get to hang out before time for the cooking school at 8pm, so we started by exploring the Scandicci Fair together.

We tasted this parmesean and it was magnificent!

Look at the colors!

I cant remember specifically, but this pottery is from southern Italy. In fact, living in Taranto, we see it alot. The Scandicci Fair happens every year here in the fall. It is huge! I only took pictures of the food parts, but in reality, the fair itself is massive. There was furniture, clothing, art, jewelery, food, anything you can imagine, it was there. Clizia told me this time that the different booths represent many of the different regions around Italy, and what each region is known for.

Monica

After awhile, we got a little chilly and decided to head back to Clizia's house to drink some hot chocolate before the cooking school :) Above is Clizia's mom Monica in their living room. I love their house. Her dad is a sculptor, as was her grandpa. They also have many artist friends. Naturally then, their house is full of what I like to think of as treasures. ha. The sculpture to the left of Monica was done by her grandfather.

Monica, Me, and Clizia

I miss them already :(

After we stayed for a while at Clizia's house, we went to the Bible School! It was so neat! It was like we were a part of a real cooking show! We had already prepared the food in advance, as well as the food that Debbie would demo with. This time David set up a microphone system so that Debbie could just say what she needed and the because the speakers were in the kitchen where we stayed, we could immediately bring her whatever she needed. Anyways, it made it feel like a professional show to me!

Checking the recipies!

Peter, Erme, and Kelli

And then came dessert!

Debbie, Erme, and Laura

Great job girls!

Clizia!!

Its funny every time we see each other, we both bring a little something for each other. . not on purpose, it just happens that way. This time, I brought her a scarf that I had made for her!

She loves this color :)

. . . And she had made me these fabulous bracelets!

This picture is a little awkward, but I was trying to model the bracelets!

Monica, Me, and Clizia

One last hug until the next time.

Here is Kelli with her first student! Its hard to belive that a whole year has passed since we had our very first students at the Bible School. . .

Aerial View of Puglia

After cleaning up and saying our goodbyes, we were up and out of the Bible School at 6 am that next morning (Saturday).

We were greeted in Brindisi by our favorite couple of brothers :)

These past two weeks have been filled with many new opportunites and plans for the next two months. We are planing some activites with our students for this month, and next month we have the youth retreat in Aprilia, followed by a possible men's retreat in Prato. The last week of November, we are planning to have a Thanksgiving dinner here for our students and the church members. PLEASE pray for us as we attempt to take on this opportunity. I am a little intimidated, but the good news is that Angela is coming down to help cook and be an extra hand! Thank you Angela! We are excited for the upcoming weeks and are always thankful for your support and love back home. By the way, if you have any American recipies, I could use them. . . you can email me at jefaislart@yahoo.com

Love you all! xoxoxoxoxoxox

The simplest answer is to act.

2011-10-04T02:34:00.000-07:00

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.1 cori 13:4-8

Love never fails.

In these days we have been experiencing what I can only describe to you as technical difficulties.

The last weeks of September following the family retreat in Florence, were composed of meeting some not so pleasant realities.

There were several days when we were grieved and distraught..but mostly what we felt was confusion.

After confronting such issues, we ourselves were faced with making some tough decisions. We prayed, sought God, sat still. . . and sat disturbed. Finally one day, I was listening to a study. It always seems to happen this way, that when I am distraught and searching, God speaks to me through media such as He did this day with this particular study. The entire time I was aware thinking to myself, "yes, I need to hear this. Yes, this is true. Yes. Yes. Yes." It was one verse however that really summed everything up for me and that was 1 Corinthians 14:33 which says, "God is not the author of confusion but of peace."
During this entire period of September, we felt so lost. So confused. There were points when I even felt sick of myself . Do you know what I'm talking about? You yourself know, for example,that you need to get over something, but you cant let it go. and instead of doing what you need to do, let it go, give to God, your human spirit wants to understand. I don't know about you, but for me this is my mountain that I circle around and around throughout my life. When I heard this verse, "God is not the author of confusion but of peace," i found at that moment that I could have the strength to let it go. Not that I was giving up on something, but that i could release myself from this worry and confusion. The speaker in this study was saying that its normal for us sometimes to want to understand, sometimes even to ask why? but once we cross into confusion, it means we have gone to far. We are not being led by the spirit at that point. It becomes a game of reasoning, which again is not from God.

