The Crossers' Life In Italy

You Never Know

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:51:00 +0000

So you never know who you will be inviting to study God's Word. Sometimes it's a cafe owner's son, and sometimes it could be a terrorist's son. Christians just need to trust that God will take care of them in all situations and do what they have been called to do. The following article is incredible interesting - http://townhall.com/news/religion/2008/08/11/hamas_leaders_son,_now_a_christian,_says_only_gospel_can_transform_mideast.

Camp, Camp and More Camp

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:00:00 +0000

The last two weeks Angie and I have been the missionaries of two different High School camps. First at our home camp, Sunset Bible Camp in Mannford, Oklahoma. Then we went to Mission Lake Christian Camp in Horton, Kansas. We had never been there, but we had a great time sharing at both camps what God is doing and wants to continue to do in Italy. This Monday Angie and I have double duty with a VBS in the morning and Junior High camp at night. Then the next week we will fly out to Denver and Colarado Springs, Colorado for various meetings to advance the ministry. We are going to be exhausted by the end of the month.

Get Your Pops on Route 66

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:47:00 +0000

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that even though the title is "Life in Italy" when we are in the states it changes. This blog is about our ministry and personal life. Whether we are in Ancona, Verona, Tulsa or Louisville. When we travel to different cities where our supporters are located we try to take in as much as we can of the sights, the sounds and the tastes. So we were delighted to be introduced by Vince and Penny Brown to a section of Route 66 that we hadn't experienced before on a recent trip to Edmond, Oklahoma. I had inadvertantly left my camera at their house, so on our return trip to Edmond, we went back to the formerly mentioned sights.

Outside of Edmond is Arcadia, Oklahoma, the home of the Big Round Barn and Pops. The Big Round Barn is from the heydays of Route 66 and is now historically preserved and cared for as a musuem and a rented upstairs loft for events. Pops is modern, but fits right in on Route 66 with it's giant contemporary soda pop bottle monument out front. Within its A-frame building lies hundreds of different flavors of carbonated beverages! My favorite is the entire refrigerator full of root beer. It is root beer, vanilla soda, fruit soda, etc... from all over the world. You can go in and choose several and take them home to try out and savor.

On the last trip after we left the Big Round Barn and Pops, we continued down Route 66 halfway between Edmond and Tulsa (about 50 minutes). We saw some other cool looking buildings as well as an old rock filling station that once housed counterfieters and was the site of a homicide investigation. Crazy stuff, if only you get off the highways onto the byways.... Check out the pictures below.

Pops - Arcadia, Oklahoma, Route 66

Big Round Barn - Arcadia, Oklahoma, Route 66

Old Filling Station - Route 66

Internal Longing

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:18:00 +0000

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.

Cravings of Pizza

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 07:26:00 +0000

So, when we are in the states Angie and I are usually enjoying the many foods that we miss when we are in Italy. And we have been. However, tonight I was watching a show about Italy on the travel channel.....then they showed pizza! Oh man it hit me all of a sudden, the flavors, the types (thin restaurant and thicker pizza by the slice) and of course the simplicity of it. Wow, is my mouth watering.

Perspectives

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 06:28:00 +0000

So, last night Angie and I went to our first night of a semester long class called "Perspectives". We are taking it to broaden our understanding of missions in order to be better leaders for the Verona team. We were in a room full of people from several denominations in a classroom at First Christian Church in Owasso, Oklahoma. It is a three hour class, every Wednesday night for several months. If the first night was any indication, it is going to be a great class. It feels like it is not only going to make me a better leader, but understand the heart of God better too! As we go to classes, I may try to post something here or there. As for last night, some verses that stood out were Genesis 12:1-3. They were verses that we grew attached to as we sought the city that God was sending us to and we talked about those verses last night. Then tonight at a small group of one of our supporting churches, Edmond Christian Church, we talked about those verses again. Is God trying to tell us something? Affirm something to us? If you get a chance read those verses and ask God what he wants to tell you through them. And also if you want to be challenged in your faith, check out "Perspectives". So far, so great. I'll let you know more as we go along.

