We needed that. . .

Last weekend we headed to a little Christian Retreat center about 30 minutes outside of Florence for an Italian staff conference. It is always good to be with other Campus Crusade staff--to be encouraged by God's Word and hear about what's happening through the ministry. We had no idea how much we needed it this time though. It was like water on a dry and dusty land!

There are about 70 Americans working with CCC in Italy this year. About 20 of those are long-term staff, and the rest are here interning for a year. There are a few other families, as well, which was SO GOOD for the kids. Gavin was especially homesick last week. He has been on the waiting list to get into an Italian preschool, but we're still waiting. He needed to play with some other kids so badly. So he played and played and played. It was cold and rainy most of the weekend, but it didn't phase him. How good for us, as parents, to see our kids' hearts encouraged! Hannah quickly made friends, as well, and is already talking about the next time we'll get to hang out with them (many of their new friends live in Rome).

For me, personally, it was also really good to be with other moms. There are just some unique challenges to family life in Italy. Especially doing what we do. So to be with other moms who are dealing with the same issues I am (like how to have a good parent/teacher conference with Hannah's teachers who speak no English) was such a boost for me.

Also very encouraging was hearing about what God is doing around the country. Since we are just starting the ministry in Bologna, it's been easy at times to feel discouraged by the lack of "something to show." That coupled with the stories we hear from all over the country about the hardness of the Italian heart can be overwhelming. God IS at work in Italy though! It was such an encouragement to hear stories of how people are beginning to see Italians soften to the gospel. In Rome they have started a children's ministry that has taken off beyond anyone's imagination. In Fiesole, a staff mom began a friendship with a very influential Italian mom that has opened doors to share the gospel with the Italian President's Society (a group of very successful, influential Italians). So exciting!

In the past couple of weeks we have felt a strange sense of discouragement. The kind you can't quite put a finger on. Though we are feeling settled and more comfortable with every day life, we have experienced several days of feeling completely inadequate for what we hope to see God do. More than inadequate but completely discouraged. Being reminded of the vision to reach Italy, being encouraged that our experience is normal, seeing our kids filled with fun. . . it was deeply good.

Anticipation of BIG things

Last night we were given another glimpse into what God is preparing for Bologna. Though we can still only dream about the specifics, it's going to be incredible.

One of the most encouraging aspects of heading to Bologna was hearing about the partnership of evangelicals who were here. It was this group (two churches and Youth for Christ) who first contacted Campus Crusade, asking for some full-time staff to please be sent to Bologna. Since we've arrived, we have been blown away by the unity amongst this group. Especially compared the great divisions that exist among the Protestant churches in Italy (this is another long, sad story for another time).

Last night we had dinner with a couple from England who arrived in Bologna a month before we did. They are about our age with no kids. He was born in Italy but raised in London, where he most recently served as a pastor. About two years ago God began to call them to pastor a church in Bologna and help teach at one of the two Institutes in Italy for evangelical Christians (there are no seminaries). It was great to hear about how God had worked to bring them here. He said at one point, "The best way I can describe it is to say I would have been a Jonah if I hadn't come."

In a couple of hours together, we dreamed some big dreams! It was incredible to hear others talking with the same passion about the same goal of seeing Italians come to a true biblical understanding of Jesus. The more we talked, the more we saw how God is moving some major pieces together to bring the gospel to this city. We are so humbled to think about being a part of it! And filled with so much anticipation of what He has in store. Please join with us in praying for God's will to be accomplished here. Pray for this little body of believers to have great wisdom and discernment in how the Lord would have us proceed.

In closing, I'll share our little "ah, Italy" moment of the day. In looking over Hannah's homework tonight, we saw that in science this week they studied the bottling process of wine. First the grapes are grown, then they are stomped, put into barrels and bottled. In first grade! Hilarious! Only in Italy. . .

We leave tomorrow for a staff conference with all the Campus Crusade staff in Italy. We are so looking forward to being with others in the same place we are in. And the kids are dying to play with other english-speaking kids! Gavin is genuinely starting to get lonely. He needs some friends outside of his siblings. So if nothing else, for him to play with other kids will be worth the trip. Today he finally said, "Mom, I miss Houston. I want to go back there." So, we are looking forward to the refreshment and encouragement.

We'll post another update soon!