Its funny really to see how perfect and wise God is. There was one even morning when I woke up in the middle of the night singing, "Trust and Obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

All of this being said, I want to tell you, there are so many things now that I thought that I had understood when we first took off on this adventure, that now I am left instead, with sort of a foggy understanding. However, the things that I am understanding now, things such as peace, patience, kindness.. what it means to be content, and it means to die to self. . . I am confident to to tell you, they outweigh the things that I thought I knew in the beginning.

I don't know that we will ever fully understand the power of God that brought us here to this city and these people. I'm not sure that I ll ever understand the ways that He is using us here, but what He is at the moment causing me to understand is that, if i NEVER understand, its ok. Because my God is bigger, stronger, and greater than my capacity to understand. Eric and I are learning that maybe our goals here, the scope of it all, is not what we thought it would be, but that our purpose remains. Our purpose has been, is, and always will be love.

No matter what our situation is, the simplest answer is to act with love. to be love. to remain in His love.

. . . It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails . . .

When you read this post, understand that yes we are experiencing some difficulty, but mainly that we are rejoicing with this new found spirit of peace and joy in the Lord. That we are understanding what it feels like to rely on His power, His wisdom, and His timing.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 cori 4:16-18

Our new outlook is fresh and ready to move forward. We have many new projects, plans, and retreats that are coming up in these remaining months before we will be home to all of you in December. Please continue to keep us and the work God is doing here in your prayers. We love you all very much.

Happenings in and around Florence

2011-09-13T05:35:00.000-07:00

Eric, Andrea, and Pier Francesco

Already September?? cannot. believe. it. Rewind a few weeks ago, we left Taranto early in the am hours with Andrea and Pier Francesco to arrive in the afternoon later that day in Florence for the yearly family retreat. The plane ride to Pisa went smoothly, we boarded the train to florence, and finally the new tram via into scandicci where Kyle and Ryan picked us up from the last stop.

The weather in Scandicci was such a cool relief from the humidity in Taranto! It was a treat to be back in Tuscany.

It was a really great turn out. There were Christians from all over Italy, Roma, Naples, Aprilia, Catania...

I even got to see Andrea who just moved to Ferrara to work with the church there a few months ago!

Eric chatting with the boys :)

The retreat started officially Wednesday evening and concluded with Sunday morning worship at the Florence Church of Christ.

I actually didnt hear alot of the discussions and classes that were being held because most of the time, I stayed upstairs with Ermenita and Angela helping with the kids class. They were so much fun!

Attention Cabot Church of Christ!. . especially Emily and Clay Madar... remember when back during Christmas time when you prepared us a wonderful Christmas package that accidently got sent to Asia?? Well, we want to let you know that the "accident" was very helpful during this years family retreat with the kids class! We used everything that was in the box that was meant for Asia but came to us instead. It was such a blessing! The kids had a blast with all of the little toys especially! Thank you guys so much! :)

Our last day of class...arent they cute?!

Me and Rosanna from Aprilia.

Simona, Giacomo, and Erme

All of the kiddos :)

If memory serves me right, I believe it was Friday that we all went to a near by park and enjoyed the day together! This park was amazing. I was shocked at how big it was and all of the activities we could choose from. Although, lots of the women, including myself, picked a big tree to lie under on a blanket and read or chat with a friend.

Some of the activities included sand volleyball . . .

. . . and soccer.

I was content staying with the girls on the side lines :)

Laura, Alina, Simona, and Daniela

Arent they beautiful?

Also there was a really nice pool that you could go to that was inside the park as well- although it was a little pricey. Eric and I didnt go inside but we went over later in the afternoon for an espresso with Kyle and Angela. Afterwards, Eric and I took a walk around the park, and discovered there were also beaches that you could pay to use as well as water activities such as wind surfing! I believe I can say that we all were very thankful for what a beautiful day God had blessed us with.

This is a family who has been attending the church in Florence for some time now. We were happy that they were able to make it to the retreat as well!

At the very end we had a talent show. There were many talented acts! Alina sang a song on her guitar, and Luca sang, "Country Roads" by John Denver! (By the way, Italians LOVE this song. Makes me proud to be born in WV :) Andrea Ricciardi did a monologue from the movie "La Vita Bella", there was a magic act, a piano performance, karate, and even a Japanese warrior dance. I think it was around midnight when the show was finally finished!

One of the nights, (they are running together now in my mind), I was surprised to see Danielle and Luli with little Arbon walk through the door!! I couldnt believe how big he was! This was our first time to get to see him, because when we were in Florence three months ago Arbon had just been born and was being kept for jaundice in the hospital, no visitors allowed :( Anyways, HE IS PERFECT!