If You Watch LOST

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 01:43:00 +0000

There is a great new promo trailer for LOST, which starts January 31st! You can check it out here...

http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/james-hibberd/2007/12/abcs_new_lost_trailer.php

I am getting excited about the return of one of my favorite shows.

I'm Vexed

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 09:50:00 +0000

So, I realized something tonight.....I am having difficulty allowing myself to feel comfortable in our new apartment. Don't get me wrong, I love it. Angie and I have already made it feel more like home. Friends and family have already come over and helped us make some great memories. Friends and family have also loaned us stuff to furnish the home, which is greatly appreciated. But the problem is this.....since we moved out of our apartment in Ancona, we have stayed in approximately eight different bedrooms in seven different places. Some of those were hotels, some were by the hospitality of friends or family, yet none were for very long.

We moved out of our apartment on October 23, which is about eight weeks ago. That means we have stayed in as many bedrooms as weeks since moving out of our apartment. That means we have had very little stability. That means my mind has gotten more accustomed to staying briefly in places, than for lengthier periods. And that has created a habit. Now, a couple weeks into our new home, I am realizing the difficulty in letting myself relax. We will be in this apartment six months. It's okay for me to let my hair down.....even thought my hair is short. I don't have to pack up all of my belongings tomorrow, next week or even next month. We can put down some roots. I have met a couple neighbors, "D" and Steve. Seem like two nice enough guys. I want to allow God the opportunity to refresh us while we are here in the states. I want to relax in the Lord. Will I feel that feeling of relaxation? I think so. But I wonder, when that will happen. Will I wake up one morning two months from now, and realize it happened slowly and I missed the transition? My Lord knows. My job is to be content. We don't know the future. We can't trust in the things of this earth. What is a home, but shelter that God has provided. Hasn't He always provided everything for us? Hasn't He always taken care of us in every situation no matter how grim it appeared to be? Yes, yes a thousand times yes. Now, I just need to reconcile my heart and my mind.

Ice Storm in Tulsa

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 07:00:00 +0000

So, we had only been in our new apartment in Tulsa for a week, when a major ice storm hit. It has been pretty bad, with up to half of the Tulsa residents being without power for one to three days. We have been very fortunate that our lone apartment complex has managed to keep its power on throughout the entire process. Our apartment has only had a few blinks off and on of our electricity and internet, other than that it has been great. Angie's sister, Mary Ann, and her two kids have been staying with us, while her husband, David, has been getting extra time making sure cable stays on for the homes that have electricity (he works for Cox Cable). My parents, and one brother lost their electric, so they went over to my other brothers house and he has two fireplaces....which ended up coming in handy since his electric finally went off today. At Wal-Mart today (my first journey out for two days) I picked up some more items in case the electric still does go off, like three cans of self-heating soup, a bag of beef jerky, several candles and heat bags, that once popped will provide small amounts of heat for 10-24 hours (depending on which bag you use). At Wal-Mart several of the food shelves were low or completely empty....my cashier has not had electric since Sunday. It's bad, but hopefully getting better. Here are some pictures.

Check out the thickness of the ice on these branches (above and below)!

Below you can see one of the many trees that fell in our complex...this one just happened to fall on one of the townhouses...ouch.
Below you can see the icicle beard along the truck we have been driving.

You wouldn't want one of these icicles to fall on your head.
This was the hot dog section at Wal-Mart (for all those using fireplaces and outdoor grills for cooking, I imagine).

The section below looks like it was part of the dairy section. Not sure if this was because it was shopped over, or because it went bad when Wal-Mart lost electricity.

And here you can see the empty pizza shelves, with one lone DiGiorno pizza left behind. There were more around the corner, but this sight was pretty shocking to see.

Moving Again???

