Sweet Rest

Since returning from our vacation to Scotland over a month ago, it seems we have had one thing after another that has kept us unable to update our blog. The kids started school this week, which we feel like has finally given us opportunity to catch up on a lot of things. Returning to regular blogging is one of them.

It feels impossible to communicate what a sweet time we had in Scotland. It was everything we needed. We knew going into it that we needed some serious family downtime. The heat had gotten oppresive in Bologna and we were feeling overall worn down. We flew out of Bologna with great expectations, but also with a bit of guardedness. It didn't take but drive from the airport in Edinburgh to Troon to realize how good this time was going to be. There was a very physical sense of relief and relaxation. From the green rolling hills of southern Scotland to the familiar "American" products at the grocery store, we were met at every turn with surprise and joy. Most of our time was split between touring old castles and simply resting. It was such a good thing for us as a family to be able to spend the days focused on spending time as a family and having fun. Many games of Uno were played while there. And while the kids are essentially fluent in Italian, it was a nice rest for us to be able to converse in English for awhile. It was amazing how quickly we got simple daily activities done when we could completely understand what someone was saying!

Our return to Bologna at the beginning of August was like returning to a ghost town. It was so weird! We felt like we were literally the only people in our entire apartment building. Everyone was at the beach. . . a serious pasttime for Italians, who believe you need two weeks of sun every year to get enough vitamin D. And August is the best time to do it.

Life finally feels like it is returning to normal, and we think the heat has finally broken. We are looking forward to so many things this Fall. We are so thankful for the genuine rest the Lord provided for us, at just the right time. Because of it, we feel like we're ready to tackle all that is in store. We can't wait to share more.

Stinky, the Gospel and a Car

We are leaving for vacation on Thursday, so we thought we'd post an extra blog this week since we won't be able to post one again until August. We'd love your prayers for our time away. . .

BIG week this week! In the middle of the summer, when students are blissfully away enjoying their summer vacation, we saw God remind us almost daily of the incredible ministry He has built for us here through some other means. We lived some great stories this week of the awesome and sometimes maddening Italian culture, the incredible generosity of Italians friends, the realities of the snares of a broken world and God's constant provision for every one of our needs. The ministry we are living is incredible!

For a couple of months now, we have felt the Lord leading us to finally buy a car. As we looked at it logically, we just didn't think the summer was the best time, since many places close down for weeks at a time in the summer, and the ever-constant issue of the exchange rate has been on the higher side since May. We pursued a couple of options to buy cars from American servicemen returning to the States, but none worked out. We didn't feel in a big rush, but we also felt like the Lord was continuing to say, "It's OK, I'll provide for you now." So we asked more questions and looked at a few websites that were recommended to us. We saw a few possibilities, but all required driving at least an hour outside of Bologna.

Some of our best Italian friends are a couple named Fabio and Alyssia. They are the parents of one of the girls in Hannah's class. We have gotten to know them well over the past months and enjoy them so much. Fabio speaks a little English, which makes our time together a perfect setting for language development. More than anything though, they have just become quite dear to us.

So last Thursday, Fabio offered to take Cody out to look at cars. The car we felt like was the best deal all around was also the closest. They drove the hour up to Modena and saw the car. Car buying is totally different here than in the States. All dealerships must offer a one-year warrenty on the used cars they sell since the practice of turning back odometers is almost universal. Since you have some assurance as to the reliability of the car, you don't really "check it out" like you do in the States. He didn't even test drive it. But it really was everything we've been looking for (and an automatic, as a cherry on top). Cody felt like we should get it. Mission accomplished, so he and Fabio went to get some lunch.

As they went in to a trattoria, Fabio said, "Have you ever had stincho (stink-oh)?" To which Cody said, "No, no I haven't." "Oh, you must try it. It is the ankle of a pig." Always the meat lover, Cody thought he'd give it a try. Fabio ordered for both of them, and in Italian, he ordered "due stinchi (pronounced stinky)." Cody could not help busting out laughing, as he explained to Fabio what it sounded like in English. When the stinchi arrived, it was much like a turkey drumstick--see the picture below. Cody is now a new stinchi fan. :)

Over their lunch, the Lord led their conversation to really significant things. Cody has been very intentional about going deeper with Fabio, taking many opportunities to share about his relationship with Christ. On this day, he was able to clearly share the entire gospel. Coming to faith is usually a very long process for an Italian. This was a great entry into what we pray are many more conversations about what it means to be a follower of Christ. We hope so much that the Lord would open the eyes of this entire family. We pray earnestly that He would allow us to see them all eventually put their faith in Christ. Again, they have become so dear to us, we want nothing more than to share with them the joy of trusting God as they manuever life as a growing family. We would really value your prayers for them. Pray we would continue to have bountiful opportunities to talk about what having a relationship with Jesus has meant in our lives.

