A Very Busy Weekend

Wednesday of last week my phone rang probably 30 times in one day. The next day my phone rang about 10 times and the days after that a couple times a day. Why so many calls you might ask? Well apparently there was an add in the paper for someone looking for a pizza chef and my phone number was printed as the number to call about the job. Kinda funny. It did give me some language practice to explain the error about 40 times.
Yesterday was our Thanksgiving Dinner Outreach. We had 48 people there for our biggest event ever! But let me tell you when it was over I was TIRED! I can't even remember the last time I was that tired. I hadn't slept a full nights sleep in two nights and had planned, shopped, ironed, cut, decorated, cooked and who knows what all else until the moment people started walking in the door. Really the whole team did so much to help. And I have to brag on my husband because without him and all the work he did to help me pull this together this dinner wouldn't have happened. When it was over my body hurt all over so I took some tylanol and went to bed early.
Today was our last life group as one. Next week we will be two life groups. It was really neat as we sat around our living room with a total of 16 people crammed into our living room singing worship songs. Most of the people were regular visitors but we even had one friend, Novella and her daughter here for the first time. There have even been a few other talking of visiting life group latley. It brought tears to my eyes to see how far God has brought us in the past 41/2 years that we have been having life group. Finally multiplication is here, finally our group is too big to fit into one house and it is a little hard for me to belive that we are actually multipling into two cells.
It has been an exciting, fun filled, emotional busy weekend. I think that tonight I am going to catch up on my TV shows and make something yummy for dinner...like enchiladas!!!!

Earthquake!

Our first REAL earthquake! Matt and I have been pretty sure that we have felt tremors before. But usually when we talk to the rest of the team they didn't feel them so then we ask ourselves...did that really happen? But Saturday morning we woke up to the house slightly shaking and something in our room making noise as it shook. It was one of those strange experiences when you are just waking up and you aren't sure what is going on. We were pretty sure it was an earthquake but then again was it really? Then a couple of hours later I felt it again but this time only slightly. I called Heidi and asked "Am I going crazy or is the earth moving today??!!!" She said the earth was moving and that they had felt them too at the same times we had. Crazy! Brian found this bit of news about it...
(AGI) Ancona, Italy, Oct 21 - An earth tremor of 4.2 on the Richter scale and around the third grade on the Percalli scale, was recorded just after 9 o'clock this morning between the provinces of Ancona and Pesaro-Urbino. The tremor was felt by the people living in the Metauro basin. According to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, the first tremor occurred at 36.8 km down and its epicentre was Castelleone di Suasa, in the Ancona province. (AGI)

I love Fall

Today is the perfect fall day. The weather is cold and kinda rainy. I know most people don't like days like today but I LOVE THEM!!! I got up this morning and the house was quiet and chilly. Perfect. I made some hot tea and did a little work on the computer. For lunch I decided to make potato soup. I turned on some Micheal Buble, lit a few candels and set out to make a big pot of potato soup. I even peeled with potatos with a knife instead of a potato peeler just because I wanted to. There was something so calming in that moment with the music, candles and the sound of the knife hitting the cutting board. It was a great little moment for me.

Indoor Plumbing

Yesterday about 11:30 I got ready to take a shower and when I tried to turn on the water in the bathroom the faucet just make a gurgeling noise and no water came out! My first thought was oh no did we pay the water bill???? Come to find out we had paid our water bill. The problem was that one of the major water lines in the city had broken and about 20,000 people in Ancona were without water! Crazy! You really don't notice how many times during the day that you use water until you don't have any. Especially when you are trying to get ready so you can go teach English in about an a couple of hours. Washing you hands, laundry, washing dishes and even cooking is difficult to do. You would laugh if you knew how many times I tried to turn on the water just out of habit. After, English Club I asked the Rotert's if they wouldn't mind having some house guests for dinner since I had planned on making pasta for dinner but no water....no pasta, well no soft pasta that is. Because by the way the Rotert's did have water. They were the only family on the team that did.
It was really interesting because you could go to several different places in the city and load up on water. The city had placed these huge tanks around and you could go and get water there. It was interesting being here, seeing how the city reacted and how I reacted to a small emergency situation. By the time we came home last night the magic of indoor plumbing had returned to our home. I know I am spoiled that I can turn on a faucet in three different rooms in my house and get water. There are so many places in the world that can't do that. But to me it was a difficult day. A day that once again I am reminded of how fortunate I really am.
On another note, fall weather has FINALLY arrived here in Ancona. I couldn't be happier about that!!! :)

IKEA Opens!