Storming a Castle

Again, we have to apologize for the lengthy delay since our last blog. Our stuff arrived from the States! It was one of the happiest days we can remember in recent memory. We can't even begin to describe the morale booster sleeping in our own beds provided. The kids still haven't gotten over having their toys again. Talk about Christmas in October! Being in our own apartment has been another huge step toward feeling settled. It wasn't seemless, however. We just got Internet back last week. We've blown more fuses than we care to count. And we've had to learn new bus routes from our new location. Oh, and did I mention the printer cable I fried accidently?

As this blog serves to witness, our life has been a freight train since March. After we had unpacked the last box and hung most of the pictures, we sat on our couch in the living room and thought, "We made it. Maybe life will return to normal." Of course, as I wrote earlier, it's definitely a new kind of normal. Still, we feel like we're slowing down for the first time in six months. It's a good feeling.

In our last prayer letter, we had asked people to pray for some family fun. Because we have had so much to accomplish in the past months, we feel like we've been painfully short on play time. This past weekend, the other couple we're working with, who have a car, invited us to go with them to a little town about 25 minutes away that has a real life castle. The kids needed to hear no more to be on board! I've included some pictures from our little adventure (that's the kids in the "torture chamber"). We were back by lunch, but it was such a boost of refreshment to get out of the city and explore a little. We're adapting to urban living pretty well, but there's somthing about being in the country that breathes some rest.

Even though there have been some great "pick-me-ups" in the past month, we have also experienced some of our first cultural adjustment challenges. There have been some days of great discouragement. When you hang pictures on your walls, there is a new sense of "Wow, we're really staying here for a long time." But you know, the bottom line is that our hearts still break for Italians to know Jesus. The other day, I was waiting to pick up Hannah from school, and I was just overcome with compassion for all the parents I was surrounded by. They work so hard. They just looked so worn out. I want so much for them to know joy. Still, sometimes when you're completely frustrated that you need yet another plug to make something work, it's hard to remember the bigger picture.

Some happy things we've discovered: grocery delivery to our apartment (a life-saver!), a grocery store that has really good tortilla chips (we haven't found any good salsa yet though), a park pretty close to our new apartment that has a wooded trail--you can almost forget you're in the city, a really yummy and really cheap Chinese restaurant, novella wine (wine made from the harvest's first grapes), and a really cool castle in Dozza.

Oliver Walton Simmons

This is going to be a very personal blog. . . my grandpa died on Sunday. The burial and memorial service will be on Friday in Atlanta. And I won't be able to attend. My grandpa turned 89 this past August. He and my grandmother had been married for 68 years. I will always be so thankful for the incredible heritage of family, faith and responsibility my grandfather leaves.

I have so many great memories with my grandpa that my mind dances amongst them. Their house in Jonesboro, Georgia will always be one of my favorite places, though they haven't lived there for years. It was on lake, nestled among tall trees. It was a beautiful, quiet retreat for me. I have only happy memories there. I can still smell the smell that always greeted you when you walked in the door. Atlanta will always carry with it times I shared with my grandad. Going to Six Flags, eating at the Varsity, seeing the original Chick-Fil-A Dwarf House.

My grandpa helped walk me down the aisle when I got married. He had no daughters, and I am the only granddaughter. It was such a special event for him to share with me. I've posted a picture from the last time I was able to see my grandpa. In July, on our way home from Florida, we stopped to spend time with my grandparents. They got to meet Ben, and I got to just be with them again.

We looked into what it would take for me to be able to attend the funeral, and it just didn't make sense. This is the worst week since we arrived for me to travel--the container with our belongings from the States is arriving. There's no way Cody could do it by himself. If I had tried, I would have been in Atlanta for barely 24 hours. I am so thankful, however, that my brother is able to return from Kazakhstan, where he's serving in the Peace Corp.

We knew when we decided to move overseas that we would miss a lot of life events back in the States. This one came too quickly. I am studying Genesis right now and the life of the Patriarchs. Much is made of honoring their lives. Brothers come together to bury their father. So it's really hard to realize I won't be able to formally participate in this event with the rest of my family. God has been so sweet to me, even in this. He reminded me that when I chose to follow His call, I knew I would be giving up some things that were important to me. Even the things I value most in this world, however, pale in comparison to following Jesus. I could pick no other place to be. He fills my heart with a peace and contentedness that makes all else fall away. So as the thought entered my mind that not being able to attend my grandfather's funeral was one more thing I was giving up to be where God wants me to be, I felt like the Lord said, "It's OK." It's OK that I won't be there. I will honor my grandpa in a hundred other ways by continuing to live what he modeled, by telling my kids about all those great memories I have with him. It's OK. I am where I need to be.

