Leader's Conference

Last week Jonathan attended the ABWE Western European Leader's Conference. It was a tremendous week for him personally. In total there were 14 men who met together to discuss team dynamics and disfunctions and how to more effectively minister as a team within each of their individual fields (Ireland, England, Germany, Spain, Portugal & Italy). Jonathan led the worship sessions and was very encouraged by the fellowship and bonding with the men.

They had lots of fun as well touring a Waldensian museum, attending a professional hockey game, taking in other local sights and of course indulging in some amazing Italian food. The conference was held in Bobbio Pellice which is about an hour outside of Torino.

The OM Conference Center where they stayed, nestled in the mountains.

Double-click on the image of this sign so you can better read a bit of the history of the Waldensians in northern Italy. "Waldensians were forced to meet in hidden and inaccesible places like woods or rocky areas, if they wanted to hold their religious services."

You had to get on your hands and knees to enter this cave through the hole you see at the bottom of the picture.

Once inside it was rather spacious, yet cold as you can see the icicle formations on the wall.

When asked how the Italian professional hockey players compare to the NHL, Jonathan said "If they were NHL quality, they'd be playing in the NHL." Regardless of the skill level it was a highlight to attend a game for this hockey lover of mine.

As you can see from the size of the arena, hockey is really not a popular sport here.

The Party

We had a full house of friends over yesterday to celebrate Samuel's birthday. In total there were 23 of us, so it was a little tight in our living room/kitchen areas. It was such a blessing to have good fellowship and to reconnect with people for a longer period of time. Since I have not been able to attend our Bible studies, my conversations have been limited to brief Sunday morning greetings with people. However, this week that will change as Catherine has made room in her busy ministry schedule to once again serve us in watching the kids so I can attend the Bible studies with Jonathan. (Thank you Cat!!)

Sorry, we do not have pictures of all the guests. We got lost in the moment and completely forgot to take pictures. It was so funny to see people's reactions to the cake. One person didn't even realize it was a cake, even after lighting and blowing out the candles, until I started to a hack off the tail. Her look of complete astonishment was hilarious. I had fun and once again and it was totally worth the two days of work to see the reaction on the kids' faces. Emma said it was "beautifius" and Samuel was quite impressed with the spikes. So here are some pictures of the Stegasaurus Birthday Cake:

We were so excited that our neighbors, Germano & Gessica, joined us in the fun.

And of course we topped the night off with a quick run to the medical center. Last Wednesday Emma came home from school with a red eye and I thought maybe she scratched it or something. By Friday it had cleared up so I wasn't too concerned since it didn't bother her. However, yesterday morning I woke up with a red eye and Emma's other eye also had turned red. Not good! By the end of the evening it was quite the "eye sore" so upon recommendation of our friends we went to the "Guarda Medica" in Borgoro. Believe it or not, we made the round trip and visit in 30 minutes flat! So nice to know of this option instead of making trips to the ER for "non-emergency" needs. Emma was throwing a fit the entire way there as she hates going to the doctor.

We both received prescriptions for our conjunctivitis which we then got filled this morning. Hoping that I'll soon be able to use both my eyes as the one was completely sealed shut this morning and is quite swollen. Emma still is not bothered by hers, thankfully, and we are praying it does not spread to anyone else. So instead of getting out for some sight seeing while the kids are on Carnivale vacation with 2 days off a school, we will be staying home trying to recuperate from this and some on coming cold symptoms.

Tanti Auguri Samuel!

Today we celebrate with great joy Samuel's 6th Birthday!! What a special little boy he is to us and how quickly these past six years have flown by. What a tremendous blessing to see our kids grow and change just within one year.

It is so great to be able to carry on a conversation with Samuel, to see him being a protective brother of his siblings, growing in affection and sensitivity, wanting to know more about Jesus and just changing in stature. He now stands well above a head of all his classmates and has lost 2 teeth. He really looks more like an 8 year old and everyone is still shocked when finding out his age. He so wants to be like his dad and it is so precious to see him imitate Jonathan and get excited about all the things he will get to do when he is a man like dada.

