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.