Monday, March 25, 2013

The Road to Rome

I'm going to be on the road to Rome in twelve hours... It feels so strange to say those words. Thrilling, to be sure, but strange.

The school is going to be spending Speaker's Week in Rome {Tuesday-Saturday}. Usually, Speaker's Week is spent here in Montebelluna so our group is the first from CCBC Italy to have this experience. I'm not quite sure what to expect, as they have not given us much information, but I do know that we will be studying the life of Paul & spending time with a few groups from various Calvary Chapel Bible Colleges. We are going to go to the Colosseum and Forum, Paul's Prison, & the Catacombs. As crazy as it may sound, I am probably the most excited to be able to go to McDonald's {I sound so unhealthy, I know}! I didn't even realize just how deeply I love my "happy meals" until living in a town that doesn't have them. The closest one is probably in Padova, which is about an hour by train from Montebelluna. *All you health conscious readers, please don't judge me -- I promise I've been eating quite healthy meals; besides the few-too-many gelato & pizza stops I have been the picture of nutrition.*

General update:
I have been doing quite well lately. I apologize for not posting more often, but the work load here is very heavy {we are operating on a 12-week semester instead of a 15-week semester} and I have needed to be diligent to keep to my studies.
Those of you who had wanted to correspond with me via "snail mail" or email please please please do so! Though I have made many wonderful friendships with the girls here, I cannot help but feel kind of cut-off from my life in America at times and hearing from you all would brighten my "damper" days. It costs me roughly 2 euro to send a basic, small, light letter so it is not practical on my budget to initiate correspondence. I do know the cost of sending a basic letter to Italy from the states, it's much more affordable for you than it is for me to send mail -- so please do send a little "thinking of you" card every once in a while, if you can/want to. It's easy to feel forgotten when so far away from normalcy. The Lord has been faithful to keep me strong in spirit and away from feelings of loneliness; I certainly am not wanting any pity, just awareness.

How I wish I could communicate clearly all the work that the Lord is doing within me! It would take quite a long time and quite a few words so I will save my words for later and just share a little bit. The primary thing that God is doing, as I mentioned in an earlier post, is a maturing process. In practical ways I am learning independence {i.e. shopping for groceries, budgeting finances, time management, cooking, keeping-house}. I am also learning spiritual maturity, which is even greater and far more precious to me than physical maturity.
I still haven't a clue what my next step is after this semester, as the Lord has not clearly defined it for me yet. He has, however, been faithful to speak to my heart through His word and the girls in the apartment -- I will tell you throughout later posts what about more specifically. I feel overall that His primary purpose right now is to teach me the value & beauty of sitting still in His presence. In Psalm 16 David writes, "You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore" {verse 11}. Colossians 1:19 says of Christ, "For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell..." Colossians 2:9-10 says, "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him..." I have been experiencing this fullness for myself. Truly in Christ, and in Christ alone, I am complete.
There is a charming old church up on a hill about a mile and a half from my house {or a 25 minute walk} that I have been "hiking" up to a few times a week. Perched upon the hill, I have a breathtaking view of all the surrounding region and the perfect spot to spend some time in solitude and contemplation. It is there that I have gotten some of the sweetest times with God this whole semester. I could easily spend hours & hours sitting there in quietness, but I try to limit it to just over an hour each time so that I don't worry any of my sisters here.

I promise that I will post again after Rome and take a whole bunch of pictures {digital & film} for you all to see! Please keep the trip in prayer and pray that it will be warm & preferable sunny this week.
Thank you all for reading along faithfully and keeping me in your prayers.
Te voglio bene,
xo Em


A little something for contemplation:
And the Lord said, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
And Moses said to him, "If your presence does not go with us, do not take us up from here."
Exodus 33:14-15

a house on the way to the church; good architecture always makes me think of my talented architect father

View: looking up; the bell tower and old church building

gazing out over the Italian countryside from my perch atop the hill

Monday, March 11, 2013

thunder, lightning, europeans -- oh my!

