It has been my intention to blog on what has been going on since we dug back in to our ministries three weeks ago. However, there was always an issue of time or not feeling inspired or overwhelmed with trying to think of how to recap everything and the excuses continued. I am determined to fill in some gaps for you and will try to organize my thoughts by subject. (Be warned: this might be long!)
ESL Classes: resumed on January 13th. Many students returned enthusiastically, however, there was still room for more in all 4 classes that are being offered. The following week we redistributed flyers in Caselle and are once again at capacity level, except for the middle school level. We are very encouraged by this ministry and the doors of opportunity it has given us to know people in the community.
CineForum (Film Night): We held our first film night of the year on January 23rd. This ministry continues to be received well and provides a unique opportunity for discussion. Jonathan had one of his students comment that for him it's not so much about watching a good movie, it is the discussion following that he enjoys with everyone. Our first film night back in November brought 17 people and this most recent one brought 8. At first Jonathan was disappointed but it turned out to be just as great as the discussion allowed for more intimacy and participation in a smaller setting. So big or small turnout--we see this as a profitable ministry that we will continue to do on a monthly basis. This last time brought marriage and the roles of men/husbands to the table for discussion.
Ladies Gathering: We resumed meeting on January 18th. We meet at a home here in Leini' on Mondays. I have been blessed by the simple fact alone of just being with other women on a regular basis without kids! Sometimes there might only be three of us and other times we might have six women. I am really praying that more women will be able to join us regularly as all of them are unable to attend our Tuesday night Bible studies. Each week we study what was taught the previous Tuesday night. It is our attempt at trying to keep everyone on the same page and growing as we study the same things, even if it takes two separate venues to do so. Please continue to pray for my growth in the language. It is so frustrating to want to express something and then get tangled up on how to phrase something. The ladies are very patient with me, but I've got lots and lots and lots of room to grow!
Bible Studies: We resumed on January 12th. We started out with a night of looking back on this past year and looking ahead to this coming year; noting growth areas, points of praise and where we would like to see ourselves in another year. We then completed the second part of study that Jonathan began in December. We will leave our study of the Gospel of Mark for 7 weeks to focus on "Who we are" and the mission and identity of our church. It might be a little American to have this high emphasis on vision, mission, identity etc. but we believe it invaluable to giving our people unity, focus and clear direction as we look to start our church services soon. Maybe at a later time I'll be able to post our 6 points, visually demonstrated with arrows and how they identify who we are.
Reset (Evangelical Cultural Center): is nearly ready to soon host church services. We are currently trying to find a solution to create a more sound proof barrier between the two rooms instead of the current barrier of curtains across an arching doorway. A "must fix" so that the kids will not be a distraction during the services. Sheet music has been copied and we are working on organizing our first worship team practice. We are very blessed in our small group with gifted musicians. Our goal is to do a "trial run" on March 21st and then have our official "Kick-off" service on Easter Sunday. Lots to get ready in the meantime!
Miscellaneous: In addition Jonathan has preached at a sister church this month and will be speaking to the youth group this Saturday.
Family: With the above schedule and prep time needed for each ministry you might be wondering if we have any time left for each other or family. This year we have made it a point to carve out one night a week for a "Family Fun Night." The kids highly anticipate Friday nights for us to be able focus completely on having fun together. So far it has always included a game and something special for dinner. One time it was McDonald's and another time it was making homemade donuts together. We are looking forward to some warmer weather to get more creative on these nights. Samuel suggested pizza and a museum. At six, I never would have thought a museum could be fun, but he apparently has gotten accustomed to them and enjoys them. Jonathan and I also will get one date-night in a month. It may sound pathetically insufficient but it's better than what we have done in the past. Sitters are not in abundance for us to call upon which is the big drawback from not living near family.
Health: Let's just say, we have had better months. Emma has missed at least one day of school each week because of illness since being back to school. I have had to stay home the past two weekends from church because of a child's fever. This week all but Jonathan has been hit by Strep throat along with the kids battling influenza--fevers, cough, runny noses and sore throats. Just today the kids and I all received antibiotics. Praying for a healthier February!
I think that about sums up the major happenings...I told you this would be long! Next month I promise to stay more on top of things. Thanks as always for your prayers!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Pocket Treasures
Everyday Emma comes home from school with a pocket full of drawings...little treasures in my opinion. Each masterpiece is folded up very tiny and stored for safe keeping in her pocket that upon returning home is unfolded and revealed for us to admire. I thought today's treasures were particularly creative and worthy of bragging on her free-hand drawing ability.
A dragon getting ready to take a bath with Dragon Yoshi on his back and of course a frog.
A dragon getting ready to take a bath with Dragon Yoshi on his back and of course a frog.
A frog swinging from a tree vine, with a snail, fox and wolf.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Quirks and Funny Quotes
Over the past month we have been introduced to a new "phase" (at least we hope) involving Emma and her fear of germs. Don't ask me how it got started. Maybe I should have not used the scare tactic over the summer and early fall about getting germs from biting her nails--although true. Nail biting was a habit she resumed over the summer and then quit after a couple of early fall sicknesses. I enforce washing hands after using the bathroom and when we get home from the store or school. And I always carry a bottle of hand sanitizer in my purse when we can't get to a sink to clean little hands. What mother doesn't take these basic hygienic habits seriously?