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 07:42:00 +0000

So, here we are on the eve of yet again, another move. Tomorrow, Angie and I are moving from my brother's house into an apartment. Staying with my brother has been good and I'm glad we had the opportunity. Moving into an apartment however, will give us some routine, family space, stability and normalcy. Starting in January we will be travelling and speaking at several churches to promote and communicate about our ministry, and when we aren't travelling the apartment in Tulsa will be a great homebase to return to. Also, we are planning on inviting over family, friends and supporters to the apartment and providing them with some great hospitality.

Tomorrow will be busy, but good. In the morning we will get to the apartment, clean up after the bug bombs, and straighten what few things we already took over this evening when we got the keys. Then from 10 AM to noon, the cable guy will come to install internet and cable. Sometime after 10 AM several guys from Highland Park Christian Church will be coming over with all the furniture that many at the church have so selflessly loaned us while we are in the states for Home Assignment. We are awed and overwhelmed by the support our churches give us, and this is a great example. Later in the afternoon, we will work on the apartment, unpacking and moving things into their permanent position, then that night we'll come back over to my brother's house to watch OU play Missouri for the Big 12 football championship. Great stuff. I can't wait.

Breaking the Silence

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 06:21:00 +0000

Well, we've been back in the states six days shy of one month now. We are just now starting to relax. Five days after returning we headed out to Louisville, Kentucky for the Team Expansion team leader summit. It was a great experience for Angie and I to get to know other Team Leader's and become more prepared as a leader for our Verona team.

After the team leader summit, we stayed in Louisville a few more days going to various meetings with personnel at Team Expansion's home office and visiting our PACE church, Shively Christian Church. One day I got incredibly sick with fever and bronchial congestion but the next day it was gone and we were ready for to leave once more.

We then headed to Cincinnati, Ohio for the National Missionary Convention. We were able to connect with many old friends which is always good and hang out with Team Expansion missionaries as well as others. Our two main goals were find new churches for support and recruit for the Verona team. We spoke with several contacts in churches, but none seem to be able to help financially right now. However, we were able to interview and informally chat with several potential recruits. Many top notch candidates and we are in various stages of development with them. All in all, it was a good trip for us. We left Cincinnati Sunday and got back in Tulsa Monday evening.

The last few days have been spent with family and friends, enjoying the holidays and down time. There have been some negative stressors too, but the good definitely outweighs the bad and God continually supplies what we need in every given moment.

Tomorrow, I am looking forward to a good football game between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Oklahoma State Cowboys....go OU. Then tomorrow night I will be watching the Kansas and Missouri football game. The winner of that game will determine who OU plays, if OU comes out on top versus the Cowboys. Overall it should be a good day for college football.

We'll be working on things next week and then taking some vacation time during December which will combine with the holidays in order to provide us some great refreshment and recharging. We will be start doing presentations in January of 2008, so I will be putting the finishing touches on our promotional materials next month. And now to bed. G'night.

Moving Day...

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 21:41:00 +0000

Things have been a little crazy and abnormal since we moved, but still good. We have been able to bid farewell to most everyone that we wanted to before we left. We are thankful to the Casey family for allowing us to crash and work at their house during our last week.

Our moving day was very frenetic at first. The movers arrived at 7:30 AM on the dot (which if you know me is earlier than I like it) and they immediately installed the electric ladder. It is a ladder with a platform that raises and lowers. Check out the pics below.

Jason, Brian, Heather and Heidi all helped us throughout the day, which really helped the process happen. Jason wrote a great article describing many of our feelings at his blog found here: http://marchegiansun.blogspot.com/2007/10/moving-day.html.

We are not homeless. Tomorrow we head out to America where will be staying with family and traveling until December 1st. At that point we will move into a small apartment in Tulsa that we will stay in during our Home Assignment.

It has been hard these many months as we prepared to leave. We went through many different goodbyes throughout the months. It seems we are always saying goodbyes. Fortunately we only have a few more before we leave Ancona and then we won't have to say goodbyes like this for some time. See you on the other side of the ocean.