Danielle thinks he looks just like Luli, but I can see a lot of her in this little face too! I kept saying to Arbon, "the last time I saw you, you were just a little bean!" Isnt God amazing??! It was so wonderful to get to see our friends and to meet this new beautiful addition to their family.

The family retreat could not have had a sweeter ending. Just before service began that Sunday morning, we also were overjoyed to witness the baptism of Monica, a friend of Vivianna and Fabio. She came and was a part of the family retreat and decided that she was ready to be baptized! We are all so happy for to have her as our new sister in Christ!

Alfredo, Monica, and Franco

After the retreat was finished, Eric and I still had some unfinished business to attend to before our flight back to Taranto... a vespa adventure! Before we even left for the retreat, we received a text from Kyle inviting us on a vespa ride throught the Tuscan hillside to celebrate his 29th birthday the Monday following the retreat! Eric and I had already planned to stay two days extra to visit our students, so we were waaayyy excited to join. Talk about a great idea. We picked the Vespas up from the top of San Gimignano and set off to ride for a town called Volterra.

This was our fist pit stop after our take off, just to make sure everyone was still alive. haha Actually the night before Kyle met Eric, Angela, Peter, and me infront of the Bible School to do some test runs. I have to admit I was a little shaky nervous at fist, but it was SO much fun! I think the trick is just to relax and lean with the scooter. I definitely can understand why people have them- they are easy to ride, park, and just fun. I dont think I would ever buy one, but I would definitely rent one again for a day.

EMILY! She on the other hand, has already informed everyone that she is in search of one to buy while she is living in Arkansas! She was a natural :)

In total, there were 16 of us who rode with Kyle that day for his birthday. It was such a beautiful ride. We rode only the country roads and so we got to see all of the scenery along the way. The picture above is when we finally reached Volterra.

Locking up the Vespas.

This as Eric's and my first time in Volterra and we were impressed. It reminded me alot of San Gimignano. Small, mid evil, Tuscan, perfect. After lunch we stopped in to see this baptistery and sang a couple of hymns in English and in Italian.

Eric, Kyle, Peter, Ermenita, Laura and Ryan

I didnt know this before, but apparently Volterra is known for its Alabaster. There were several shops packed with alabaster pieces as well as lots of marble pieces as well.

After our lunch break at Volterra, it was time to head back up to San Gimignano.

Rounding the curve...

Eric and Me

Orignially, Eric and I were going to just rent one Vespa and share it because of the money, which is what Ryan and Laura did as well. However, when we showed up to take the vespas out for the day, Angela told me that she wanted to rent one for Laura and I to share in between riding with our husbands! This way Laura and I would have a chance to ride by ourselves as well! Thank you Angela! I took the first half to ride by myself, and then on the second half, I rode on the back of Eric while Laura took her turn on the Vespa by herself. What a sweet friend :)

Debbie and Ermenita choose to rent the convertible for the day! Looking good girls :)

Our last stop before returning to San Gimignano was this old open air abbey in San Galgano. It isnt very well known because it is out in the middle of nowhere, but it was worth the stop if you ask me.

Another view.

What a blessing it was to be able to enjoy a day like this one. Ive said this before, but Im always amazed when I think about what it would have been like to not get this opportunity to serve here in Italy. The people that we have met here have changed our lives forever. And not only the Italians, but also our team members. There are so many challenges that we have had to face as a team and as individuals, and we are stronger because of them. We also have this amazing opportunity to spread Gods light on a daily basis together as foreigners in this country. We have a bond and memories that we will cherish forever. For this we are so truely grateful.

Shoes in the San Lorenzo market downtown Florence

The next day was Tuesday August 30, our last day in Florence before our flight south.

Eric and I took a stroll around the city and enjoyed some time together. Later in the afternoon Eric met up with his student Alessandro for coffee in Scandicci and caught up. Much later that evening Eric also got to meet up with another one of his students, Behzad. They had some really great talks and I know that Eric was so grateful to get to see them and spend some quality time with them while we were in Florence.

Emily saying goodbye to Ciccio! (pronounced chee-cho)

During the retreat, we became aware that it was Emily's last week in Italy before her time was up here in Italy with the Avanti program. Im not really sure what started our wheels turning thinking about this, but all of the sudden we thought to ourselves....should we think about buying her car?!

