filling in the gaps.. .

It has almost already been a month since the accident and we are continuing to move forward.

We have experienced a period of blessings and are happily returning to our work here. 

Sometimes when we reflect on all that has happened, it feels sort of as if we have been in a small time warp. The first weeks following the accident I was unable to move and do anything normally, and eric stayed busy by tirelessly taking care of me. Now I believe we are in the middle the healing phase. I say the middle because while moving about is easier, making plans that involve getting on the highway is still not something we (or maybe more I) have yet to conquer. However, we are confident that God is with us! Each day He brings us more and more joy... He is our confidence.

"But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength. . . The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom." 2 Timothy 4:17-18

I wanted to get a post into you asap because Wednesday Angela and Andrea will arrive from Florence to stay the weekend with us! Before the accident we had already made plans to have a Thanksgiving feast for the members of the church here, as well as our students and friends. We eventually had to place a limit on the invitees for several reasons: space, funds, man power....etc. As of today, our grand total is approximately 40 people! We are so thankful that Angela and Andrea are coming to help! I especially am a little nervous about the responsibility of the turkey. . . . . but God brought me to it and He will bring me through it! :) The menu includes: turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, corn, green beans + desserts: apple pie, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie.

We also wanted to fill you in on some happenings before and after the accident.

One such happening was having the members of the church over for Sunday lunch!

Me and Carmela getting things started.

We did this in two separate Sundays. The first Sunday was in October with Carmela's family, and Anna Maria and her brother Bruno.

Carmela's oldest son Marco and Eric

I LOVE THEM!!

I gave the camera to Laura for the afternoon- I think she did a pretty good job!

Bruno and Enzo

Eric and Marco

Pasta for the first plate . . . 

. . . Chocolate chip cookies to finish it off :)

Next,  in November we had Franco and Enza's family and Ninetta over for lunch.

Ninetta and me :) 

Simone, Andrea, Eric and Franco

Also before the accident, we spent alot of time with Carmela furniture shopping. She wants to redo her living room and dinning room. Their design sense is really interesting to me, especially for the living room furniture. Above is something like what Carmela decided on purchasing. I guess it would be equivalent to our entertainment sets? What was so interesting is that basically all the stores offer this type of furniture. There are several colors and combinations on how you can choose the above furniture. For example, you see this in the store and you sit down with an employee from the store and explain in detail how you would like the final product to be. Maybe you dont want the glass cases up top, so they switch them to solid wood. Maybe you want two column cabinets instead of just the one of the left and you want two doors instead of 3...they can do that too. You can tell them the height, width, wood color... basically design it yourself, and they calculate the costs. Interesting. Ill have to update you when Carmela's pieces arrive in January :)

One really sad outcome of the wreck was not being able to host a Halloween party for Laura and her school friends :( we were SO excited about this. However, we were blessed on the behalf of my mom and the post office. I had originally called my mom and asked her to send a few things that would be fun for the party such as jello, koolaid, candy corn, Halloween cupcakes... things that are unheard of to them, and it arrived the day of the party! Because I wasnt able to organize and do all that we wanted ( we had all kinds of fun games, desserts, activities) we were at least able to make the cupcakes, koolaid, and jello and take it over to Carmela's. They loved the candy corn and the cupcakes, but they were a little nervous about the jello. :) I have to admit it was a little strange for me to see it again as well!

Laura and her hand made Joseph's colorful coat!

Mine and Laura's Bible classes are going GREAT!

I really feel like we are getting plugged into the Word. We are starting to dig in a little deeper into the foundations of our faith and I am excited and proud of her as we are studying together. I love this little girl so much! On top of all of this good news, we have had some visitors in our Friday night Bible class! There is a man named Nicola who comes only to the Friday night study. For the past few weeks he has began bringing her sister along, who in turn, has been bringing her two sweet daughters! I have to admit to you, teaching class with these three girls on Friday is the highlight of my week!

As girls often do, these three had a case of the giggles last Friday night! 

Samantha, Laura, and Luanna

Italian! haha.  A couple of times I got a little off track (like on Thessalonians- in italian sounds like. . . tess-ah-loan-ah-chezi! ), but now, they have sang it enough that they are really getting it! Samantha is especially cute! I will have to film her for you this friday so you can really know what Im talking about- 100 % happy and excited all the time! l cant explain how happy she gets- its honestly contagious.  Anyways,  I believe this group of kiddos to be a big blessing to me during this time and I am thankful! 

