In so many ways, we wish we could be on a plane tomorrow! We feel so ready that the waiting has been the most difficult aspect of this month. We would even say it has been a challenge to stay "ready" with so many days still ahead of us in the States. Some of you may be wondering why we haven't left earlier. . . well, Italy pretty much shuts down in August. That is when everyone goes on Holiday. If we arrived now, we wouldn't be able to accomplish anything in terms of getting settled in. A friend who lived in Europe for years recently told us, "Friends don't let friends move to Europe in August." So, we're waiting for September to arrive. It is getting closer--we will finally arrive in Bologna two weeks from today.
It has been interesting, over the past eight months, how stress has expressed itself so consistently and yet in so many different forms. Whether it's been taking care of details, living in transition, thinking through the challenges of the future, or dealing with emotions of leaving our amazing support system, we have been living in a hightened state of stress for a long time. We can't say we're fans of living in stress. We knew it would be unavoidable, and we've managed it the best we could have, but we are now feeling just really worn out by it. We know that once we arrive in-country there will be a whole new set of stressors, but we are definitely looking forward to the pace of life slowing down. We are looking forward to unpacking (though that won't fully be able to even do that until November) and making a home.
There have been many, many spiritually significant and encouraging things the Lord has shown us and spoken to us over the past months. One of the most awe-inspiring, however, is the realization of God's voice clearly spoken. It was over two years ago that we first began to feel like God was calling us to return to Italy long-term. I clearly remember sitting in our sparce apartment in Florence and feeling like the Lord was speaking to my heart and beginning to burden it for the Italian people. At the time, I remember thinking, "If God's calling, I'll go. But A LOT of things would have to happen." Here we are, two years later, and all those things have happened. He sold our house, He raise the thousands of dollars we needed. He has met every single need we had. It WAS His voice I heard. It has been His voice all along the way. Our God is so real. He is so good. If He could do all that needed to be done to get us to this point, I can't wait to see what He's going to do once we get to Italy.