Emily's car is a blue Fiat Panda 2002 that she had named Ciccio. At this point in Taranto, Eric and I were becoming weary of not having transportation. It was difficult making plans and getting things accomplished, but also, it made it almost impossible to organize things with the youth ( and other visitations) because there was never enough transportation. We were a little hesitant because of the funding it would require, but we decided to go ahead with it!

Thank you so much for your support West Side Church of Christ!!

One of the main reasons we felt comfortable was that we would be purchasing it from our American friends. :)The original plan was for Kyle and Ryan to drive it down to Taranto for us the weekend after we were to leave Florence because Kyle (Kyle is Robbie Shackelford's assisent at HUF) had to do some scouting in southern italy for the new students this fall anyway. However, the paperwork and the insurance wasnt complete by the time they would have to leave, and at first we thought that we would just buy another ticket to return to Florence and finish the job asap. It was the morning we were supposed to take off and it seemed obvious that it would be more simple to just stay in Florence, finish up what we needed to with the car and then just drive the car back down to Taranto. This way we would be saving money that we would have payed for another trip to come back and finish everything. We are so thankful for all of the help David gave us with transferring the title, insurance and lots of other minor details.

Sonia and Emily

Because we were staying a little longer, we found out that Emily would be taking a trip to Ferrarato visit the church and friends there before her departure for the states, and she, Andrea, and Luca invited us to tag along! We left around 3 pm in the afternoon on that Thursday, the 1st of September. We arrived that evening to enjoy pizza with the church members followed by evening service.

Before service started the members wanted to present Emily with a couple of gifts :) The first one was a photo of the city of Ferrara. . .

and the second one was this T-shirt! :)

Also before service started I finally got to meet Daniela's mom!! I dont know if you remember, but Daniela was one of the first people I met and became friends with here in Italy. She and her family are actually from Moldavia- a country in between Romania and the Ukraine. Anyways, I have learned that the family moved here initially for work, and later because Daniela's younger sister has a heart condition that can be better treated here in Italy. Daniela is very special to me. One of those relationships that I was referring to above that have changed me forever. She is only 17 but she is so strong in her faith. Last time we were together, she was telling me about how difficult it was to be a young christian here in Italy because the youth is so few here and the culture is so different. She compared this reality with how strong the church is in her home country. She said that they have churches with 3 and 4 hundred people. She talked about her recent trip home to Moldavia this summer and how wonderful it was to go to church camp there and be surrounded with all of her young christian friends. What really struck me was when she continued on by telling me how all of her friends ask her when she will return home and why she wants to stay in Italy. She told me, I believe that God wants me here in Italy because he can use me here to help with the churches here. They are so small here and I believe that God will use me. She is a light in my life. I wish you could meet her.

Luca's mom, Christian, and Eric

Service that night in Ferrara was a singing service! Emily had translated and helped translate about 12 songs during her stay here in Italy. She had the great idea to type them all up and make booklets of the new songs to pass out to the different churches! They love all of the new songs!

Irene and Alina (Daniela's younger sister)

Daniela, Andrea, and Sara (Luca's sister)

Andrea, Daniela, Emily, Me, and Sonia

I love this picture of all of us together!

Girls just want to have fun!...no matter what country you are in! :)

The next day before we had to leave later in the evening, we got up early and went to explore the city of Ferrara.

Ferrara is called the city of bicycles because there are bicycles EVERYWHERE! What a cute little city it was! Its always really interesting to me how diverse Italy is depending on the region. When you compare Taranto, Florence, Rome, and Ferrara, they are all SO different.

Andrea, Me, Eric, Luca, and Alina

We were taking our stroll through the city when before I realized what was going on Luca had bought me this T-shirt! Now, there isnt a real Hard Rock in Ferrara, instead I love that it reminds me of our friends there:)

This picture just makes me laugh. It was taken while we were visiting the Cathedral of Ferrara.

By the way Dr Keller, I read that the bell tower of this Cathedral is attributed to Alberti...is this right?? Sorry its a bad photo, the bell tower is in the back right.

Daniela and me dancing the afternoon away :)

More bicycles.

Look closely at this door bell. The top bell is for "Cucina" which means the kitchen and the second is written as "Paradiso"..heaven?? We were all itching to ring it, but none of us would, I guess we will never know. . .

After a great visit with Andrea, Luca, Daniela, Alina and all of our friends in Ferrara, it was time to head back to Scandicci. That evening the Bible School had planned a special going away dinner for Emily. It was really great to all be together and to enjoy the evening with Emily.

