A Taste of Spring

After sharing last week about the challenges of January, we felt like we had to share what a great week we had this past week. It really was a great answer to prayer. First, the weather warmed up just a bit (from the low 30's to the low 40's). For some reason, that made a huge difference. And there were a couple of days when the sun was shining too! It gave us a little taste of spring that we have to say was intoxicating. Bologna is such a great city to walk that when the weather is nice it's hard to imagine a better place to be.

The weather was really icing on the cake to a really good week though. Cody started back to Italian class and spent time, as well, just walking through campus praying for God to be forging ahead of us. One evening he went out with a friend from church and learned about the Italian practice of Aperitivi. That night Hannah asked where he was going, and I said, "Well, it's kind of like going out to dinner before dinner." Most bars (which are totally different than a bar in the States--mostly they are coffee bars) will offer an aperitivi around 5pm. It's a little buffet of finger foods and a glass of wine. Then you eat dinner around 8. Anyway, hanging out with students over aperitivi will be just like hanging out at Starbucks with students in the States. It will be a huge ministry venue. So this friend from church took it upon himself to take Cody and explain the whole cultural experience to him. It was very good.

The next night, Cody met with a student named Andrea, whom he has gotten together with several times since meeting him at a Thanksgiving outreach he did. They have had good conversation every time they've gotten together, but this week Cody was able to share his testimony with him and tell him more specifically why we're here. Needless to say, this was a huge encouragement. Though we absolutely understand and feel the need for the language-learning emphasis we have this year, it was a great reminder of why we're putting in all this work. Please, please pray for God to begin working in Andrea's heart. Pray he would pursue more gospel conversations and be open to reading the Bible with Cody.

And oddly, God also spoke encouragement this week when we found out that it does not look like Gavin is going to get into preschool at all this year. I was really disheartened by the news (as was Gavin--he's been praying every night for God to open a spot for him). But Cody had great perspective. He said he was convinced that God hadn't provided a spot for Gavin because He was protecting him from something. Schools are different here in Italy. They are taught from a shame-based philosophy. And discipline is not a big priority either, so boys especially can be really rough. All along we felt so confident that getting Gavin into school would help him to adjust to the culture and make some friends. We now trust that God knew that would not be the best thing for him. We have a great peace about it now.

The best part about our time in Italy has been how dependent we've remained on the Lord. He has continued to meet us and reveal Himself to us in the most concrete and amazing ways. I feel like I live in light of His character so much more than I ever have. His glory brings me so much comfort. The little taste of spring we got this week went much farther than just the weather. It was an encouragement we really needed.

Surviving January

The whirlwind and excitement of Christmas could not have come at a better time for us. Just before Christmas we had hit a real low. The busy-ness of getting settled had slowed down, and we were beginning to deal with the realities of life in Bologna long-term. We needed a little distraction. Christmas break flew by, but it definitely refilled our sails a bit.

God is really good on the days that we're struggling to speak encouragement at just the right time. Hannah's class at school put on a little Christmas show the week before Christmas, and she blew us away! She has picked up so much language this fall! She sang right along with everybody else, having a great time, we might add. We have begun to make a few relationships with some of the other parents, and the night of the Christmas concert was a sweet reminder of God's incredible provisions for us. We prayed so much for Hannah to have a positive school experience, and we could not have asked for anything more. In a lot of ways, we're more pleased with her school experience here than in the States even. More than that, we were encouraged by the reminder of the relationships God has begun for us. When we think about the Italians we are getting to know, we are quickly reminded of why we moved here. God HAS come before us. He HAS prepared great things for us. We are so excited to see what He has in store.

We were thrilled that my parents decided to visit for Christmas this year! We were so anxious for company and the opportunity to share a little bit of our life with family. The weather was cold while they were here, so we hung out inside as much as possible, but it ministered to all of us to have them here. The kids soaked up time with Grandma and Papa. Much wrestling was had and even a trip to a Gelateria in sub-freezing temperatures. We made some great memories to always think about when remembering our first Christmas in Italy.

Now it is January, and we are trying to press through the post-Christmas let down. We had anticipated this being a challenging time, and it started out about as we anticipated. Since it's remained cold (lower 30's--which is really cold for former Houstonians!), we have felt a lot more cooped up. We really have to push ourselves to continue engaging the culture. We remain more worn-out emotionally than we'd like. But we're pressing on. We are looking forward to several things coming up, including a group of students from TCU who will be coming at Spring Break. It's good to have some milestones to look forward to. Small goals feel really important right now.

Thanks for continuing to pray for us. We are continuing to pray there would be an opening for Gavin to start preschool. We're praying we would hear even this week. We know we're in the midst of probably our most challenging time here. We value you standing with us so very much.