Restless

Ashley Howell
Aug 31, 2017
4 min read

Update

September 4th: not the day I wanted my blog to be published. Call me crazy, but I like the date that is posted to be the same month that I'm talking about. Oh well. Maybe I'll change it. That's not lying if I tell you about it first!

Let's just jump right in. August was what I expected, and not at the same time. Since we live here in Scandicci and not IN Florence, everything really does close. Everything. The stores, the post office, the restaurants, the craft stores, you name it. Luckily, they usually don't ALL close at the same time. So maybe you have a few days here, maybe a few hours in the morning. You never know! Despite August being a vacation month, I think we got a few things accomplished. Nathan and I are LEGAL!!! We just got our permission to stay card that expires in January... so now its time to apply again. Nathan and I also spent some time with a few members of the church. Our Avanti Italia team loaded up in the van one Friday morning to go visit our sweet friend Andrea. He lives about an hour away from us, and even farther from the church. He is always so thankful when people make the drive to come visit him. He has a cute little apartment where we all sat around a same table reading scripture, praying, and answering questions he had. Please keep him in your prayers as he is trying to understand more about the love of God and situations he is in. Nathan, Meredith, James, and I attended the summer Synagogue dinner with our new brother Giuseppe. He is the sweetest and knows almost everybody! The food was amazing and experiencing the inside of a Jewish building in Florence was pretty interesting!

Hmm... what else! Our new friend from Catania, Sicily spent her vacation month here in Scandicci! We got to know Melissa better and she was kind enough to give Nathan and I Italian lessons! She just happens to be a teacher, so that worked out for us. She prepared us for camp and taught us how to say, "you smell, go take a shower" "Sit down and be quiet" "go to sleep". We also took her to the beach here in Tuscany. She said, and I quote, "It's not Sicily, but it is pretty." (personally, it was one of the most gorgeous beaches I've been too!!!) One last major thing! CAMP. I did a lot of preparing for camp in the month of August since I was in-charge of Arts and Crafts with the help of Rebecca and Rachel. I went to A LOT of different stores trying to find what I needed since you know... its August. Many places are closed.. So that was an adventure in itself! Once we got to camp, Nathan was cabin leader of 7, six to nine year old boys. (That's really the reason we learned all those sayings. He needed them!) Since I was not the one to experience the things he did, he will have to relay those stories to you. All I can say is, he learned much and is a little more knowledgeable in the "parenting" world. :) hahahahaha. I was in crafts for an hour and a half each day with children ranging from six to seventeen. We had a fun time! Head on over to my Facebook page to see all the pictures I took from camp! FIVE teens were baptized too! Our sweet Deborah from the Florence church, Tiziana, Jasmine, Francesca, and Joele. PLEASE keep these new brothers and sisters in your prayers!

Ooo Ooo, one more thing. We just finished the conference at the Florence church. Many people traveled from other churches to come and learn about the Reform and Restoration in Europe, America, and then back to Italy. It was very cool seeing names of Professors and others I know up on the PowerPoint because they brought the God News to Florence, Italy!

thoughts

After having written all of that, it looks like we did many things this month. And we did! But, this month was also a time of Rest. Italians know how to do that much better than I do as an American. I was thinking about that the other day, and I realized, I haven't had much time to Rest. Between all of my schooling, homework, jobs, extra activities, Rest was never a part of the plan. So if I'm being completely honest, this month was hard. I am one of those people that kinda feels bad to sit back and relax for a moment instead of doing something more pressing. BUT I'm learning. I'm learning that I can say no. I can rest. I can do things for me. I was reminded of a song that says" I am restless until I rest in you, I am restless until I rest in you". Can I get an Amen?!?! I'm thankful for August. As hot as it may have been, as frustrating as it might have been, I was able to find Rest in the peace-giver. Nothing is more important than that kind of Rest.

Shout out to everyone who keeps up with our Blog. Thank you. If you don't mind, share it with a friend! Nathan and I are still looking for funds, so if you know of someone looking to give, please send them our way. You can email us, message us through the blog, or look under the "Partner with Us" tab here on our blog.

(Enjoy some pictures below!)

Thanks again,

Ashley