:: Happy Birthday Luca ::

FIVE years old today! Our little Italian born son.  A surprise you were to us, but not to your Creator. How thankful we are for you and for what you add to our family. You are passionate about life. Full of energy and still struggling to understand the meaning of "walk." You are fearless. You are very expressive and we never have to wonder how you really feel about things. Your facial expressions constantly crack us up!  You are tender and still love a good cuddle from Mamma (most of the time). Highly independent and determined in all your undertakings. You love numbers, can tell time and want to learn right along with your siblings. You have yet to embrace food. Drinking yogurt, PBandJ, fruit and pizza are your staples. You have this mamma concerned about your extreme opinions and judgments about food.  However, we continue to pray, trust and know that Jesus can help you overcome this in His timing.  We love you so very much, our crazy bookey-boy!

Here are some highlights from the first birthday celebration.  A party will be held on Sunday with some friends, and will buy me a few more days to create a "Luigi" cake.

Like we said...expressive faces!

Just had to whip up a cake for his actual birthday.  This is an ice cream cake, but go figure Luca refused to eat it!  I should have known better and just stuck a candle on a bowl of ice cream.  You can't mess with appearances.  He loves ice cream AND these cake rolls, but don't put them together!

Milano

The city of Milan is really only about an hour and a half from our home, however, it seems the only time we head there is to catch a flight or visit the US Consulate.  Last Friday was no exception to that trend.  Noella's and Luca's passports were up for renewal.  My photograph from 10 years ago doesn't look like I have changed too much.  However, it is nice that Luca's 2 week old baby picture can now be replaced with something more current.  The service at the consulate is always on-time, orderly, efficient and for sure a breath of fresh air when dealing with all things bureaucratic.  The kids thought it was pretty cool that they were in "America" for a few minutes too.

The weather was gorgeous topping out at 70 degrees, so we decided to make a quick tourist stop and grab some lunch before catching the Metro back to our car and heading home.  We of course headed to the famous Duomo and Galleria.  The church is immense.  We always walk out of these huge cathedrals impressed...not by their sheer beauty, but for the lost souls that believe and embrace the Catholic religion.  This time we had a lot of questions and explaining to do to the kids.  No, they could not light a candle and no, they could not walk up the steps of the confession booth to get a closer look.

Flat Stanley is visiting us from Cedarville, Ohio so we took him along for the ride.

The famous galleria filled with top fashion stores, like Prada, restaurants and more.  We ate at the not so prestigous McDonalds.

The piazza in front of the Duomo

He is indeed everywhere!

On our way home we stopped at a new outlet mall.  Jonathan was in the market for some new jeans and from the highway we saw they had several American brandname stores.  However, the outlet prices of 60-80 euros for a pair of jeans was out of the question.  It was not a wasted trip though as I did get a set of ceramic lined cooking pans that I needed to replace my peeling teflan ones.  My new pans are super nice to cook with!  Maybe we will venture back to the outlets again when the Gap opens up this May.  The atmosphere of the outlets definitely made us think of shopping in the US.

Another Box

This time a huge thanks goes to Mike, sending his greetings from Gauntanamo Bay, Cuba!  As an MK himself he wanted to send a special package to our kids as he remembers how exciting it was to receive gifts from supporters from his own life growing up overseas.  He counts it a privilege to be able to do that for others now.

It is our prayer that our kids will continue to embrace their lives as MKs.  That they will have a burning passion for all nations and all peoples.  That if the Lord does not call them to foreign missions that they like Mike would serve as senders and passionate supporters of God's work around the world.  Thank you Mike for your prayers, love, encouragement and support to our family!  You definitely made Samuel, Emma and Luca's week!!

Looks like the US Naval Base is well stocked on all things American!  :)  The postcards with a special note written to each child were very special too.  Drawing banana rats and iguanas was what they wanted to do when they got home from school.

Mission Quotes

I came across this blog post this morning and it is too good not to share.  So many of these quotes have served as a challenge, inspiration and encouragement to us in our call to reach the nations.  Enjoy!

