Quick shoutout:

Meet Amanda. She was the one who helped me make this blog look so spiffy. I remember meeting her for the first time at MCC with my mom. My mom loved her perfume. She was a beautiful pregnant woman... Berlyn was born shortly after I met her.

Amanda has been a constant source of encouragement... our lives are both daring adventures right now... and God's stretching us by putting our faith into action. Really truly trusting God.

And then of course she writes posts like this. You can tell that Amanda is real and I appreciate that about people.

Thanks Amanda. For your friendship, encouragement, and being a shining light. You are wonderful.

PS -- while this post seems to have little to do with Italy, in a lot of ways this IS Italy... Who else would be excited about all these blog posts I have been posting? Offering Scripture to encourage me while I feel like I'm living the confusion of the Tower of Babel. I don't really understand Italian yet and it's frustrating to me not to see the inner beauty in people yet... But Amanda has continued to offer me what I need to get through the day -- little pieces of encouragement, and to me that's seeing God work in people...