 Out for pizza with the brothers...isnt this a great picture of them?

Eric and me at our favorite pizza place in Taranto! yum!

After pizza we returned to our apartment to surprise Luca with an ice cream cake we made for him!

Eric is organizing a some get-togethers with the boys and the brothers. They will meet all together the 4th of December to talk about things they would like to do together and studies they would like to try. Its important just to get the teens together. Especially here in the south, the teens feel in many ways removed from the larger groups of christian teens in the north. We are searching for some things to inspire them and help them to grow. Eric is doing a great job at encouraging these young men. Please pray about these efforts.

Yesterday afternoon we ate in Talsano with Franco and Enza and their family. Afterwards, we went for a walk with the boys, Andrea and Francesco, to catch up on Francesco's trip to Vicenza. We are really pulling for Francesco. He has a lot decisions to make in these upcoming months. Please join us and pray for God to strengthen him, guide him, and protect him. 

We also stopped and visited their brother Simone who was at work.

Later that evening, we went for a movie night at Ninetta's! She is quickly becoming one of my favorite ladies...Eric and I always enjoy visiting with her, and it was during our last visit that Eric had the idea to have a movie night with her! She was excited, I could tell. We invited the brothers and their mom Adele also. We had already said that we would bring the popcorn and the movie and assured her that there was nothing that she needed to cook or prepare....of course when we got there, she had home made focaccia, fruit, cake prepared! Im telling you, there is no stopping this lady when it comes to food and hospitality! :) 

Eric makes the best popcorn, and I separated it into ziplocks for each of us. The ladies thought the zip locks were neat. (they dont have them here) It was sweet though because Ninetta insisted on pouring hers onto a small plate and eating it at the table before the movie :) 

  

The boys!

The night was a great time together. Anytime we come together, we know He is with us, and it feels great. This is what its about- relationships. Its the love we have among us that keeps us going and inspired to share it! These people will forever be in our hearts. Over the past year, they have become a family to us. Each day that passes we are more and more amazed of God's power and perfect love ...and this is why we are here. To share His free gift of love! We hope our letters are encouraging to you when you read about the work God is providing us.Thank you for all of your many prayers!

 We love you! xoxoxoxo

"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously though Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:4-7

Update

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust God; trust also in me." John 14:1

I will admit that I have in more ways than one been putting off this blog post, because it requires an analysis of what has happened over the past two weeks.

Let me just say that I will not go into detail about the accident itself, other than to proclaim the positives that are so readily flowing out of it. 

First we are humbled. We are thankful. Thankful to be alive and well. Thankful to have a God that loves us enough to save us, physically and spiritually. Thankful for His mercy, and His grace, and His promise of life everlasting. 

I will tell you that during the accident I was fully aware of everything that was happening, and I remember thinking, we're going to die. This is it. Im not ready! I dont want to die! God please save us!  The scary truth is that we are here as missionaries to these people, proclaiming the good news. We are in service for His kingdom. . . and I wasnt ready to stand before Him that Monday afternoon. Even now admitting this to you my hands are trembling at the thought of what so easily could have been. But at the same time, we are strong because, all facts considered, we should have died that day but we didn't. There was nothing we could have done to save ourselves. There is nothing that says, it was probable that we came out fine the way that we did; the only explanation that I can exclaim to you is that HE SAVED US.

We like to imagine it as if his hands were around our tiny tin car. Carefully placing us in safety. 

There are so many ways in which I know He was with us. For me, I can tell you that I was speaking perfect Italian in the ambulance and the hospital. I was understanding everything that was happening and being said to me.. . We were able to have this strength and calmness ...and it wasnt because of any ability that we ourselves had stored away, it was in fact just the opposite. During all of this, I realized just how powerless I am (humanly speaking), but because He was with me every step, it was His strength that was moving through me.

The event has been etched into our minds. One half of me is trying to forget it, but the other half is keeping it always in front of my eyes... we are trying to forget the terror we felt..., but the strength and the joy that He has provided us (which outweighs all of the trauma) I am keeping in the front of my mind. We've witnessed a miracle! Who wants to forget that? There is so much peace that has came from this happening, I dare to say we count it as a blessing.

Thank you, everyone, so much for all of your thoughts and prayers! We have been thinking about all of you and this has been such an encouragement to us! My stitches are healing quickly and we are easing back into life here in Taranto :) Keep us and the work here in Taranto in your prayers. vi vogliamo bene!