So in a small little way, this entry is a memorial stone for him. A marker of a life well lived and well loved. I would be so blessed to see my little men grow up to inherit some of their great-grandfather's character, strength and joy.

O.W. Simmons 1919-2008.

The Complexities of Italian Pasto

Pasto=meals

Americans have a lot of perceptions about Italy. One is that Italians love food. This, we can confirm. Food is a huge deal here. For instance, at school, Hannah has a snack in the morning, a FULL three-course meal for lunch, and a snack in the afternoon. The quality of food consumed at those three times is also very important. A note came home from school asking for the snack we send in the morning to be "easily digestible and not ruin their appitiete for lunch." Italians believe that good food is essential for kids' learning, so lunch is taken very seriously. We talked with one staff mom who, in taking her child to school one morning, came across a mob of parents in an uproar. What is the angry mob protesting? The school had made the decision to serve premade pasta instead of fresh.

Well, last week Cody had to attend a conference for all the staff or interns new to Italy this year. It was a very encouraging time for him, and he gained a lot of insight into the challenges we're going to face. The Lord met him in some very good ways. He was also able to participate in his very first Italian cooking lesson! The food at the retreat center was amazing. One afternoon in their free time, the cook offered to show anyone who was interested how to cook a few genuine Tuscan dishes (the conference was in Tuscany. . . about 2 hours from here). Below are pictures of Cody helping make a traditional Tuscan lasagna. For those who want to know the difference, the Tuscan lasagna has a red sauce and a cream-like sauce. And not too much cheese.

It's easy to offend Italians in the area of food (or completely demonstrate what a foreigner you are), so as crazy as it sounds, we're really trying to understand some of the basics. For instance, I just learned that there is a definite distinction between tortellini (smaller, filled with ricotta) and tortelloni (slightly larger, filled with a meat). And there is nothing that says you don't understand the rules of caffe (coffee) more than ordering a cappucino (or ca-poo-cho as they call it here) after 11am.

Some basics: A typical antipasti (appitizer) is melon and proschiuto (a thinly sliced Italian ham). Your first course in always a pasta. You eat pasta first to allow your stomach to stretch for the main course of meat. The main course is then followed by salad, which aides in digestion. And, as I said, never drink milk in your caffe after 11, or you'll be too full for lunch. Also, you should enjoy a snack at 10 am and at 4pm. Whew! It's a good thing we walk A LOT here.

Getting "Normal"

I thought I'd throw in some pictures of "life" for us these days. No, we don't eat gelato on a daily basis, but the kids sure are excited that there's at least a possiblity for gelato every day. :) The second picture is a street near the center of town--Il Centro (pronounced "eel chentro"). It doesn't show the porticos that line Bologna, but it does look like a lot of the streets we see. The area we live in is a lot more residential and has a lot of big, beautiful trees. Bolognese call it The Green Area. Then there is our sweet Benjamin growing, growing, growing. He loves to stand up, is dying to actually be moving forward when he tries to crawl and is just about to get the sitting thing down. We can't believe he is already six months old. So much has happened in our lives during those six months!

Finally, there is a picture of something that is a daily part of our life--trips to a park. There are tons of parks located very close by. I guess since no one has a yard, they really value having parks available. We have tried out most we can quickly walk to, and this is our favorite. Every day after school (around 4:30), the parks are flooded. I think they are going to prove to be a great venue to meet people. Definitely a great opportunity for our kids to meet and play with other Italian bamini. The weather has been cool and mild for the most part, and the kids have relished time outside.

This week marks the first time I'm navigating life on my own with the kids since we arrived, as Cody is at a retreat for all the Campus Crusade staff (we call it Agape Italia) who are new to the country. It is going to be an incredibly infomative few days, and I wish we all could have gone. But it didn't seem prudent to take Hannah out of school the second week. So we're hanging back in Bologna.

Before Cody left, we talked about how we've reached a little milestone. . . we feel life we now know a new "normal." Life here takes a lot of work. Everything that is needed for daily living just requires a lot of time and work. It's amazing how many conveniences we enjoyed back in the States that we didn't even realize were conveniences. But we feel like we've made the shift. We're OK that we have to go to the grocery store every day, and that the trip usually takes about 1 1/2 hours. We're OK thinking creatively on how to haul our groceries for a family of five home. You don't get anything done quickly here, and we're adjusting. That's nice.