Of course Zoe was in attendance as well :)

The next day was Saturday. I didnt think I was going to be able to see my student/friend Clizia this trip because just as I was supposed to leave that Wednesday, she would be arriving back to Italy from her trip to the America (strange sequence of events ha.). However, since we got to stay a little longer, we were able to meet! Saturday we scheduled to meet around 11 am and head into Florence to spend the day together. As always, we had a blast and picked up right where we left off the last time! I am so grateful we got to spend the day together.

The next morning was a surprise farewell get together at the church for Emily!

Renata, Clizia, and Roberta were in attendance!

. . . as well as Rosa and her husband Felice!

Mario and Nancy

Roberta was so sweet. She couldnt stop crying! We miss you already Emily!

Kyle with Danielle and Arbon

Look at that smile!!

Later that evening after church and the following the potluck lunch, I was thrilled to be invited to hang out with Clizia again at her house! She was having some girl friends of hers over to her house to do nails and create some pretty cool henna tattoos! I stayed with them the whole evening chatting and really enjoying our time together. Another light in my life. I love this girl! I cant wait to see what God has in store for her. Pray for her and our studies together. She is very special and I can see God working in our friendship.

Marco and Eric

The next day, we persuaded Marco to take a train from Vicenza to come and visit Emily before she had to leave on Thursday the 8th. He could only stay for Monday and had to leave late the next morning. Monday after lunch Emily had some paperwork she had to finish up to take Zoe overseas with her, and so Eric and I got to spend some time in Florence with Marco!

Here we are inside the Cathedral of Florence: Santa Maria del Fiore. We were walking into the piazza of the Duomo when Marco asked us, can you climb to the top of the Duomo? As soon as the words left our mouths that you could, he responded: I want to do that! so we headed over to the entrance, paid our fees, and started our climb!

Finally after about 20 minutes of climbing, we reached the top! How beautiful is this city?!

Absolutely breathtaking.

Eric and Marco.

Kelli and her welcome cake made by Debbie :)

After climbing to the top of the Duomo and back down again, and getting a quick gelato fix from Grom, we had to rush back to Scandicci to meet the others at Gallos for dinner. At Gallos we had a special guest! Kelli Click. Kelli is the new AI worker who arrived that day during the afternoon. She went to Harding and is from Texas. We went into town with her the night before Eric and I left and I got a chance to get to know her a little better. She is a really sweet girl and has a strong desire to serve the Lord. We got along really well and I was sad to have to say goodbye so soon! However, I am excited to see what all God has in store for her and for her work here in Italy.

Emily, Erme, Zoe, and Peter

The next day was Kelli's first day of language school and after a big American breakfast with pancakes and bacon, the rest of us headed into town with Marco.

Zoe is always a crowd pleaser wherever she goes!

After taking another spin around the center of Florence before Marco had to leave on his train,we stopped again at Grom for a gelato.

This little girl was so cute. She is British and when we asked where her dad was she responded like,

"I fink he is in the Q." Q meaning the line for gelato. I wish we could have chatted with her a little longer. She and her accent were adorable!

The picture above was taken I think monday the 5th...this was at the end of a long day of driving in Italian traffic, standing in lines, and not having the right identification cards to proceed. ...etc. Too much to tell, other than to say, paperwork and documentation in Italy is never an easy job. By the end of it all we ended up having to stay an entire extra week in Florence. We departed with the car on Thursday morning the 8th of September. Not that we minded staying, it was definitely a blessing in more ways than one.

We finished up purchasing the insurance, transferring the title, there was only one thing that we are lacking and its a little booklet that goes with your car. However to obtain this booklet, we needed to have what is called an "Identity Card." To get this identity card, we have to be in Taranto because this is where we are residents. All of this to say, we will be returning in October again to Florence to finalize everything with that Idenity Card. :/

It was obvious to Eric and I that God was keeping us there in Florence for several reasons other than just the car. Getting to spend more time to see our friends, students, meeting Kelli, and even gaining a little wisdom from the Woodroofs were all some of the ways God was/is illuminating some things to us. Right now we ask that you would please keep us in your prayers especially during this time. Please pray that we can know and understand God's will for us here and that His plan will be very clear to us. We are always thankful for the opportunities that are in front of us and for your support back home.

We love you and miss you.

Fun in the Sun!