Moving Tomorrow...Really?

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Crosser) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:00:00 +0000

We are moving tomorrow. Even though I am sitting with boxes stacked up all around me and each room of the house looks more and more bare with each passing hour it still isn’t sinking in. Yes, it looks like someone is moving but is it really us? We have moved seven times (this will be move 8) during our eleven years of marriage. But we have lived in this house for six years! This has been home to Matt and I longer than any other place we have lived our married life! For me it is hard to say goodbye. It is hard for my mind to understand that this is my last day to call this home. I am sure it will sink in……probably about this time tomorrow when I look around and most of our things are outside on a moving truck…but for now I want to enjoy this last day as much as I can. I love my home here in Ancona and I want to remember this last day.
One more tidbit about moving. Out of the seven times we have moved it has rained every single one of those days. Guess what’s in the forecast for tomorrow? You guessed it….rain! Looks like we could be 8 for 8. I wonder what it is like to move in the sunshine?

How God Takes Care of Us

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:02:00 +0000

So....these last couple of weeks, we are constantly reminded of how God is there taking care of us, when we ask and even when we don't.

For instance, two days ago I was out for a meeting and was returning home. I had just talked with Angie and told her I could stop by our favorite pizza by the slice place and pick up some pizza for lunch, when she asked if I had been able to pick up some dishwasher calcium cleaner. I hadn't and she said not to worry about it that she would get it later in the day. I decided to go ahead and go by the store to pick it up to help her out. As I was walking I thought of the two air conditioner holes in our windows and how I needed to call the glass guy (in Italy you have a glass guy) to replace the panes before we moved. I thought of how difficult it can be to get ahold of this guy and kind of started to worry (my bad). You see we don't have much time left. So, I got to the street where our grocery store is (in Italy you have a grocery store - it's one block from our house) and I walked right by a guy carrying a pane of glass. Funny, I didn't think a thing of it...yet. I looked in at the grocery store at the line was extremely long...I thought about it and didn't think that Angie would want me to wait in the line that long just for the cleaner, so I turned around and headed home. Then I passed the guy carrying another pane of glass. I walked right by him and then stopped dead in my tracks. At first I just thought he was putting up some glass shelving in the store he was going in, but the panes were big....was he a glass guy? Could this be God's way of setting something up with some other glass guy so that we could get things moving in the glass department? I turned around and he was bringing another pane of glass up and I asked him, "do you work for this store or do you work with glass?" He said, "he was a glass guy." I said, "Good because I have two windows with holes that I need to get replaced before we leave." He said, "You'll have to ask the boss," then pointed behind me. When I turned around, there standing before me was our glass guy! I explained what we needed and that we were moving and he said he would come over right after that and measure them. He came and the next day they came and installed the new panes of glass. It was only 60 euro!

Then today, I planned on solving our moving problem. You see living in an apartment has some problems when you have large furniture. In Italy, they have these elevated platforms that you can rent that come up to your balcony and you put your stuff on it. You can also put smaller stuff on it and it saves you from using the elevator or going down the five flights of stairs (we're on the fifth floor). So, Angie helped me find some numbers and I started calling. We had a friend who had told us he knew someone who did moving and he would try to get some information for us. He didn't come through. So that's how we found ourselves four days before our moving date looking through the yellow pages. After calling a few places, it looked bleak. Many couldn't do it that soon because they were booked. And the prices for renting the elevated platform, moving van and having them help move was looking to be too expensive. The average move has a cost of 2,000 euro or more. Just the platform has a cost of 450 euro for a five hours. Remember we take even our kitchen with us, that means it needs to be taken down and then moved to storage as well as the rest of our furnishings. So, I finally called one guy by the name of Pino and he said the elevated platform was available for Tuesday, but we still needed a rental van. He graciously said he could be over in thirty minutes to give us a precise estimate for everything. He came and fifteen minutes later we had hired three movers, the moving van and the elevated platform. The Ancona team is going to be helping us that day too and he took that into account for how many other men he needed to bring. It is going to cost 600 euro for everything. God is awesome and he always takes good care of us.