So after lunch, they headed back to Bologna, and we gathered ALL the necessary paperwork needed to buy a car here. On Friday we made the trek back to Modena, filled out all the forms to transfer the car into our name and personally went to the auto agency to make it all official. With keys in hand, we then discovered our method of payment wasn't going to work. We had asked about it before we made the trip, and they gave us the OK. But to make a long story short, we ended back in Bologna that night without a car. We have to admit, we're beginning to get used to having to attempt something several times before it's accomplished. . . sometimes still maddening, but the blows are becoming less and less traumatic.

We are thrilled to report that our third trip to Modena proved to be a charm, and we are now, once again, car owners. It's perfect for us. We are still a little in shock, but we are so, so thankful. Again, we rejoice in God's provision for us and hope it enables us to be an even further blessing to those around us.

As we have seen God so evidently at work around us in these fun stories, we also have seen Him at work in the life of a friend who is in great struggle. We have been called to meet him in a very different place than our other friends here. With him, we have been called to walk through the darkness--to offer some light in territory surrounded by the enemy. It has been a privilege, though one not without cost and not without much grieving of our spirits. We know God has him securely, and we are praying for a prodigal to return home soon and receive great healing. Though we can't offer many details, we ask you again to intercede on his behalf. A mighty war is being fought for this soul.

The next six weeks are going to fly by, and then September 1 will arrive, and we will celebrate with great thanksgiving our first year in Italy. What a time it has been! The past week has been a great confirmation of God's continued plans for us here. It is good.

A Life Lesson

This morning I sat down for a quiet time feeling that even though I had been spending regular time with the Lord, I have been distracted for the past several weeks. It was one of those times when I just had to say, "What should I read this morning? I'm not really feeling led to anything. . ." I picked up where I left off in my study of Matthew. I was at Matthew 7:24-29 and the story of the man who builds his house on the rock.

As I read it, I began to see it was the very picture of the life lesson we've been experiencing over the past few months. Jesus says, "Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, and the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." Over the past eleven months, God has been allowing us to live in almost constant view of the spiritual world. He has shown us the realities of what He is doing--how He is ushering in His Kingdom and how worthy His name is for all glory and honor. I have been craving praise and worship music because of my overwhelming need to ascribe glory and honor to our God.

As I read this passage in Matthew, I think that it does mean we need to obey God's commands for us. But the deeper underlying issue, as it is throughout Scripture, is faith. We need to take God at His Word. We need to believe Him. Belief goes so much farther beyond just doing as God has commanded. It involves trusting that God is also going to do as He said He would. He does protect us. He does provide for us. He does guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus. He calms my anxious heart, strengthens my weary soul. He is JOY. The security of the truth of who God is and the peace He offers believers is truly one that reaches beyond the understanding of anyone who has not personally experienced it.

And as the rain has come, as the streams have risen, as we have felt the power of the wind blowing and beating against us, our house has not fallen. Our foundation has not moved. We have felt so beat up in the past two months. Discouragement beyond anything we have ever experienced. But we are continuing to stand. The words of God proved themselves true in us. We survive the storm because of the Rock that is our foundation.

I also see the reality of the foolish man too. Our hearts have been so burdened for so many friends we have seen building their houses on foundations of self-reliance--even believing friends. As the sand begins to sink, the pressure on the house only grows stronger. The house can stand for awhile, but eventually, the strain becomes too much, and the house crumbles. How much we want to be encouraging others in belief! How much we want to shout from the rooftops "Worthy is the One whose hands made it all!"

The Lord sent deep encouragement this morning. Encouragement, again, that His Word is true. If you believe Him at His Word, it always works out as He has said. Encouragement, as well, that as trying as life in Italy can feel sometimes, we will come out standing. We will make it. And of even greater encouragement, the gospel will go forth. The name of Jesus will be honored in this land.

Sweet Tree Hugger

These pictures were just so funny I had to blog them. There is a sitting park just behind our house that has a small "hill" Ben was bound and determined to climb. The slope kept getting the best of him, but he'd just get right back up and keep trying. Finally, he made it to the top, and in exuberance, hugged the nearest thing to him--a tree. :) Oh, our sweet little guy.