100 Mission Mottos (& Missionary Quotes)

Big Sister

Poor Emma has always been surrounded by boys in her life.  However, that is no longer the case as she now has a Big Sister in her life.  Recently, we met our neighbors who live in the palazzo on the corner.  They have attended the past two church services we have held in Caselle and this week we were finally able to get together with them.  And not just once, but 3 times:  Coffee on Thursday,  playdate on Friday, and dinner on Saturday.  Aurora is in 3rd grade and all of our kids adore her.  The above picture was taken at 10:30 last night as they were watching a movie together.  Emma certainly enjoyed the cuddles and I think Aurora was enammered by Emma's curls as she kept stroking them.  This family moved to Leinì a year ago and Aurora attends the other elementary school in town.  Praying that our new friendship with Enrico, Cristina and Aurora will serve to challenge and encourage them in their walk with Christ.

For this mother, I can't tell you how much joy it brings to my heart to have the doorbell ring spontaneously.  There was an immediate connection and trust given to us that makes this possible for one to let their child come over unsupervised and unannounced.  I guess I better have a stash of cookies in the freezer to whip out for afternoon playtime, because it looks like we will have a lot of unexpected playdates.  

First Day of Spring

Signs of spring from our corner of the world...

 Couldn't resist buying this pot of hydrangeas a couple weeks back.  I love love love flowers and the memories they conjure of both my grandfathers and dad.  Not to mention flowers are a welcome sign that spring is on it's way!

 60s + sunshine = t-shirts and flip flops

(first weekend of spring is behaving properly)

 My geranium seedlings potted in February are showing some promise.

And the very much NOT welcome sight of bee holes in our yard.  They are everywhere and something must be done if the kids want to play outside in peace!  Any ideas?

Book of the Month: February

Three months in to my reading goal for 2011, and so far so good.  I am loving the Kindle and for some reason feel like I read faster using that.  No doubt it is just a psychological thing.  Also, it totally eliminates the difficult choice of choosing between the books you REALLY want to read and those that would be nice to read at some point, because you don't have to worry about shipping/handling and space on the already packed bookshelf.  I still do like the feel of a real book in my hands and I'm sure some of my virtual reads will want to be acquired in their physical form for reference in the future.  For those of us with no access to a public libraries, books in English and who can't afford paying double the price of a book to be shipped to you, the Kindle is a must have.  So thankful for technology!

In February, I read The Missional Mom: Living with Purpose at Home and in the World by Helen Lee.  A really good read and encouragement.  God's calling on my life and family automatically would place me in the category of being a missional mom, but even for me it is easy to lose sight of that as my tendancy can be to turn inward and focus on my own family instead of both inward and outward.  There are seasons of life and being a mother of young children doesn't give me the liberty to hit the "pause button" on ministry to others and our number one calling given by our heavenly Father.  So many great thoughts in the introduction alone by Helen Lee:  "Our primary calling is to be with God, to immerse ourselves in his immeasurable love and grace.   Everything else flows out of this connection, which is our absolute number one priority...we always need to put our role as mothers in the right context and never prioritize our secondary calling as a mother over our primary calling to know and love God....making motherhood your primary mission could potentially backfire and give your children the wrong message about what our essential life priority is meant to be.  But God's mission informs and guides us in all the secondary callings of our lives---motherhood, vocational paths, or our relational roles.  As we pursue God's mission in our lives--bearing witness to what Christ has done for us, making disciples here and around the world--we are able to see how He can use our secondary callings as channels through which His primary mission will be accomplished."

I regret that in the past when asked about my calling as a missionary and having children in the home, that my response was "my priority is being a mom."  I was taking the obvious for granted, that God is my number one priority.  I want my children and others to know and hear often that my relationship with Christ is the most important and then followed by my secondary callings in life.  The gifts God has given me need not be withheld or stiffled until a new season of life comes where I have more freedom and time to invest in my world, but I can still use those gifts and be an example for my children in how to reach others for Christ no matter what the season of life.

Just Because...

Don't you just love those moments in life when someone surprises you with something special...just because?!  This past week we have been showered by gifts from various people.  Recently, a small group from one of our supporting churches, Rock Point Baptist Church, chose to "adopt" our family.  They wrote us and wanted to know more specifically how to pray for our family and then they asked what they could send us to be of encouragement.  Prayer requests and ideas were exchanged and then out of the blue last week an Amazon gift card arrived in our inbox for the use of purchasing books for our Kindle.  We were totally blown away by their most generous amount and are thrilled to be adding more material to our reading list.  I think I might have to change my goal of reading 1 book a month to 2!