It's fixing to storm in Montebelluna & I'll have you all know, I am feeling much much better. Thank you for the prayers and love, it was a wonderful morale booster. I have a bit of a cough lingering but the other symptoms have left me {thank goodness!}.
Let's get back to the good stuff -- the weather! It was a bit warmer today than the other days this week, so much so that a light sweater was even nearing a bit much at the warmest time of day. The Italians wear their big winter coats all year long so I get the funniest looks when I go out in my spring clothing - but hey, if it's warm enough I don't plan on burning to death in a heavy jacket. I took a walk to the "milkeria" today with a few of the Browns. The clouds were a mixture of white and gray, puffy and wispy, ominous and cheery. A couple of blue spots dared peek through and give us a glimpse of the sky beyond the cloud layer. It started to lightly sprinkle as I dropped the kids back off at their house and took my milk home. I had some homework to do, so I headed back into town to be "studious" at Café Corona {a little coffee shop owned by a kind gentleman that attends the church}. I was listening to the song "Dancing in the Moonlight" off of the "A Walk to Remember" soundtrack as the sky seemed to burst open out of nowhere. You may be able to imagine my delight. The rain cleared as I finished up my homework, which was quite a blessing because my walk home would have been very long & very very wet otherwise... especially for my computer, it's not exactly -- how you say -- water proof.
Oh my goodness, how I wish you all could have been on my walk home with me! It was glorious. Truly glorious. I talked with the Lord as I walked and I asked repeatedly that He would hold back the rain just until I made it to the safety of the apartment. He kept bringing to my mind the verse in Psalms that says "For You, oh Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as a shield." I began to understand more fully that I am His child; even in the things that I deem petty or unimportant, He cares deeply. He is concerned with the simplest of my worries and requests. Just as my daddy would do anything to get me home dry & happy, even so my Father held back the rain and gave me a marvelous view.
The skyline was gorgeous. I had a huge gray cloud looming over my head the whole way; to my right & to my left were blue patches and layers of differently colored and shaped clouds. Montebelluna seems to grow even lovelier with a new background -- the Italian sky creates an incredible atmosphere. I was trying really hard the whole way home to keep my giddiness from showing in my expression -- I don't want the straight-faced Europeans thinking I'm insane, you know.
I almost forgot! The sky flashed with lightning five times during the fifteen minute walk. I couldn't help but grin from the adventure of it all as the thunder rolled through. It was much fun, much much fun. I realized in a moment how alone I am -- I am in a foreign country where I know virtually no one, the only people I do know I have known for less than a month, I hardly speak the language of the country I  am living in, I have never seen 95% of the people I pass while walking through the streets -- but I realized even more how present the Lord is. And how thrilling this time of my life is. It is unreal that the Lord would call me, only seventeen years young, the baby of the family to partake in this experience. When I say that I realized how alone I am, I am not implying loneliness, for I certainly do not feel lonely. I do feel, however, that this time of being independent is allowing me the chance I have always wanted and never been afforded -- a chance to see the Lord mature me and grow me into a woman.
To bring this unintentionally long story to a close, it started pouring down rain shortly after I got home and it has been in the early stages of a thunderstorm ever since. We are having a movie night tonight, complete with the works: popcorn, chocolate, cookies, chips, and Pride & Prejudice with Italian subtitles. It should be the perfect amount of crazy.

We'll be chatting again soon!
Em

Thursday, March 7, 2013

in sickness + in health

Today is a sick day. In this post I want to be careful not to grumble or complain; yet I do feel it necessary to be honest with you all {as I am sure you value my honesty & it would be nice to know some people are praying for me}.
Every Tuesday- Friday morning I have devotions at the church. After devotions on Tuesday-Thursday I have a three-hour class. Tuesday is Daniel class, Wednesday is Acts class, and Thursday is Mark class. When I woke up yesterday morning, I had a sore throat. It wasn't enough to cause much trouble -- except that I was drinking water like a fish -- so I went about my day. In the evening {on Wednesday}, I felt rather ill. I stayed home from Bible study because I knew I needed to take it easy & rest if I was going to try and make it through class this morning. When I woke up I felt like a mess. I waited until the very last minute and gently peeled myself out of bed. I got ready in like five minutes, I kid you not. "Lazy day looks" are so speedy, I should do them more often. Anyway, the walk to the church took most of my low energy away and sitting through devotions {which were led by my friend Samantha, she did the most incredible job} was really tough. I asked to be excused from class because I knew that I couldn't sit through a three-hour lecture if a thirty-minute devotion was too taxing.
When I got home, I took a bath and had what my friend Alicia calls a "homeopathic cocktail" -- basically a mixture of water, a bunch of honey, & fifteen drops each of Tea Tree Oil, Echinacea, Oil of Oregano and some other natural, disgusting-tasting immune booster. The house was quiet since the girls were gone {except for Alicia, who is also sick}, so I was able to get a solid hour of sleep. After my nap I felt incredible. I knew, though, that it wouldn't probably last for too long, so I was careful to take it easy.
On Thursdays, we have a class called "Women's Discipleship" that we host at our apartment. It is led by the Bible College director's wife, Maria, and co-led by some of the ladies associated with the college. I almost sat through the whole thing, but I had to go into my room to lay down towards the end. I couldn't fall asleep, but I felt a bit better once I was laying down. I've been up for a few hours now looking at this really cute blog made by a hairdresser living in Paris called She Lets Her Hair Down -- I know that last bit of information was probably not interesting the male populous in my following, but I can think of a few ladies who might enjoy it as much as I do *hint, hint: Krissy & Jenni*. Getting back on track, I feel pretty bad right now but I am hopeful that after I take some NyQuil and conk out, I should feel a bit better.
I would be dishonest to say that I am not feeling a tad bit homesick right now. The only time in my life that it has ever been truly hard to be away from home, and the US for that matter, is when I am sick. I miss having "Momma Jen" and "Momma Sarah" to act as stand-in doctors. I miss having my Daddy Bob to coddle/cuddle me. And I really really miss having my Momma to do what she does best, be there for me. I also miss canned soup and ritz crackers, and my silly little beagle, Dippy.
Please, please, please be mindful to pray for me, as I know most of you have been faithful to do. I love you all and I hope to be able to write to you again with renewed vigor and a lot less grogginess.
Yours, in sickness + in health,
Em
my crazy, strange, + wonderful family {minus a few}