Benjamin definitely keeps us on our toes. There is no end to what he will get into. I'll spare you the list of all the things we've caught in his mouth, because it's. . . well, downright embarrassing. He is such an explorer. Mom's guess at fifteen months of future occupation is engineer, just like the Papa he's named after. He LOVES to take things apart and then put them back together. Taking the lid off a pen and putting it back on could entertain him for hours. Of course, that also includes taking lids off of shampoo bottles (sometimes with them upside down) and unplugging/re-plugging electrical devices too.

A couple of weeks ago, Cody aptly called him "A tornado filled with the joy of the Lord." Though he is learning to protest quite effectively when he doesn't get his way, Benjamin is the happiest, bubbliest little guy. He loves to laugh (especially when prompted by his sister) and try to make you laugh. His smile, and that darn perfect dimple, light up a room.

In other news, we feel like we've officially entered the "dog days of summer." We're not sure what that expression actually means, but we feel like it has to do with being so hot that all you can do is lie around. We've been really blessed by several cool spells to provide some relief in between those days when you can't leave your house it's so hot. We feel like those respites are probably over now. This week it will be in the mid to upper 90s all week. Again, we are so thankful for our jerry-rigged air conditioner.

We will leave a week from Thursday for our two week vacation in Scotland. My uncle has a home there he is so graciously allowing us to stay in. It will be our first flying experience with Ryan Air, the uber-cheap airline that is now debating selling "standing-room only" tickets. We can't express how much we're looking forward to vacation though. We need a break from the oppressive spiritual environment here desperately. We need to refill our tanks that are now bone dry.

Until then, we press on with summer school supplementing. Hannah is really enjoying the history but abhors having to work on English. She's looking forward to a vacation too. :)

The Work of Heat Relief

As we've mentioned before, it is very uncommon in Italy to have any kind of permanently installed A/C in your apartment, so for the past month and half, we've been working on acquiring a portable unit and then figuring out how to get it to work where we need it. We had saved some money for this purchase, and were crushed (CRUSHED) on the hot day we eagerly plugged it in for the first time only to have it blow all of our electrical circuits. To make a LONG story short, it look five weeks to get our electric company to raise the electricity allotted to us--yes, you only get a 3000 watt allotment unless you agree to pay a hefty fee for them to raise it AND agree to pay more for usage. Once we finally got that taken care of, the unit still killed our circuits. The problem this time. . . old wiring that couldn't handle the wattage needed to start the condensor.

After trying every last option, we finally found some success. Crazy, Italian-style success, but we praise the Lord for it anyway! Cody shares the story of the journey to air conditioned relief:



"What the heck am I lookinig at?" I'm sure that is what you are asking yourself right now. Well, now that the summer months are in full swing, we've officially completed our jury-rigged, duct tape and bailing wire A/C unit. This picture is where the cold air begins it's journey. Some of you may know that electrical wall outlets are not standard in Italy. There are three different Italian sizes and wattages, and just for fun, there is a random German outlet that shows up from time to time. Trying to match plugs, extenstions, adapters, and outlets is a national past time here. At any rate, this is one of two outlets in our home that has wiring strong enought to handle the current of our A/C unit when the condensor kicks in. Otherwise we blow the circuits. Fun times!


Unfortunately, this outlet is in the kids' bathroom. Also where our washer and dryer are plugged in. So, we had a specially-made 15 meter extension cord made that has all the right adapter sizes and is rated up to 3000 watts. Depending on what room we want to cool down, we have to run the extension cord through the house to the A/C unit. This particular picture shows the cord running to our living room. For that to happen, it must travel down the length of our hallway, past the entryway, and into our living room.


Once the cord enters the living roon, we run it along the wall behind our dining room table so the kids don't trip over it and do any major bodily damage. In order to do this, we pull out the table, thread the cord behind it, run it around the crafts cabinet in the corner until it arrives at our portable A/C unit.


Now comes the fun part. Once we wheel the A/C unit into a certain room, we have to roll it over to the nearest window and vent the hot air that is produced. Because our windows swing open instead of slide up and down, there is no way to get a great seal. So, we keep the window open, but slide down the "tapperella" (the heavy duty black-out shade) to mate with the A/C vent tube. By and large this works pretty well. We're in the process of getting a piece of particle board cut to complete the seal. Once all of that is done, we plug her in, and get her fired up. It takes a few minutes for the compressor to kick in, but once it does, it really makes a difference.

As you can only imagine, it's gotta be really hot in order for us to feel motivated enough to set all this up. But believe us when we say there have been plenty of days we have joyfully done it for a little relief from the heat.