Then yesterday our "personal" SDA delivery man came with 2 boxes from the States.  One was again from this same small group filled with goodies.  The kids were SO excited for the surprise package.  There was a pile of books for them, candy, pop tarts, colored pictures and notes from other children, extract flavorings and seasonings for the kitchen and notes from families in the group saying they are praying for us and our ministry.  The kids kept saying "Thank You Indiana!"  It is really special to have this intimate connection with a supporting church.  We do thank you RPBC for your desire to know and encourage your missionaries through this personal extension of love, sacrifice, encouragement and prayer.

The second box came from the Michigan grandparents in anticipation of Luca's birthday.  No peaking or early surprises from that box for the kids.  However, included was a gift from a dear college friend.  In my attempt to support her new home business I placed an order for a few cleaning items, but was outright refused as she wanted to gift them to me.  She proceeded to tell me that each month she is choosing to send a portion of her earnings to missions.  I love her heart for Jesus, and even though she could use each penny to make ends meet for her own family each month, she is choosing to give her first fruits back to God and trusting that God will provide just what they need.  Jodi, you are such an example to me and a friend that extends across the miles and years of separation.  Love you, girl!  And, if I can make a shameless plug for her business....within minutes of using these Norwex cloths....I am sold on these products!  For the first time dusting is not a game of reorganizing dust particles, but actually removing them.  And now I can save money and go green on my cleaning methods, which means the kids are going to get schooled in how to do all the bathroom cleaning and dusting!!  Check out Jodi's site and catalog here.

Thank you so much to ALL of you who so faithfully communicate your love for us and pray for us regularly.  It is such a huge encouragement to us, you really have no idea...and we don't say thank you nearly as often as we should.  Thank you dear friends and family!!  We love you!!

Dublin

Most of you reading this post would know that Jonathan was gone for a week in Dublin, Ireland from February 21-25.  However, for those who might still be wondering the reason for his trip, basically there is an annual ABWE Leader's Meeting for those serving in Western Europe that he is required to attend.  It is a smaller gathering of men in which they use to train and encourage those in attendance.  This year's training revolved around how to better teach adults so that they retain material better.  Not being present myself, I think I'll leave the description at that and just say that Jonathan did find it helpful and interesting.

While in Dublin, he also had the chance to visit the Irish Bible Institute.  He has been asked to pursue his Master's degree by some leaders within our agency.  Not that they find him incompetent, but he was also  asked this past November to be a part of a theological advisory team for ABWE in Western Europe.  For those that know Jonathan, he is passionate about theology.  This opportunity to be a part of the advisory team could possibly involve teaching in our region as well in the future.  The only issue they had was that Jonathan is the only one chosen to be on the team that does not have his Master's degree.  Not that he was unwilling to obtain it prior to this, for he has pursued other options even while we have been on the field.

This opportunity at IBI is a great fit for so many reasons.  To have the training in one's cultural context of ministry will be highly beneficial.  Not that the Irish and Italians are identical, but they both have a western european mindset.  If he received his higher education from the US it would be a struggle to constantly be trying to then place and relate that back into our european ministry context of church planting.  This is a 3 year program geared towards a highly motivated self-studier.  He would be required to attend a one week modual 2x a year for the first two years.  Year three is solely devoted to writing his disertation.  Another bonus is the cost.  5,000 euros for 3 years! And a degree that formally comes from the University of Wales.  So now we are left to pray and determine the timing in all of this.  Picking up the study time required for this program will not be a simple thing but rather something he has to make time for and work in along with maintaining family and ministry.  We would appreciate your prayers in this matter for us.

I survived the week with the kids here at home.  Nothing major to report from that except to say, so glad the weather was how it was instead of like this week with rain and snow.  Walking to and from school 4 times a day would not have been so pleasant.  Oh, I did throw my back out on the final day.  All is pretty good now with that and Jonathan is once again regaining his strength from getting the influenza upon his return from Ireland.  He had to cancel Bible study and ESL this week due to that.  We are on the mend and hope to be in full form soon!

Here are some pics of Dublin...

Taken with his iphone while on a morning jog along the beach.  Poor quality picture, but still worth sharing.