Reality Entices

Now, that we have our pre-departure date set for June 8th, reality is setting in. First off, we know there is lots to do before we leave but so far God has been providing for us a smooth ride. One of the things we are doing is apartment hunting. This has been surprisingly exciting. I mean, I knew that Angie and I would enjoy this, but it has felt great. I am finding that part of myself that burns for Italy growing and growing. The thing is, while we have been living in a state of uncertainty, we could not dream of Verona all the time or it would have consumed us. In order to live in contentment while God was preparing us and our team, we needed to have balance. But now, it is unbridled. Three of the past four nights, I have stayed up very late, so that I could call about apartments in Italy. At 2 in the morning I am reaching them at 9 AM when they open. The other night I worked and called until 6:30 AM! The next night I went to bed at 11:30 PM, hence the one night out of four staying up. Previously, we have planned on picking out an apartment once we arrived in Italy, after gathering possibilities. However, we have been presented with a really good option. At this point we only have a couple more questions and we might proceed to put down a deposit, if they will let us from here in the states. As we put down roots, we create a stability that we have not had since we moved out of our apartment in Ancona in October 2007. This will feel nice. I have been searching in the neighborhoods nearby for stores, pizzerias, churches, coffee shops, restaurants, etc... It has been fun exploring with Google Maps! Hopefully, we'll know soon if we will have an apartment and I can post links on Google Maps.

Internal Longing

So, usually while we are in the states, we go through stages of contentment. When we first arrive we are thrilled at everything around us, food, family, culture, etc..... Then in the middle we start evening out and feeling less tempted to see, smell, taste, touch and hear everything. Then our last period of time before returning to the field is spent saying farewell to things and people here while getting exciting abouting getting back to our other "home". Well, about halfway through our time in the states, the longings start. Tonight sitting here on our couch in Tulsa I had one. It was very short, but intense. I imagined streets in Italy that I have walked on and how I longed to be there. I am excited about the prospect of getting back. I am excited about the new team that God is forming. I am excited about what our new team is going to do once we arrive and they go through language school. I am excited about what the Ancona team is doing, as well as the other friends in ministry throughout Italy. I think God allows that longing to lie dormant during the first months of our Home Assignment, or it would make it terribly difficult to be content. In recent weeks we announced that we would be extending our stay in America from the end of June until the end of September. We will be balancing those feelings of contentment and longing a few more months, so that our team can be more fully ready to head to Verona.