Another insight into daily life in Bologna. :)

Success!

As I was watering our little balcony garden tonight, I thought, "Wow, these are looking great!" As much as I love flowers, I always end up killing them. Yeah for this little victory! Since we posted about planting them, I thought it was only right to let you see them thriving. . .

Compared to our neighbors' balconies, they are a small contribution to building beautification. But in their own right, I think they are simply lovely. Hannah has done a great job helping me water them, and Ben has done a great job picking the petals off the blooms. Next year, we might try doing two boxes. :)

Latte Art

Every Wednesday morning before school, Hannah and Cody would stop at a bar (that's what they call coffee shops here) to get a little pastry and milk (latte caldo). Our whole family quickly became known at this little bar, and as is often the case in Italy, the baristas welcomed us into their family with open arms. They loved the kids, especially with Hannah going to public school and learning Italian. Every time we walk in, we're greeted with, "Ciao! Hannah!! Ciao Bella!" It's been a really fun way for Hannah to feel like she's building bridges outside of her school.

Anyway, as the year progressed, Salvatore (the head barista, who also speaks some English) practiced making all sorts of beautiful designs on Hannah's warmed milk. It is a little game to see if she can guess what he will surprise her with. The last week of school, he did some of his finest work! Cody was so impressed, he had to take a picture (Italian doesn't have the "H" sound, so everyone pronounces Hannah's name "Anna"). Then the next week when they went, Lucia, the sweet woman who works there and who always gives Hannah a piece of candy before she leaves, made Hannah's milk with the Hello Kitty design (Hello Kitty is really big among Italians). You can only imagine how it delighted Hannah.

We have to confess that the coffee culture is one of our favorite parts about Italian life. There is such incredible community that happens at your "bar." It's a great place to practice Italian and a great place to just hang out and hear what the locals are talking about. It's definitely been a very fun treat for us to feel so welcomed at our little bar by Hannah's school. The regulars there have contributed in countless ways to Hannah's (really our whole family's) transition. They helped us early on feel like we belonged and that were people who knew us.

In displaying these works of Latte Art, we have to share that they are not the norm. We don't know of any other bar in town that adds such pizzaz to their coffee (or frothed milk in Hannah's case). In fact, not even everyone at our bar gets such latte love. So we celebrate the incredible graciousness that these sweet baristas have poured out on our family. Oh, and have we mentioned that they also make one of the meanest espressos in town?

A Huge Milestone

Since we posted pictures of Hannah's first day of school NINE months ago, we thought it a fitting altar stone to post pictures of her last day.

God has so abundantly and lavishly answered so many prayers for Hannah this year! In all honesty, she has probably transitioned and inculturated better than anyone else. We prayed for her to have an English-speaking teacher, and she had one whose father is American. We prayed for her to pick up the language quickly. She is completely age-level fluent. (Her Italian is beautiful!) We prayed for God to provide her with some good friends. He has. Several. She has thrived in school--she has been appropriately challenged, where she wasn't as much in the States. It's been incredible what she's learned this year, and even more amazing that she learned it all in another language. In fact, our greatest concern now is keeping up with teaching her the English words for many of the things she's learned about (for example: parts of a tree, the names of the classes of animals, internal body parts, etc).
We can only look back in awe over the past nine months. We so clearly remember that first day of school and all of our fears and concerns. Cody and I will never forget that day! Nor will we forget how sweetly the Lord has cared for our daughter this year. We are privileged to have witnessed it.
In Italy, you remain with the same students and the same teachers (Hannah had four this year) for your entire five years in Elementary School. There have been some recent changes in the school laws that might dictate a new teacher next year (one instead of four), but we feel like her class has become a great family. It's fun to think of that already existing when she returns to school next September.

Until then, it's officially Summer Vacation (Gavin's preschool will actually go until mid-July though). We let Hannah have a day to do whatever she wanted on Friday, to celebrate all her hard work this year. She choose to stay in bed and watch movies all day! On Monday we will begin homeschooling in the areas she needs to stay up with for American schools. Spelling is going to be a huge hurdle. Italian is a completely phonetical language, so spelling is very easy. Hannah's found spelling in English to be a much greater challenge now--in fact, she often uses Italian spelling for English words. We'll also be doing some history and lots of reading. We'll confess our reluctance at first, but we're hoping for a great summer together. We're also really looking forward to a little vacation at the end of July.

Thanks for all your concern for Hannah this year! Thanks for all your prayers on her behalf. We hope you join with us in acknowledging God's gracious hand.