2011-09-09T00:37:00.000-07:00

*FYI I started this blog post almost three weeks ago before we left for Florence, and I didnt get to post it before we left. We were planning on staying in Florence for only 1 week, but instead stayed 2. I will get you caught up to speed in the next post asap! For now, enjoy the happenings of almost a month ago!

Carmela 2011

Well, after Angela and Arnold left, we were back on the move again! Remember when I wote about that Saturday that we took to rest and how I spent it painting a pitcure? Ta-da! Here it is! Sorry the photo of it isnt that great. To tell the whole story, about a month ago, I broke the flash on my camera- honestly, I dont even know how it happened, other than somehow I knocked it good with my right hand. Boh. Anyways, I waited too late in the evening to take a picture of the painting before I gave it to Carmela Thursday night, and without a flash, the photo came out a little blurry. Anyways, she really loved it and it made me happy to be painting again.

Its funny how God knows just what we need and when we need it. Another confession, even though we felt so close to Italy before we left for the states, returning, I found myself enduring a long stage of what I guess was/is culture shock again. Inevitable I suppose. I felt down, tired, hot (its been over 100 degress almost every day here) and just unmotivated. Looking back on these two weeks, im remembering what our friend Jim said to us last year when we were trying to sell our house and it felt like we were running out of time with a no win situation ahead. He said to us in an email one day, "Its always darkest just before the dawn." These past two weeks I personally have been struggling alot living here in Taranto, and I was just about at what felt like "my emotional limit", when God stepped in. The blessings that he poured out on us over these past two weeks have been incredible- and I even found myself a little surprised...We always try to pray even when we are feeling down or discouraged that His perfect Will will be done, and His work will be done even if we are tired or weary- and we never doubt this- we dont worry about His plans succeding or His Spirit being fruitfull, but sometimes we, or more I, forget that he also will replenish us when we seek Him.

These past two weeks have been a time of rest, fun, and what felt like the hand of God moving us along as we enjoyed some of His blessings. What an incredible reality to be a child of God.

Eric, Sergio, and Luca (Eric's student)

the week started off with Tuesday- Eric had class with Jon, then we met to go to Ninetta's house for lunch where we enjoyed a massive lunch :) and she surprised me with two cotton dresses that she said she saw in a store and thought of me, and so she bought them! When we were finished, like every other time, she also made sure to send us home with left overs, fruit, and dessert! She is one sweet lady. This past time, somehow we got to talking about pets, and she mentioned that she would like to have a Chihuahua! Its actually really sad because she is very afraid to be on her own. Her husband passed a few years ago, and now she lives alone. Since the passing of her husband, she has been mugged 6 times! Every time in broad daylight. She said, a few times, the muggers even followed her up the steps inside her apt building and stopped her in the stairwell.. I cant imagine such a thing. Now she only goes out in the mornings. Eric and I have been talking about how fun it would be to find her a small dog to give her constant company..and maybe even a little bit stronger sense of security...a small dog that likes to bark.

Later that evening, I had my second class with Sara. She is such a smart girl. we had some great discussions and I am excited to keep studying with her. The next day, Wednesday, Luca came over in the morning and helped us finish up translating for Thursday. While Angela and Arnold were here, we found out that they had brought back a bunch of Dr Pepper. Luca loved Dr Pepper when he was visiting in the states, and it is not found here in Italy. Seeing as how Luca has helped us so much with these videos, we asked Angela and Arnold if we have a Dr Pepper to give to Luca on Wednesday. Wow, was he surprised! haha. The look on his face was priceless :) Thanks Angela and Arnold! That evening, we made plans to go out with our students (who happen to be together, my student Antonella is with Eric's student Luca). It was great to finally get together! We ate at a meat place close to San Vito (along the coast)- yum. In Italy, they have what are called "Bombette"which are pieces of meat usually rolled into a ball wrapped with bacon. They are so good! We also got to meet Luca's brother Sergio. After dinner, we headed back to Taranto and enjoyed some Icies on Lungo Mare.

Thursday evening we had our Nooma get together at our house, and had a guest vistor- Aunt Tina! Aunt Tina is the aunt of Carmela who we see often and have grown quite fond of :) In fact, the next day, we all went to the beach together- Eric and I, Aunt Tina, Carmela and Laura, and Carmela's friend Carme and her daughter Maria Carla who are from the Domincan Republic. I havent got the whole story yet on why they are here, but they have been living here in Taranto for about 10 years now. We are getting to know them pretty well also because they are such good friends with Carmela and little Laura. I guess you could say that we went to the beach a lot these past weeks, because, we went again for the afternoon on Saturday with the brothers and their mom Adele! I think it is the heat that is pushing us all into the sea.. .

