Van Wert Reunion, Bowling, and Fabio :)

Boy, where did February go? Here is where some of the end of it went!----

Adam Ries is studying abroad in Italy this semester, and he came to visit Rome one weekend with his classmates. As I saw a strange cell phone number on my cell phone (my Italian cell phone) I figured it was an Italian friend, so I summoned up the courage to speak in Italian and answered my phone in the typical Italian way--- "Pronto!" But instead of an Italian on the other end, it was Adam! Who would have ever thought that two kids from Van Wert would meet up at the Pantheon, walk to Piazza Navona, see the fountains, then walk to Campo di Fiori, eat pizza in an Italian restaurant, and grab some gelato together! It was SO fun to get pizza with someone who knows about Klosterman's and gelato with someone who knows about Rocky Top! Such a great evening of meshing Rome with one of my favorite other cities in the world: Van Wert. :)

On Wednesday (Feb. 25th), the STINTers went to "Bowling Roma" and bowled 2 games.
The best bowler: Kanda, with a total of 289 or so.
The worst bowler: me, of course, with a total score of.... mehhh who's keeping score, anyway? :)

Thursday (Feb. 26th) was our last morning of Italian language lessons with our tutor, Fabio. Brian, April, and I cooked a pasta bolognese lunch for him, complete with oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for dessert. :)

Fabio, Brian, me, and April -- after a lunch of great food and conversation. :) I pray that we can still keep up with Fabio and see him often even though we are done with language lessons. (Even though the last day of school type things always make me sad... let's be real-- it will be so nice not to have to do homework anymore!) :)

Fabio is also connected with a lot of Agape Roma staff (you can see Fabio, April, Brian and I here, along with Steve & Alyssa Dueck & Debbie Iannetti). A couple weeks ago, we had an American food fest with him. :) After hearing about "Kraft dinner" on an episode of South Park a few years ago, he really wanted to try some/didn't know what it was until we showed him a box of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. So we busted out a couple boxes of the blue stuff that we have stored here from America, along with meatloaf and a cheesy zucchini casserole, and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. SO delicious, and such a FUN time with Fabio!

That's Amore

Ciao friends, and Happy Valentine's Day.

'Tis the season to talk about L - O - V - E. :)

As we all reflect on what it means to love and be loved, let me just encourage myself and you, too, to remember that the Word tells us that God IS love and we are only able to love because He first loved us.

Yesterday, in my Bible study/community life group ("Arco" group), we discussed love, specifically in relation to loving others and here were some passages that were brought to mind:

• 1 John 4:7-21
• Romans 12:9-21
• 1 Corinthians 13
• 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
• Colossians 3:12-15
• Hebrews 3:12-13...19

Specifically, in looking at the passage from 1 John 4... look at verse 18:
"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love."

• In reading this verse, what comes to YOUR heart?
• What do you think it means to not be fearful in receiving love or loving others?
• How have you experienced punishment and fear in the past?... Do you think these experiences have anything to do with real, true love? Or are they of something else related to sin/junk/not true love?
• What do you think it means to be perfected in love?
• Do you see God's love as perfect and worthy of your trust? Do you see His love for you as something that can cast out or get rid of your fear, and therefore, He can perfect you in His love and truly experience Him more and more?

I know for me, that 1 John is always a challenging book of the Bible for me to process. Whenever I read it, I sometimes think at first, "MAN--- I am totally not living up to this or that... and I can for sure do better at this and that... etc." But then I stop.
I realize that God IS love.. and He LOVES me. I can just relax-- He isn't disappointed with me or frustrated with me. There is nothing I can do to thwart Him or surprise Him or take away His power or who He is. He loves me perfectly and unconditionally, and I can choose to abide in that love, and therefore be FREE to love others.

It is truly a beautiful and complex thing that I try to continuously wrap my brain around every day. But oh, it is worth it.

To be loved and love in return... so deliciously simple, yet so indescribably complex.