Today I made a tray of brownies for Samuel to share and celebrate with his classmates. He was so excited to share them and from what I heard they were a huge hit. He came home from school and opened a few gifts before we headed off to McDonald's for a special dinner treat. It wasn't the same celebrating with Jonathan gone, but it was nice to at least have Catherine here with us. We will post more pictures after the birthday party that we are having for Samuel on Sunday. So stay tuned for this extended birthday celebration.

New Birth #2

We are very excited to welcome the newest addition to our family. What a joy to have yet another nephew and cousin! The proud parents, Ben and Melissa (and sister Maddie) welcomed their precious gift from God on Wednesday, February 11...

Hudson Benjamin Fisher
8 lbs. 4 oz.
21 inches
(born in Ventura, California)

Be assured you will be seeing more pictures of him soon! They are planning to go home today and to reunite as a family. Be in prayer for Maddie who has RSV and therefore has not been able to see her new brother. She has another doctor's visit today and we pray is well enough to be in the same house as Hudson. Thankfully, Nano has been able to stay with Maddie and take care of her while her mommy is away.

New Birth #1

We want to share some very exciting news with you that we have been praying about since we first found out that we were expecting our first child. It is our greatest desire and prayer as parents to see our children put their trust in Jesus and make Him their greatest treasure in life. This past Saturday Samuel did just that.

In our family devotions through the book of Revelation (I know, leave it to Jonathan to pick an easy book) we had seen an increased uneasiness in Samuel as he began to comprehend the punishment that is due to those who do not trust in Jesus. On Saturday he said he wanted to trust in Jesus. Our kids could have easily said "the" salvation prayer long ago, but we have never pushed it, trusting that God would make it evident to us as parents when it was a genuine desire of their own. I put the other two kids down to bed while Jonathan took some more time with Samuel to work through some different questions and thoughts. After some more discussion and because of Samuel's feedback and responses it seemed that he truly wanted to put his trust in Jesus. It was such a precious moment to hear Samuel praying in his own words of confession "Jesus, I'm so very very sorry...I want to trust in you...thank you for dying on the cross and saving me."

When he came up the stairs a while later I gave him a great big hug and told him how happy and excited I was for him and he responded with, "and Jesus heard me!" It has been neat to talk about how Dr. Woelfel fixed Samuel's heart (in November), but how Jesus filled the whole in the middle of his heart. Our prayer since Saturday was that we would see evidences of a transformed heart. Samuel on several occasions has brought up the discussion of Jesus saving him and that has been reassuring for us as parents. We continue to preach the gospel to Samuel and trust that God will work out Samuel's salvation as he perseveres and grows in his knowledge of Him.

The angels are rejoicing and so are we!!

Forever Young

Just a couple of little amusing comments we have received that we thought would give you an insight into our unique standing in the Italian culture:

With Samuel entering his first year of elementary school in the fall, we have had meetings at two different schools in order for us to make an informed decision on which one to send him to. One would think that all public schools are set up the same, but that is not the case. There are some drastic differences. We have the choice of sending him to school for 30 hrs./week or 40 hrs./week. One school is in walking distance of our house but does not have a cafeteria so we would need to pick Samuel up each day and bring him home for lunch and then return him for the afternoon. Don't even ask why they can't pack a lunch and eat it at school...the concept does not exist here! Classes would be all day M-W, and half days on Thursday & Fridays. We will be sending him to this school because 1) less class hours per week 2) within walking distance 3) smaller class sizes and 4) it is mostly attended by kids that live in our neighborhood, which is on the outskirts of Leini'. We are thankful it was an easy choice for us.

After the meeting yesterday Jonathan approached the teacher to ask some more questions about the school and she immediately began the conversation with the comment: "You are not old enough to have a child in elementary school, are you?" He smiled cordially and then said, "He (Samuel) is the oldest of three." The jaw drop always makes us laugh.

Also yesterday when Jonathan was picking Emma up for school someone was asking why she was leaving so early for the day. Jonathan told him that she eats lunch at home with her brother.

Man: Oh, are you her brother?
Jonathan: No, I'm her dad.
Man: No way! How old are you?
Jonathan: 29. And actually she is one of three children.
Man: (jaw drop)

One would think that meeting other parents through our children would give us some good peer contacts. Just so you know, it is rarely the case here. So there is your cultural insight for the day and why we shall always be "forever young" in Italy!