When it feels like the majority of my day is focused on just accomplishing what needs to be done to survive, I am so thankful that God has made even those things part of His work for me. In everything, I am reminded that it is all for the gospel. During the times I have absolutely not wanted to walk to the store for bread or milk or water, I am reminded that even that is for the gospel. Every morning I wake hungry for the Word of God to fill me. In a culture where I feel so foreign and inept, the power and truth of God's Word has nourished my soul in a way I haven't known for a long time. And during those times, God has so sweetly reminded me that the more Italian I can become (oh so FAR to go!), the more effectively I am going to be able to communicate the incredible hope and life that Jesus wants so desperately for this prodigal country to know. Every time I walk out our door, God opens the floodgates of compassion in my heart. I want to much for Italians to have HOPE. I want so much for them to know JOY. Life is so hard here, in so many ways. I want them to know rest.

And so it is that we are settling into normal and that in the normal, God is preparing us.

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.

Are you serious?

So, today was our first day of heading out to get something done and accomplishing absolutely nothing. Very common here. . . we just hadn't had the pleasure yet. Today's adventure involved trying to rent this great apartment we found. Great because it is compartatively large and yet, well within our budget. The staff we're working with here had found it at the end of July, and we had prayed it would still be available when we arrived. It was!

Renting an apartment in Italy is no easy task. And it costs A LOT. First, the agency that is renting the apartment required that we have an Italian bank account before we could even talk about renting. Many banks would not let us open an account with the current paperwork we have (we will literally wait for probably 6 months to get what most banks want). We found one that worked with us though, so we got that taken care of last week. So to actually commit to the apartment we have to provide the agency with this bank document that says we have SIX MONTHS rent set aside in a special fund that our landlord could access if we default on our payments. I can't begin to tell you how much money that is. . . it is the better portion of almost all of what we made on our house. Pretty much the only money we have, outside of daily expenses. The good news is that we heard that if you are required to put down more than three months, by Italian law you have to be paid interest. That sounded somewhat promising actually.

Then we went to the bank to get this document. Of course they couldn't do it right there. . . they needed the official contract from the rental agency. And then we found out that though your account earns a "very little" bit of interest (2.5%), the bank charges you an annual commission on the account that is the same as the interest you earn. Plus you pay taxes. We'll lose money every year. But that's how the system works. Anywhere else would want the same thing. Banking here is a exercise in throwing money out the window. You are allowed one deposit a month for free. Everytime you withdraw money, unless it's with an ATM, you are charged. And there are no guarantees on your ATM card, so it a little risky to just carry it around.

Oh my. We have tried really hard to just go with the flow up to this point. Today was the first day that we thought, "Are you kidding?" And in addition to all of that, we have to pay the agency a full month's rent as a Finder's Fee. Again, just the way things are. We are definitely feeling first-hand why the Italian economy is the worst in the EU. And why it is so much work just to survive. If we hadn't just sold our house, there is no way we could afford to rent an apartment. Praise God He knew exactly what we were going to need. And we feel like even though this "fund" isn't going to even return us what we initially put in it, it does guarantee we'll get our "deposit" back. If you don't set up a fund like this (it's completely up to the landlord as to how they want to handle it), then it can be difficult to get your deposit returned. That's really good with that much money involved. :)

In more encouraging news, I have a friend! Elli is who has been helping us figure the school thing out (and helped translate at the bank today). Her husband is the son of the pastor of the church we're partnering with. It's their apartment (the pastor and his wife's) that we're staying in temporarily, as we wait for our apartment. Anyway, Elli and Luke just had their first baby in May (Emma Violet). She has been a true Godsend in helping us understand many Italian processes. She is so sweet and just a delight. We've already bonded over our babies and other girl things. AND she is going to teach me how to cook some traditional Italian dishes! Yeah! How thankful I am for God's quick provision of a friend here. Earlier in the week, I had also met another Italian mom, whose daughter Anna is also starting school next week. Giovanna is her name, and she is not a believer. They just returned from 2 years in China but had also spent time in Singapore, so she speaks great English. We have a play date set for tomorrow.

At this point, you may be wondering why I put in a picture of Ben. . . just because he is so, so precious. Every day we delight in him. He continues to just go with the flow. And smile and flirt. He loves to just look you in the eye and grin and grin. He is such a sweet gift of rest for us. He makes us slow down and just be with him. That's a very good thing these days.

What a long blog! I'll close now. Ciao!