I pray for you, as you think about love, that you will choose to abide in HIS great love for you, and experience the joy and freedom you have in that love, to go forth and love others in return.
I ask, too, if you'd please pray for me as Sam, Alyssa, Steve, and I talk about love a lot this upcoming week with our Italian friends--- leading up to an outreach/dinner/gathering we're having on Thursday night--- all about love. I pray it will be a sweet time of connecting with friends and having deep conversations with them about the Sweetest Love we can have and taste and therefore give to others.

Thank you for reading--- I send you lots of LOVE from roma. :)

Bucket o' Photos from Ireland & Spain :)

Here are some pictures from our travels to Ireland, Spain, and the Island of Gibraltar during the mid-year staff conference in January. I promise to post some reflections and things I learned from the staff conference, which was amazing, and such a blessing to my life. But at least for today, I pray you will see these pictures, and experience the beauty of the Creator and worship Him for the beautiful things He has made. Then, I pray you can rejoice in the beauty you find where you are today!!! :)

Irish Countryside...
The coast off of Dun Laogheire.

More Irish coast off of Dun Laogheire.

A beautiful river in the countryside around Glendalough.

A 6th Century Monastery in the countryside around Glendalough.

Irish countryside.

If this picture seems blurry, it's because the rain was coming down sideways that day.

The Upper Lake at Glendalough.

A lovely waterfall on the walk to the Upper Lake in Glendalough.

The Upper Lake in Glendalough.

Dublin...

Trinity College-- founded in 1592 in Dublin by Elizabeth I.

The Campanile in Parliament Square at Trinity College.

The Ha'Penny (half-penny) Bridge, built in 1816 over the Liffey River in Dublin.

The Oliver St. John Gogarty-- a fun pub in Ireland where we saw an Irish band! :)

The Temple Bar-- so famous it has a district named after it

An Irish feast at O'Neill's!.... Y E S.

Jenny & I, enjoying dinner at O'Neill's

The Island of Gibraltar...

A prison/castle-thing on the island. See the British flag--- it's cause Gibraltar is a British territory!

Another sign of Britain: the famous red telephone booths! :)

old cannons signify that Gibraltar has played an integral part in several battles/wars.

The part of the Island you can see from the Great Siege Tunnels-- from the 1700s.

April and I being artsy using a puddle in the Great Siege Tunnels. :)

Look at this presh little mister! It's a Barbary Macaque. Even though they are a tailless species, they are also known locally as Barbary Apes or Rock Apes, despite the fact that they are monkeys (Macaca sylvanus).

April and I on the Rock of Gibraltar! :)

Ok, so I thought it was sweet that a little monkey jumped up on me...

Just look how much fun we're having!...

...Until I realized my little friend had left a little "mess" on my jacket... :(

There is nothing like getting cleaned off by an older gentleman named Hillary with W5-- The Gibraltar version of Windex. I seriously felt like I was in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, where the father says that Windex is the cure for everything. Ahhhh... what a day. :)

Maria, Dana (girls from a middle east STINT team), and April & I enjoy the lovely cave.

This is a cross-section of a stalagmite that became too heavy and fell; now it's on display to show the cool formation rings of how it developed! :)

Yay caves!

It was so fun to touch a wild animal!

If you look in the distance, you can see Morocco from across the ocean! It was so cool to get to see a new continent! :)

Nerja, Spain...

I couldn't help but take a picture of this lovely rooftop.

This is what the view from our room's window looked like in the afternoon, when the sun was high and it made the ocean glisten!

Everywhere I go and I see flowers in a garden, I always think of my mom! :)

Beautiful Nerja!

This is what we woke up to the 1st morning we were there--- a surprise gift from the Lord: A RAINBOW! :) How awesome!

The view from our room was incredible. I love the bright white buildings with their rusty red roofs against the brown sand and blue sky and ocean!!! :)

What an incredible sunset. :)