IKEA opened today!!!! We got there in the late morning and although I was afraid it would be crazy crowded it wasn't too bad. I just love IKEA. There is something about walking through the upper level and seeing all the rooms set up that inspires me to take good care of my home and make it a comfortable place. Today we were inspired by this office set up. My husband has indured haveing an office/storage room since we moved into this house. His office has always gotten the handydowns from all the other rooms. It is just a collection of cheap furniture. Today we saw this great office set up at IKEA and I think over the next months we are going to work on getting his office looking nice. Some paint and some new furniture. Today I didn't buy much. Really just a few storage items and odds and ends here and there. But I am SO excited that we have an IKEA now. Good times!

Italian in Me and Books

I noticed something about my self the other day. Italian culture is rubbing off on me. The other day I was at lunch with my hubby and Josh. We were trying a new restaurant. Matt has been wanting to try it for a long time and we finally decided to go. They advertised a meal for 11euro that included a first (your pasta), second (your meat) and cooked veggies. It is supposed to all be out similar to a buffet where you choose the food yourself. But when we got there they had already put everything away except the veggies. So we went and loaded up even though these usually come at the end of the meal. They were good too! The waiter then brought out our first and second plates at the same time. This hardly ever happens here because Italians always eat in cources but since we were late they brought it all at the same time because they were cleaning up. We finished our meal in less than 30 minutes. When we were ready to leave I told the guys that was one of the fastest Itaian meals I had ever had and that honestly I felt a little bit robbed of the experience because it happend so fast. Look at me becoming all Italian! :)
We got 10 of our 12 book bags from America the other day. We have been wanting to send these books over since we moved to Italy but never had the time and money at the same time. We finally got the sent just days before we came back to Italy in June. It was like Christmas opening them up and looking at all the books inside. There were lots of kids books and teaching books. I was so excited to get them here now that I am teaching the kids English Club. Finally so many of the books and resources that I have been collecting since college are going to be put to good use. I am so excited! I have always wanted to be a teacher....God has finally brought things full circle and even though I am not teaching in the place or way I thought I would be, I am teaching. It amazes me how God has a long term plan for our lives and when I finally see those plans all I can do is stand in awe of Him!

Kicking off September

This has been a fun weekend. We kicked it off with Heidi's 30th birthday. 30 is a big birthday so Brian wanted to plan something special. So we planned a surprise party! I love parties but especially when it is a surprise and you can really pull it off. Heidi was so surprised. She kept saying "Are you serious?" It was great.
Then on Saturday it was OU game day. Unfortunatly the game didn't start until 1am our time. But we grilled burgers for dinner and hung out. Josh and Maurizio came up for dinner. Then Randy came up to watch the game with Matt. Josh and I only made it through the first quarter. Randy and Matt stayed up for the whole thing. True fans! Then good news is that the rest of the games are at normal times for us. And OU won!
Then on Sunday Brian and Cheryl Bazay came to Ancona! They were here in Italy and we had been trying to find a day to get together but their travel schedule and our work schedule were not working well togehter. They were supposed to go back to the states on Sunday but after some paperwork problems they can't leave until tomorrow. So they came to Ancona! It was great to see them. We showed them around town and took them to Il Forte a restaurant that sits up above the city. You have a great view of the port from up there. We could see the city fireworks as we ate. There were fireworks last night to celebrate the end of the summer. It was really good to see them. Turned out to be a pretty fun weekend. :)

