The Middle
Since we moved to Italy, I've found a difference between churches in America and the churches here. It's maybe not a big deal, but It really took me by surprise. And it's not just every once in a while. It is every single time. Now that I've built up the secret, I'll tell you. When a man gets up to lead singing, he leads ALL the verses. No need to make sure you are paying attention between the chorus and the next verse for the number he holds up. I already know which one will be next! Number 2 and then number 3. And maybe number 4 if the song is lucky enough to be that long. At first, this really bothered me. I was tired of the song by verse 2 and ready to move on, but the longer we've been here, the more it is growing on me. I've realized that the song writer probably never intended the singer to skip verses. Every verse has an important message that we should feel compelled to sing, no matter the length!
Sometimes I think we do this in life. We are so caught up in what is next, worrying about the future. We want to skip over the hard parts or we want to rush over things to get the the end. But what about the middle? Is the middle what helps us grow? The middle is where we feel forgotten, lost, and fail to remember what we learned in the Light at the beginning. Paul writes to Timothy, who seems to be in the middle, to not forget his purpose. God gave him, and us, a "spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." We will make it through the middle with Jesus on our side. So next time you are leading a song, don't just sing the verse about Jesus' birth and resurrection. Sing the middle verses about his humanity, struggle, and decision to lay his life down for you and me.
Update
We started off May with a party on the 4th to celebrate a great semester with our students. We decided on a Mexican theme just for fun! We made dinner for everyone. We had fajitas with chicken, beef, onions, peppers, rice, black beans, cheese, and sour cream. Zachary made homemade salsa and guacamole to go with our chips. Nathan made sopapilla cheesecake too. We also had a faux-mojito, which I think I drank half of! We, of course, had to have a pinata for the kids. So we bought one off of amazon.it! It was so fun! The kids loved hitting it and diving for the candy. We've learned that having good food and an activity for the children is the way to go! No pressure to stay forever and we just get to talk to our friends and introduce them to other students! I think we had maybe 70 people come? It's hard to keep up!
Our classes ended on Thursday May 10th! This semester was so long with 17 weeks, but oh so worth it! We had a great time with out students this semester and are looking forward to our last semester with them in the fall. This summer we will be preparing more lessons for them! I'm excited!
Thursday, Nathan and I spent 8 hours sitting in the police headquarters (Questura) for foreigners waiting for our appointment. We have to have a "permission to stay" card, which is only valid for one year. We reapplied before our card expired in January and our appointment was in May to give them our paperwork! Hopefully, soon we will get a text from the government informing us that we can go pick up our new card for 2018!
Zachary, Aleece, Adelena, Nathan, and I took a celebratory day trip to Siena! If you've been to Siena, you know it is a beautiful town with a very famous horse race. Nathan and I enjoyed exploring the city, visiting the cathedral, and eating gelato!
Our friend Brett is the head coach of the American football team in Florence. He and one of his players, Nic, come to our Monday night English devotionals. We've really enjoyed having them! We also had a movie night to watch Zac's favorite movie and cooked Asian food which they loved! Nathan and I have also enjoyed attending most of their home games to cheer them on! They are doing a great job and will hopefully be in the playoffs.
Two of my students take couples dance lessons and their end of the year recital was Sunday night at 9pm! Nathan was nice enough to drive me there! It was so fun being able to support them and my love of dance. They did a fantastic job dancing, along with the three year old group who were also my favorite!
Nathan and I had friends come and visit! Beth and Josh! These were our first friends to come visit with the intention of seeing us! They had already been to Florence, and it wasn't their favorite, but they came to see us anyways at the end of their vacation! It was soooo wonderful and encouraging to see them. We took them to our favorite places to eat and favorite stores in Florence. Most of all, it was delightful having a couple friend to talk to and give us advice. They are only a few years older than us but very very wise. We love them :)
I think that is about all we've been up to this month. I'm sure I've missed something, but that is ok! Thank you so much to everyone who supports us and prayers for us. We couldn't do it without you.
Peace and Blessings,
Ashley