A constant question emerging from Emma's mouth as of late is: "Does this have germs?" You might have noticed her comment in the video from the aquarium. She will wash her hands for at least a minute before then yelling to me wherever I might be in the house to ask if it was long enough? Sometimes an entire wardrobe change follows if she touches her clothes before washing her hands in the bathroom, because she has contaminated her clothes. And finally, once she emerges from her hand washing routine she immediately comes to me and asks me to smell her hands. "Do they smell good? Do they smell like soap? What about this side (as she makes sure I smell both palms and back of the hands)" No joke!
So now I am trying to diffuse this fear in her and replace it will a healthy and non-paranoia awareness of germs. I have hope that this will be just a phase--with God's help. We all have our fears, big or microscopic, and the question remains for us to examine if we cling to those fears or turn them over to God.
In another aspect, Emma has made us laugh several times over the last week with some of her comments. Here are just a couple stories:
The other night I was tidying up the kids' rooms before their bedtime. Emma's room was littered with costumes and clothes. A quick sweep of clothes into the drawers and it was a transformed room. Emma then came in to her room while I was touching up the boys' room...
Emma: Wow, my room is all clean!! Who cleaned it?
Mamma: Who do you think cleaned it?
Emma: Jesus!
She then noticed my own need for a quick clean in my room, and hoping to do what "Jesus" did for her, she quickly offered to clean my room for me. So while I took a shower she was working hard at cleaning my room. So sweet! And even though I did not get any credit for my work or even being her object of imitation and service...at least she understands the servant attitude of Jesus and that he came not to be served, but to serve.
Last week, when Jonathan was picking Emma up from school he was walking in step with other parent to pick up a fellow classmate of Emma's. The following conversation was between Emma and this classmate.
Emma: Ecco tua nonna!! (There's your grandma!)
Classmate: NO, non e' mia nonna! E' mia mamma! (No, it's not my grandma! It's my mom!)
Jonathan was the one embarrassed for sure! I guess Emma still has trouble comprehending that unlike her own grandparents, on average someone in their 50s here in Italy is more often a parent of a preschooler rather than a grandparent.
A constant question emerging from Emma's mouth as of late is: "Does this have germs?" You might have noticed her comment in the video from the aquarium. She will wash her hands for at least a minute before then yelling to me wherever I might be in the house to ask if it was long enough? Sometimes an entire wardrobe change follows if she touches her clothes before washing her hands in the bathroom, because she has contaminated her clothes. And finally, once she emerges from her hand washing routine she immediately comes to me and asks me to smell her hands. "Do they smell good? Do they smell like soap? What about this side (as she makes sure I smell both palms and back of the hands)" No joke!
So now I am trying to diffuse this fear in her and replace it will a healthy and non-paranoia awareness of germs. I have hope that this will be just a phase--with God's help. We all have our fears, big or microscopic, and the question remains for us to examine if we cling to those fears or turn them over to God.
In another aspect, Emma has made us laugh several times over the last week with some of her comments. Here are just a couple stories:
The other night I was tidying up the kids' rooms before their bedtime. Emma's room was littered with costumes and clothes. A quick sweep of clothes into the drawers and it was a transformed room. Emma then came in to her room while I was touching up the boys' room...
Emma: Wow, my room is all clean!! Who cleaned it?
Mamma: Who do you think cleaned it?
Emma: Jesus!
She then noticed my own need for a quick clean in my room, and hoping to do what "Jesus" did for her, she quickly offered to clean my room for me. So while I took a shower she was working hard at cleaning my room. So sweet! And even though I did not get any credit for my work or even being her object of imitation and service...at least she understands the servant attitude of Jesus and that he came not to be served, but to serve.
Last week, when Jonathan was picking Emma up from school he was walking in step with other parent to pick up a fellow classmate of Emma's. The following conversation was between Emma and this classmate.
Emma: Ecco tua nonna!! (There's your grandma!)
Classmate: NO, non e' mia nonna! E' mia mamma! (No, it's not my grandma! It's my mom!)
Jonathan was the one embarrassed for sure! I guess Emma still has trouble comprehending that unlike her own grandparents, on average someone in their 50s here in Italy is more often a parent of a preschooler rather than a grandparent.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Genova Aquarium
Yesterday, we took a day trip to visit the Acquario di Genova. We had heard a lot of great things about it as it is the 2nd largest aquarium in Europe and we figured it would make for a perfect indoor family excursion. The kids had a great time, as I'm sure you can imagine. We saw eels, sharks, dolphins, manatees, turtles, frogs, penguins, rays and lots and lots of fish! The aquarium was great, but felt rather constricted and tight in space. Maybe that fact was exaggerated a bit in that every other family in Italy had the same idea to spend one of their final days of vacation at the aquarium. I have never been so thankful for Luca's monkey leash! If he ever escaped it would have been impossible to successfully pursue him through the crowds, and he would not have been a happy camper to be constrained to his stroller the entire time.