Joelle, Pier Francesco, Fabrizio, Viktor, Eric, Luca and Andrea

Our plans for Sunday after church? You guessed it...the beach! Remember when we took the improvised trip to Roma a few weeks back to visit Joelle and Viktor? Well, Friday the 12th of August, they came south for a visit! They stayed with the Verardi family in Latiano, but we made plans to meet up with them in Brindisi Sunday evening with the brothers and Adele. This Sunday in particular was a special night in Italy. August 15 is called Ferragosto. Im not exactly sure of all the details, but it is a day of appreciation for the Madonna, and its basically a national holiday. Anyways, the a lot of youth of southern Italy, as well as some families, spend the night on the beach. People bring tents, BBQ grills, lights, music, and camp out- and at midnight everyone lines up on the beach and jumps into the sea!

Luca and Eric

Boys will be boys :)

Despite all of the crowds, it actually was a really beautiful evening. It wasnt too hot, and there was a nice cool breeze that stayed along the coast.

Eric and I as well as the brothers and Adele, didnt stay the night on the beach like the others, but after having fun together, instead returned back to Taranto just before midnight.

The next morning, we were up and at the bus stop around 8am to catch number 8 to the train station in Old Town. Where, like every other time, we would catch the train to Latiano where we would get off to meet the Verardi's...or so we thought. We kept circling the station looking for the time for the ticket we bought for the train heading towards Brindisi. It wasnt posted anywhere. Finally, its after the departure time and its our turn at the front desk, when we learn that because of the holiday, instead of a train departing for Latiano, it was a bus... that left 10 min ago. However, everything turned out ok. The brothers were able to come and take us from the station to Grottaglie where Franco and his brother met us and took us the rest of the way to Franco's parents villa in the country side of Latiano. Last time we were here was for mother's day, remember? This time it was Franco's birthday! Again, the whole family was present, as well as the family of Franco's wife, Anna Maria. It was a great day of feasting and celebrating with the Verardi's and we were thankful to be a part of it. :)

Franco's Parents

The next day, Tuesday, was full of baking cookies, translating, classes, and meeting new friends later in the evening. It felt good to have the video completed early in the afternoon for the Thursday devo and afterwards we enjoyed a nice visit with Fabrizio and Luca.

Later that evening, we had made plans to go and eat dinner with some friends of our students Luca and Antonella, at their summer villa. The couple who was hosting the dinner party was very nice.Interestingly enough, he turned out to be a female basketball coach, while she was a high school italian teacher, who studied English in college and spoke very well. The dinner was almost American in that it was pot-luck style! This was why I had been baking cookies all day :) We enjoyed rice and breads and meat cooked on the grill. Besides Eric and I and our students Antonella and Luca, I would say that there were probably about 10 other guests at the villa that night. It is always fun to meet new people and start new friendships. They were of course very intrigued about us living in Puglia to work with the churches and teach English. Antonella was so funny- she kept trying to get her friends to start classes with us! I told her she was the best agent I have ever had :) I also was especially excited for Eric that night because turns out that almost all of the men that night said that they like to play basketball! (which is rare here in Italy, being that soccer is the most popular sport here.) There was one man in particular who invited Eric to play with them in the fall. Apparently they meet as a team once or twice a week and play throughout the fall season like Eric did while we were living in Arkansas. We enjoyed the evening together very much and are excited to see where these new friendships will lead. Our students are very sweet and I think they like the idea of sort of taking care of us while we are here in Puglia. :)

(Left to Right) Laura, Enzo, me, Carmela, and Aunt Tina

This picture makes me laugh. Eric and I were supposed to be at Carmela's house at 10 am that next morning to leave together for the pool. I was late and we were trying to hurry to get there, when I tripped (wearing flip flops) and bloodied up my big toe in the middle of the road! No time to stop! we kept hurrying until we arrived! Anyways, here is Enzo and Carmela bandaging up my big toe- I think this qualifies us as family officially. :)

This day was probably one of the most fun/relaxing days we have had here in Taranto. Just another little blessing :) Carmela invited Eric and I to go with her, Laura, Aunt Tina, Carme, and Maria Carla to a "pool." We were thinking yeah! a pool sounds great! something different for a change from the usual beaches. However, it wasnt until when we got there, that we realized how much cooler it was than just a regular pool!