Dinner in Numana

I think it is time to say goodbye to the beach. The weather has started changing here. You don't need the airconditioner any more. We have started wearing jeans, sleeping under blankets and maybe even a light jacket at night. I love the fall! There is something about the sun being out with not a cloud in the sky with a cool breeze blowing that is invigorating. I feel so much more energized and every afternoon I am bursting with energy and excitement to get things done.
Last night we went to dinner with some of our Italian friends, Valeria, Luka, Emanuela and Luka's brother. We went to this neighboring city, Numana. It was such a nice evening. We had dinner and ice cream afterwards. We had been praying that God would open up an opportunity to share more about Him during dinner. Of course, He answered and Emanuala asked us if we were ever going back to America. That led us into how we decided to come to Italy and how a person might know when God is speaking to them. It was so great! We have been praying for God to open the hearts of these dear friends of ours and last night we saw God doing just that. As we shared how God has spoken to us they were listening intently. They were very interested in what we were saying. Matt said he saw Valeria's eyes watering and Emanuela seemed to be challenged by what we said. You could tell this was something they were going to need to think about. I loved it!!!!! I know that in the big picture it is only a small step but to me it is a victory. God is working, God is opening their hearts and He is using us to make a difference one small step at a time. This is why we are here and nights like last night make it seem so worth it!!

Hit The Ground Running....

So, it has been two months to the day since we flew out of the Tulsa International airport. A few days after arriving we hit the ground running. We had a pathways team from our home office, which constisted of four interns who were here a total of two months.

Dave and Joyce Embree came through town during the first week. Dave is the campus minister at Missouri State University. They brought a group here in the summer of 2002.

A week after arriving John and Judy Webb arrived. They are Pastors to our team. They got here just in time to be here for our biannual team planning retreat. We had seen John and Judy in California while we were in the states for our Home Assignment, but it was good to have them on the field. It had been four years since they were here.

Then the day after the retreat, the Caseys headed to the states for their Home Assignment for six months, leaving me as the interim Team Leader while Jason is gone. I have been working on my own ministry tasks as well as taking on many of Jason's on site administerial tasks for the team.

About a week after taking on these new responsibilites our internet went off, due to a billing error. And did not come on until two days ago. It has been fairly smooth during these first two months and I pray it only continues to be so. The summer has been extremely mild, and has been even more mild for us since we got a new air conditioner that not only works, but also keeps more than one room cool at once.

The thing that really is neat to me is everything that has been happening since we got here. I have been able to continue working ahead on our children's curriculum. And we have met at least 26 individuals, some through the team and some on our own. Also, we have reconnected with at least 45 individuals. So out of 61 days we have reconnected or met more than one person per day on average since being back. There are probably a few more people that I haven't remembered. When I look at these people, I can't help but imagine in what capacity God might use them in if they should come to Christ and submit fully. Would they be doing dramas? Or leading in women's ministry? Helping cook for events? Loaning equipment to use to lead people to Christ. I can't wait to see God using some of these precious souls that are here in Italy represented by hair stylists, postal workers, students, restaurant chefs, hotel clerks, waitresses, waiters, computer programmers, store clerks, butchers, cashiers, stockers, store owners, newstand owners and more.

I do miss America when we are here, but I do love living in Italy and am excited to see how God is going to work in the next year and ten months.

Happy Birthday to me!

My birthday was a few days ago. It is hard to believe that I am 31 now. I still am not coping with the 30's that well. Maybe coping isn't the right word it is just that I sure don't feel like I am in my 30's. But I guess I am so sometime it will sink in.
We had the team and interns up to the house for dinner. Matt made fajita's and we had chocolate cake and chocolate icing from the states. Yum! Matt did a great job cooking. He wouldn't let me left a finger and took care of the whole meal. I got calls from the family. It's always good to hear their voices. I even got a package in the mail from my sister on my birthday! How often does that happen??? It was a great surprise. All in all turning 31 wasn't too bad. :)