So I got home  from Europe December 10.
Went to visit my good friend Day Carr in Indiana last week.
Right now I'm sitting in my old bedroom at the Nugents house.
I'll be in Macomb until Jan. 3.

All is well.
I'm at peace.
I don't know why or how other than from God....

My next step: looking for a job.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Over the past three months, I have been traveling on planes, trains, automobiles, taxis, buses.... To be honest, it feels nice to not have to worry about traveling somewhere new for a while. But I truly thank God for public transportation... and I realize by my interaction with the people who work in public transportation that it is an under-appreciated job.

Anyway, so my trip back to America was quite eventful -- life is always an adventure in my world. ;)

Thursday morning I got to the airport in time. Said goodbye to David and Irene.
My flight was supposed to leave at 10.10am.
I was supposed to go Venice --> Frankfurt --> Toronto --> Chicago.

If you are on facebook, you know that I asked to pray for clear skies for that day. Well, it looked like this:

Yes, that is fog. Not just any fog... it was SUPER DUPER FOGGY! I had to laugh at my simple request for a clear day and the result.

My flight to Frankfurt was delayed because of the fog. 

They gave me a free bottle of water and a sandwich. 

It also gave me time to journal and figure out 3G on my kindle (something that would prove priceless on this particular journey). 

I arrived in Frankfurt around 3pm. I had to reschedule my flight since I missed the connection to Toronto. This is what greeted me in the waiting area: 

So I took a number: 

Too bad they were only on #534 when I arrived. Two and a half hours later I was told that I would be on the 8.10am direct flight to Chicago (wahoo direct flight!). 

Because it was around 6pm on Thursday, they gave me a hotel room at Park Inn in Frankfurt, Germany. I was given a free taxi ride to the hotel. There was snow on the ground (although being a Michigander, I was somewhat shocked that they stopped flights in Frankfurt -- it was not snowing when I got there...). Heard Sleigh Ride on the way to the hotel and it just made me happy! A free hotel room. Buffet dinner. 

It made me miss Irene, though. My Italian was ok, but my German is... practically non-existent. Irene has been studying German, so I'm sure if she was with me, we could have had some fun in Frankfurt. But I just stayed in the hotel. The people who worked there all knew English well, so it was not a problem there. Until I got on the elevator with an older woman and she said something to me in German. I said, "I don't know German" and she pressed for floor #5. Too bad I only knew the first three numbers in German. Bummer.

I was shuttled back to the airport early Friday morning. 

Had to wait in line to get my new ticket printed out.

I got pulled aside for countless searches en route to my gate. 

Every. Stinkin'. Checkpoint.

For real.

I think I might have freaked them out that I was emailing my dad updates via my kindle. 

Suspicious to have a young woman traveling by herself, I guess. 

Regardless, I am now back in Michigan.

I plan to eventually start a new blog since this one was for the specific purpose of chronicling my adventures this fall in Italy.

Travelling alone

I am getting ready to travel back to America.
I keep hearing about all the snow we're getting in Michigan.
I have three different flights on Thursday.
Venice to Frankfurt.
Frankfurt to Toronto.
Toronto to Chicago.
I am asking that you please pray for clear skies and clear landing.
I think it makes me more nervous about the landing on ice/snow.

I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends, but that does not make it much easier to leave the family and friends I have here.
My heart will forever be divided in missing someone.

Thomas Jefferson: One travels more usefully when alone, because he reflects more.
I will for sure be reflecting on these past three months and trying to figure out where to go from here.

As for America...
I am not coming home to a job, so we will see...

Trusting God knows what He is doing.

Thanks for sharing in this adventure with me.
I don't know that I will be updating this blog anymore after this.
Maybe once more to say I'm back in Michigan...

Chiavari

This week I went to Chiavari, a city in the Ligurian region of Italy. It is the northwestern part of Italy along the seacoast. Simply put, it's fabulously beautiful. It reminded me of Sicily in the fact that it was a great combination of mountains and sea.

I was so surprised to see the Pope.

Went to the beach. It was beautiful! 

We went to another spot along the coast. Right after this picture, the wave behind us got us soaking wet.... haha... We did not realize it would come up that far, but the waves were pretty crazy that day.

This is the Walti family: Lee, Jeannette, Hannah (17), Jacob (15), Elijah (11), and Abby (7). What a beautiful family. Everyone is so unique. They also have a daughter who is living in Florida, Bethany (20).  