Samuel's favorite part of the day was touching the rays. Emma's favorite thing was seeing the tomato frogs and miniature orange frogs (of course)! Luca was excited about everything, never lingering long at any one tank--always wanting to keep moving. I have to admit, I was thankful he did not plunge himself into the tank of rays!
Emma did make a later attempt at touching the rays, after getting over the fact that she would get germs on her arm. She insisted on putting hand sanitizer all the way up to her shoulder after putting her hand in the water.
If it wasn't for the bitter cold winds we might have explored around the port more.
Starting off the tour with a 3D Shark Movie. It was so funny to see the kids trying to reach out and grab the fish.
Emma's tomato frogs
A sea turtle bigger than Emma!
The two-hour drive down to the city port turned out to be more snowy than rainy as predicted. The drive is beautiful, however, to pass through the coastal mountain ranges there are an incredible amount of tunnels and just one main highway for all traffic. After leaving the aquarium around 3pm, we encountered a road block due to an accident in the tunnel that we later found out killed 2 people. Thanks to our GPS we were able to navigate our way through some mountain passes that had us gripping the wheel and door handles in our attempt to get home. We made several attempts to reenter the Autostrada along the way but the highway had been shut down in both directions by that time due to icy conditions. We kept driving slowly along back roads (around 90km in distance, not speed) and were finally able to reenter back on to the main road in Alessandria. This detour added 1.5 hours to our trip, but we were so thankful to have arrived home safely!
Samuel's favorite part of the day was touching the rays. Emma's favorite thing was seeing the tomato frogs and miniature orange frogs (of course)! Luca was excited about everything, never lingering long at any one tank--always wanting to keep moving. I have to admit, I was thankful he did not plunge himself into the tank of rays!
Emma did make a later attempt at touching the rays, after getting over the fact that she would get germs on her arm. She insisted on putting hand sanitizer all the way up to her shoulder after putting her hand in the water.
If it wasn't for the bitter cold winds we might have explored around the port more.
Starting off the tour with a 3D Shark Movie. It was so funny to see the kids trying to reach out and grab the fish.
Emma's tomato frogs
A sea turtle bigger than Emma!
The two-hour drive down to the city port turned out to be more snowy than rainy as predicted. The drive is beautiful, however, to pass through the coastal mountain ranges there are an incredible amount of tunnels and just one main highway for all traffic. After leaving the aquarium around 3pm, we encountered a road block due to an accident in the tunnel that we later found out killed 2 people. Thanks to our GPS we were able to navigate our way through some mountain passes that had us gripping the wheel and door handles in our attempt to get home. We made several attempts to reenter the Autostrada along the way but the highway had been shut down in both directions by that time due to icy conditions. We kept driving slowly along back roads (around 90km in distance, not speed) and were finally able to reenter back on to the main road in Alessandria. This detour added 1.5 hours to our trip, but we were so thankful to have arrived home safely!
Cherishing the Moments
Many cherished memories were made over the final weeks of 2009. Because of those precious family times, I have been enjoying a few weeks of a technology hiatus. Now to catch you up on all that has transpired in the Kleis household over the holidays. The 12 days (literally) of Christmas were passed with Munga, Gramma and Uncle Ben visiting from Michigan. Our time with them passed entirely too quickly! Some highlights included: everyone in good health, game nights playing Skip-bo and Settlers of Catan, enduring frigid temps that even the Michigianders were complaining about, re-celebrating my 32nd birthday, Wii sports competitions, snowball fights, a Torino tour and much more.
Upon their departure on the 30th, it was then time to prepare for hosting a New Year's Eve party for 19 people. Most everyone from our core-group was able to come bringing pizza and other northern Italian traditional New Year's foods (i.e. lentils and boiled sausage that is stuffed in a pig's hock). The kids enjoyed ringing in the New Year for the first time until 1am. Sparklers and what would be an illegal firecracker in the US was lit to make for a great fireworks display in front of our house. Since January 1, we have been resting much and enjoying lots more family time together. So enough with the written stuff and on to some pictures, eh?!
Christmas Eve 2009
Christmas 2009
Torino Tour - 26 December
Upon their departure on the 30th, it was then time to prepare for hosting a New Year's Eve party for 19 people. Most everyone from our core-group was able to come bringing pizza and other northern Italian traditional New Year's foods (i.e. lentils and boiled sausage that is stuffed in a pig's hock). The kids enjoyed ringing in the New Year for the first time until 1am. Sparklers and what would be an illegal firecracker in the US was lit to make for a great fireworks display in front of our house. Since January 1, we have been resting much and enjoying lots more family time together. So enough with the written stuff and on to some pictures, eh?!
Our First Snowfall - 19 December
Christmas Eve 2009
Christmas 2009
Snowball Fights
Torino Tour - 26 December
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