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Girls' World

I live in an apartment with eleven girls. I spend most of my time with them. The few times I am not with them, I am with at least one of the seven Brown girls {the Browns are an incredible family of eleven who have adopted me as one of their own during my time here, more about them later}. I come from a family with five girls; six if you include my momma. To say that I live in a girls' world is an understatement. It can be challenging, especially while trying to get ready in the morning, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Today, most of the girls went out on a day trip with the Browns to Venice. I stayed back in order to work on homework and "Chuck Tracks" -- those of you who have gone through Calvary Bible College know what I mean -- so the house is especially quiet today. On one hand, I enjoy having some peace, but I would be kidding myself to say I don't feel a bit lonesome in the silence.

The town of Montebelluna is enchanting. I haven't been here long enough to understand the culture fully, but each day I discover another layer & fall more deeply in love. I love the country. I love the food. I love the architecture. I love the walking. But more than anything, I love the people. They are strange, they are confusing, they are entirely too bold {I've found that Italian guys love to holler at girls in passing}. I don't know why most of the people here do most of the things they do; but I think that is part of why I am so fascinated by this place. Adventure is in my bones; it pulses through my veins. The more of it I have, the more of it I want. Walking with God has never felt like more of an adventure than it does now. My thankfulness to the Lord grows stronger with every breath of Italian air.
I love my family in California -- they will always be my first 'home' -- but I find myself feeling more at home here every second. I haven't a clue what the Lord wants to do with my life, but my hands are open and my heart is ready; whether He desires I make this my home or not, I certainly shall make it a point to return as often as possible.

I discovered this little milk shack kind of a place yesterday. Some of us girls call it the "Milkeria" for lack of a better name. Most of you probably don't know just how much I love milk. It scares me sometimes, I swear I'm like a baby cow or something. Those of you who have had the "privilege" of hearing me rant about my obsession with milk will know just how extraordinarily excited I was to find this place. Essentially, it is a vending machine for fresh, hormone-free, squeezed that very day milk. IT TASTES SO SO SO SO SO GOOD. Sarah Brown {the mother of the Brown clan} said that fresh milk has been known to help people with blood sugar problems; in certain cases, it can remove the issue completely. I am not going to assume that my hypoglycemia will just vanish & set myself up for disappointment, but I will be checking my symptoms to see if it does make a difference. You'll all be hearing about it if it does. The best part about this milk is the price. In the states, a gallon of this kind of milk costs an upward of $8. Here, it costs LESS than the store-bought milk. The reusable 1-liter glass bottle cost me 50¢ and the refills cost 1 euro! I've hit the jackpot, guys.
On the topic of food, the produce here is very good and very inexpensive. My 25 euro a week food budget stretches comfortably {though I should cut back on my gelato and café visits a bit}. Usually the quality of a college student's diet decreases drastically when going off to school, but mine has done just the opposite. Even the "junk" food here is better for you then the stuff in the U.S. because there are very strict rules about preservatives and artificial additives. One of my apartment-mates, Alicia, was a cook for two years at the Murrieta Conference Center. Four of us gals - Bianca, Samantha, Alicia, and I - all pitch in and do dinners & occasional lunches together. With her cooking expertise, we are eating like {healthy} queens! I'm even trying out my hand in the culinary field a bit, I made some super yummy potatoes this afternoon with some spuds I picked up at the Saturday farmer's market this morning.

I promise I'll write soon with some more information & updates.
Buona Serata!
Em
Estera + Anna + I very serious about our milk at the Milkeria