I have heard so much about this family through people I met here and also my stepmom. They lived in Udine for a few years. When they arrived in Udine, Lucy helped them a lot with figuring things out here. Now they moved to start a new ministry with Italian Ministries. They are planning to have ESL classes in February. They just moved there in September, so they are still figuring out the area, but it is simply beautiful. Their apartment is PERFECT! It has a football (soccer) stadium practically in their backyard. Free nightly entertainment! 

Before I left, Jeannette and I went to a neighboring city, Sestri Levante. They recently found this hidden treasure tucked away:

As always with train travel, I had my kindle. I explained to a lady on my way to Chiavari that there were 250+ books on my kindle. She couldn't believe it. She had never seen one before. It turns out we were on the same train TWICE! She was also on the same train on my way to Milano (to switch to another train)! Small world. 

So, I have my kindle, but I often put it down because Italians like to talk. haha... I've been open to what God has to show me through different people I meet. On the train to Milano I met Francesca and her husband Tomaso. 

2 1/2 hours on a train with her and we exchanged addresses. She invited me to her home! She told me about her family, her desire for God, her husband's tainted view of church because of how priests treated his family, and life in Italy. Oh and she lived in MICHIGAN 40 years ago! haha... I'm excited for my simple conversations on Italian trains. They are beautiful. 

But I did notice... on my next train to Venezia Mestre, I sat by three girls who were close to my age. Guess what we did? Talk? Uumm, no. They all whipped out their cell phones/ipods and went about their own business. So different from my previous train ride.

All that to say, Chiavari is beautiful. The Waltis are a fantastic family. God is working in Italy... and it makes me really excited!

Church and Thanksgiving Saturday

The Church in Udine put on a Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday as an outreach.

Italians are curious about Thanksgiving.

A few people from the church shared their testimonies. 

In my Bible reading, I recently read: Acts 2.46b says "They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts."

As I looked around the room, I realized it was probably something like this.
Italians know that the dinner table is a place of great food and conversation.

Good food:

These are my friends. They are beautiful women... and so much fun. Our favorite pasttime: karaoke. haha...

Lucy's sister Franca came with me and brought her family. Love them! Andrea, Ugo, Franca, and Paolo.

I am thankful for THANKSGIVING SATURDAY with my beautiful Italian family and friends.

ABC...

My time in Udine (where I am living right now) began when I visited Italy for the first time in 2007. I spent three weeks in Italy visiting my stepmom (at that time, she was still my dad's fiancee!), stepbrothers and stepsister.

In 2007, I met Ken and Ruthann Wells (along with their six kids). Ken is the leader of the church plant here in Udine.

I also met Jesse and Heather Faught, a couple who was ministering with the church in Udine. One day while talking to Heather, she mentioned that Italy is a really tough place to do ministry. She said it was the missionary graveyard -- most people who come to Italy to minister don't last. My initial thoughts on hearing that were: Well, good for you. You're in Italy and YOU'RE making it. I am just going to go back to America and continue ministry there. But when I got back to America, I could not stop thinking about the people. God has put this desire in me to go back to Italy, to tell them about Jesus, to share life with Italians. I am not sure what the future holds, but I am more willing today than I was in 2007.

While I am here, I go to ABC... Assemblia Biblica Cristiana. It is at 5.30 pm.

The street the building is on:

*side note: Don't go to the website. It is not active.

Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Romans 8.35

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11.28

 This church plant is part of the Saints Equipped to Evangelize (S.E.E.). It include SBI (the Bible school I have written about before) and ABC Language School. In October, I had the chance to sit in on a few classes. The kids met in a library.

Young ones:

The older kids:

Adult class:

That night Maureen, Emily, and Sarah (the English teachers) had a Mexican night for the advanced students.

There is something appealing to me about teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) because of the interactions that would bring with Italians. I am checking out my options, but coming back for a few months to do ESL would be a good step along this journey.

Serenissima Bible Church

As I continue on my journey of seeing different ministries in Italy, I was really happy to reconnect with Rob Krause. I met him once in 2007 when I attended their church's outside baptism service.

I finally was able to see where Rob was serving: Serenissima Bible Church.

Here are some pictures of the building:

They have a little closet area where people can bring things they don't need anymore. It's kind of like a little goodwill store, except you don't have to pay, you just take and give as you have need.

