Thank you, Cortes (and school starts!)

Over the course of the past few months, multiple people have shared with the me (Cody) the story of Hernando Cortes and how he burned his ships in order to force his crew to embrace that there was no other option but to succeed. For Cortes and his crew, it was Mexico or bust. There was no going back.

In many ways over the past few weeks, I have felt like both Cortes and his surprised crew. While I knew that by selling our house, shipping our remaining possessions overseas, and enrolling our children in school we would be "sealing our fate" I have found myself occassionally fighting off the desire to somehow go back. Reagrdless of how much training one receives or how how ready one feels, immersing yourself in a completely foreign culture is taxing. While I am not sure where Cortes stood spiritually or from where he drew his strength, the Lord has bolstered me each time I've been tempted to look back. He has reminded me of Luke 9:62 where Jesus says, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

It is God's grace and mercy that keep us looking forward each day and today was a big one. Today was the day that I left my daughter in the hands of the Italian school system. Today was the day that I watched her begin interacting with other children that she could not understand. And today was the day that I saw my six year old daughter show more faith and courage than myself. My wife continually reminds me that God made Hannah to do this and she's right. Hannah is by far more coruageous than I was at six. Her teacher called her name and she didn't hesitate to join her new class and begin a new experience. Within seconds she had met another little girl and a few moments after that they we're holding hands communicating as best they could. While Jen and I know that God has called us to Italy to proclaim His glory and His love for the Italian people, He has also called Hannah to be a light for Him.

As we left Hannah this morning, it dawned on me yet again, that I has just witnessed another ship go down in flames, but understood that that was a good thing. This was a huge day for us.
And again God answered prayer so sweetly! When I picked her up this afternoon, she caught my eye and broke into a huge smile. She had had a great day! She sits next to a girl named Emma who speaks some English. This is huge! Emma helped her all day to manuever through her first day in total Italian submersion. She explained the games during recess, she helped her pick out lunch at the Mensa (the cafeteria), she even told her the Italian words for fork and spoon. She pursued Hannah, which was such a big deal.
This day really was the beginning of "life" in Italy for us. It really was us leaping into the culture and saying we wanted to fully be a part of it. We are so proud of Hannah. We hope God enables us to follow her lead.