Surprise Spring Visitor

April 1^st, my mom arrived for a visit—no joke!  Six and a half years had past since she had last visited us in Italy.  For Emma and Luca, this visit felt more like the first, as they are unable to recall memories of her previous visits.

Mid-February, we all were elated to learn of the unexpected gift of a transatlantic flight from an anonymous giver for her and dad to travel to Istanbul, Turkey the end of March to participate in a prayer conference where my brother and his family would also be attending.  I was overjoyed for them to see each other after a particularly trying and difficult year for my brother and wife in Iraq, as well as the opportunity for Nano and Papa to bond with their one-year old granddaughter, Zoe.  Cody and Michelle needed the encouragement and this visit could not have been timelier for them.  We were nothing but overjoyed for them.  

Mom and Dad would be SO “close” (just a 2 hour flight) and I have to be honest, it would have been hard to not see either of them knowing their vicinity.  Thankfully, after an invite from us that spurred on investigation, mom was able to include a leg on to her itinerary to come see us that ended up costing less in total than dad’s ticket.  Another God-provision!  Unfortunately, with demands of the farm dad was not able to extend his visit as well.  We missed seeing him of course but are thankful that we are now merely a couple of months away from reuniting again with him in person in California.

The 8 days we had together with mom were absolutely wonderful and cherished!  The kids were non-stop chatter from morning to night that I was actually glad they had school so that I could get in some conversation with her as well.  The kids loved showing off our new home, their school and just having Nano live life alongside them for a week.  Samuel was able to miss 1.5 days of school due to contracting pink eye and having the wire fall off his bracket--a definite silver lining to his discomforts.

Mom helped with some mending projects, ironing, cooking, cleaning, decorating Luca’s birthday cake and even relining my purse for me—on top of entertaining grandchildren.  She walked to and from school with me and was by my side in the kitchen.  The kids requested that Nano make her tacos and chicken fingers, some of their favorite meals in California. 

It was an eye opener for her as well to see a normal week of ministry for us.  It is always one thing to hear of people and ministries but completely another thing to actually see it all in person.  All the days of her visit except for one were filled with ministry, so her presence was more than a blessing and relief to me in lightening up my domestic workload.  Hopefully we didn’t wear her out too much!  On our day off we spent a beautiful spring afternoon at the palace gardens of the Venaria Reale and treated her to gelato.

Mom was a trooper as she braved the round trip journey from Istanbul to Turin, stayed overnight on her own in Turkey and then made the long 14-hour flight back to California on her own.  What a grandma will do to see her kids and grandchildren!  We love you so very much, Nano!

To the anonymous donor(s):  your gift of love and generosity to my parents was not merely a gift of blessing and provision for them, but to the entire family.  To traverse two years between face-to-face visits over the past six years has not been easy for anyone.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for providing such a treasured and unexpected visit for us all.  Our deepest love and gratitude to you, whoever you are—May the Lord bless you!