Kids classroom... I loved the pictures! 

Purple! Bevenuti = welcome!

Books for sale.

Place for the older kids to do Bible study.

Rob and Sandy Krause.

My family donated money for this outreach material. They are calendars with daily Scripture. 365 verses for people to read! 

Had dinner with some great people. Italians. Americans. Afghans. Great Mexican food. Great conversation. Great God we worship.

I am blessed for all these experiences. The Kingdom of God is so much bigger than my mind can handle. Seriously. The Global Church is a beautiful thing.

Sometimes others can say it better.

Saw this picture on another blog and I want to share:

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One of my favorite blogs is from Mark Beeson, senior pastor at Granger Community Church. I love that he includes his beautiful photography, relevant Scripture passages, and insights. 

He has been on a sabbatical the past three months through the Lilly Endowment Grant. He has been in Italy. He is being recharged. 

Maybe you need to hear the reminders that he offers:

God Watches Over You. I am confident that He is watching out for me. I have had so many adventures and I have been kept safe and secure through them all.

Recently, he also did a post with the Robert Frost poem. It makes me laugh every time I read that poem because I remember reading it in high school. As I am looking for the right path and wisdom from God to know which way to go, this post resonated with me. 

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This post is by Los Whittaker. I like his blog because he is REAL. He challenges and encourages. He shares everyday moments with his family on his blog. This post was simply precious. I love children. Watch the video. Hear the words poured out from a child's heart. So beautiful.

Sometimes other people's stories intersect with mine and I am so thankful for that.

Journey

In my last year of college, I was part of a fantastic small group. We did fun projects and shared life together. One of those nights was spent going through magazines and making collages. Here is one that I made:

If you can't see it, the quote in the middle says: 

"It's not necessarily the peak -- it's the approach to the peak. There's greatness still to come."

I am on a journey and I love that God has placed a friend in my life who is on a similar journey.

Meet Jeni P.

Jeni and I met at Deeper Life in 2007. We were both rookie faculty that year. Now we look forward to every summer when we can reconnect. Thanks to Skype, we've actually done a better job of keeping in touch this year! 

Jeni is teaching English in Thailand right now. She's testing out the waters in becoming a long-term missionary. It is amazing to me that while I am experiencing life in Italy checking out mission work, Jeni is doing the same in Thailand. It encourages my heart to read her updates on her blog and I couldn't have worded my own feelings about God's timing and preparation than this. As I stop to think about the God moments along my life journey of where I am now, I am amazed. 

I would like to come back to Italy to teach English for a bit. The relationships I have made, the people I have met, the interactions... they are all so very valuable to me. God has made the Italians a unique, beautiful people. I want to be here to share Jesus' love with them. These are my thoughts right now as I have less than two weeks left in Italy. 

I am looking forward to coming back to America, but I hope to be back in Italy sooner rather than later... 

jolly ole england

I just got back from a trip to visit friends in Birmingham, England. It was wonderful to hear British accents, read things in English (!), experience the BullRing (HUGE mall), the German Market that was in town -- so much good food! I enjoyed some Starbucks and Subway along with Refreshers and J2O.

I am a small town girl at heart, but I love cities. There's a simple treasure at taking something so big as a city and carving out your little place in it. I have come to love the little area I know in Birmingham.

I went to see HP7 with Brian and Lydia. What a fantastic couple. 

I got to see Jenny briefly while checking out the Canvas house.

I got to chat with Natalie about being a missionary in Europe. It was good to hear from her and also to see what her husband Rob, Natalie and the Canvas team have done since I saw them last. I was in Birmingham for the first time in the summer of 2006. Our team from KCU were at the Pavilion the same time Rob and Natalie were. Rob and Natalie were scouting out the area for their ministry. That summer they were not dating, but now they are married and have one stylish little addition to their family: Benjamin!

*sidenote: during our summer at the Pavilion, we painted things such as the door of the gents bathroom. We're still proud of our work. :)

Dennis and Fi were dating when I came in 2006. Now they are married with a son, Ethan! He is such a cool kid! Didn't get a picture of Fi's older kids, Kate and Adam, but they have grown so much! 

I didn't know if I would see them or not, but I got to see the family Lolly stayed with: Fiona, Emily (13), and Katie (10). I received my first Christmas card from Katie. It's super cool and I love it!

One of my favorite things in life is quality time with people. My heart is full. I am thankful!