Laura and Maria Carla

We got a little lost on the way there. The pool was 4 km right outside of a town called Crispiano. It was strange because, when we finally found it, it was literally in the middle of no where! Complete country side.

Entering in... we later found out that the pool is connected with a hotel facility (to the left). Carmela, Eric, and I went to scope it out, and it was so beautiful on the inside. Really nice and really relaxing.

Here is the "pool!" I dont know about you, but this is one of the best pools I have seen in a long time! what a treat! the water was so nice and cold, and the chairs and umbrellas were free to use! They also had a space where picnic tables and chairs were provided to use for lunch. And of course, there also was a Cafe bar that included Gelato. All of it was great. So. Much. Fun.

Maria Carla and Laura

Like most swimming parks/pools, there was a half for adults and one for kiddos. I have no idea how many times the girls went down these slides- but boy did they have a blast!

This slide was what I guess you would call an intermediate level slide?? :) All of us went down and it was fun. I took this picture above of Eric and the girls. We stayed until 5 that evening when we set out to return back to Taranto. It was an hour drive and I wanted to be back in time before my 6 :30 pm class with Sara. By the way, I cant remember if i already said this, but we are studying the Life of Christ together. She is really eager to learn what the Bible says, so i thought it was most important to start with Jesus! Please keep our studies in your prayers. I am excited to see how God will work in this area :)

After class with Sara, we met up with the brothers to go into the old city again. This would be our last chance to see Eric's student Jon's art gallery because the next week we would be in Florence for the family retreat. this time we went in with directions. we found the galleries easy enough and visited with Jon for a little. Later, we found a band of the brother of Fabrizios friend Grazia, where we stayed and enjoyed the music for awhile.

Friday morning Eric and I went out for an excursion to Auchan. We waited for the bus for over an hour until I went in and asked someone advice for a different bus we could take. They werent surprised that we had waited that long and advised us to take bus number 8 instead, get off on Via M. Greccia, and then take another bus from there where we were told there would be several options- and in fact there were. We hadnt waited 2 minutes when number 29 came around the corner and we hopped on to finally arrive at Auchan. (remember Auchan is like our Walmart...sort of). I have to tell you that spending the day in Auchan was like a date for us. It was so much fun. Like I said Auchan is like a Walmart, but its different for many reasons. One of which is that it is inside what is like a shopping mall. So before we even entered into Auchan for food items, we were able to look into other little shops inside the mall part. We even got to enjoy McDonalds for lunch! Obviously, I can look back on these 11 months that we have been here and write about many ways that we have changed and grew, things we have learned, new relationships, but right now, I just want to say how much Eric and I have grown together in our marriage. It is so neat to get to watch your spouse grow spiritually and to experience these hard times and growth spells together. When we get to have time just the two of us, I really really appreciate it so much now. Its a treat to get to be together and again, we are thankful for times like these, little moments of peace and joy together. Again, looking back on these past two weeks, I can see how clearly God blessed us with several of these little moments and I am reminded of the time Jesus compared earthly fathers to out Heavenly Father. When he said, "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:11

Anna Maria 2011

We had church that evening and afterwards we went for a pizza and gelato with Fabrizio and Luca. Saturday turned into a uneventful day and I was able to finish the portrait I had started of Anna Maria. Before she had left for the mountains three weeks ago, she had asked me if I would paint her portrait, of course I was delighted to! I really wanted to get it finished for her before she returned from her trip.

Sunday Laura and I always have class together..here she is putting up her memory verse for the week :) Later that evening we spent time with Carmela , Enzo and Laura at another one of Carmela's aunts beach villa enjoying conversation and of course gelato!

The next morning, they invied us to go with them to the beach again! This was a new beach that we had never been to before called "Gira Sole" which means sunflower. This beach is ctually more rocks, but viewing it is absolutely beautiful and the water as always was so clear and blue.

At one point throughout the day, we took a walk along the rocks and look what we found! Fresh sea salt everywhere!!

I really wanted to taste it, but I was too chicken.

Eric climbing on the rocks!

As stated above, we have A LOT to fill you in on concerning our stay in Florence. We just arrived back to Taranto yesterday evening, so I am working as quickly as possible to get the new post ready :) Also, please pray for us during this time. We are at some crssroads and need prayers for wisdom and discernment. Please pray that God will make his will be VERY clearly known to us. We love you all and are always grateful for the opportunity to be here in His service.