Newsletter - October 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 03:11:00 +0000

Here's our latest newsletter, enjoy. Click the thumbnail above to view it or right click and choose "save target as" to download it to your computer.

Missing Ancona Already

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 02:44:00 +0000

Boy am I going to miss Ancona. In two weeks, we are moving out of our apartment and staying with the Casey's for a week. In three weeks we fly out from Ancona to Tulsa. We will no longer be residents of the city of Ancona. We have been moving towards this for over nine months, but now it is real. Now it is happening. All around me is the evidence. Boxes clutter our home constantly reminding us of the coming changes. We are excited about Verona and what the future holds, but that doesn't mean we won't miss Ancona when we go. When we left Tulsa to come to Ancona (via Perugia for language school) we missed Tulsa, even though we were excited to "finally" get to Italy after raising initial support for almost two years. This December we would have lived in this same apartment in Ancona for six years. Except for our parents' homes, Angie and I have never lived as long in one home. And since we have been married, it has been the home that we have lived in the longest, six out of eleven years in December. That too is interesting, because we moved in our apartment on our fifth wedding anniversary, December 21, 2001. We have celebrated our marriage and our arrival in Ancona on the same day for almost six years now. As we go through these last few weeks here, we are saying goodbye to people and places that have been a large part of our adult lives. And we will miss them. That isn't to say we won't visit, and people from here won't visit us in Verona, but the convenience of being in this city near these things will be gone which causes a bit of sadness. We won't be sad forever, and each city we live in here on earth will pale in comparison to what God has in store for us in heaven. It's okay to allow ourselves to experience sadness, its part of our humanity and God made us this way. He also provides the wings of cover for us to run under and rest in his comfort. So, to Ancona.....thanks for all the memories, friendships, christmases, thanksgivings, beach days, short term teams, birthdays, ministry, laughter, church community, life, love and happiness you have provided through the providence and blessings of God. God is great and he has always provided what we needed and we believe he always will.

Look at the Size of That...

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 15:12:00 +0000

Have you ever seen a strawberry this big? It fit in the palm of our hands!

What's That Smell?

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 03:17:00 +0000

So, Angie and I were at church yesterday when I leaned over and asked her, "do you smell that?" She looked at me and replied, "No, what did you do?" I was referring to the good smelling food that was being heated up for the monthly potluck. She thought I had meant something else and we had a laugh about it.

It's Almost That Spooky Time Again

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:23:00 +0000

I love music. I love using music to celebrate life as we go through it. I love most holiday music or television specials. Combine that with the fact that I liked to get spooked. I know, I know, there aren't such thing as ghosts, but tell that to my goose pimples and standing hair. I like movies that get me a little scared and stories that make me second guess if someone is staring at me in the dark. So, when October hits, I like listening to halloween music and spooky stories. Alas, I broke early this year and listened to some already. One annual favorite is an old armed forces radio show where a journalist is sent to describe the old frankenstein castle in Darnstadt, Germany. Each year, it was replayed each year on the Tulsa news/talk radio station KRMG. By following that link you can find the six minute radio clip online. It was also featured on Boing Boing. It is definitely one of my favorite old radio stories. Make sure you dim the lights before you listen.

In January 2005, Angie and I were driving back from the Mid-Witner Rally in Germany and we stopped in at the old Frankenstein Castle. I first reported back in January 2005, but I am finally getting around to posting some pictures from there.

Also, one of my favorite spooky songs is "Hey There Little Red Riding Hood" by Sam Sham and the Pharaohs. It isn't the lyrics particularly, although they sing them a little scary, but rather because when I was little my brothers (who were ten and twelve years older than I) would play it at night, while telling me there was someone skulking around in the backyard. There wasn't.

Kebabs, Not Shish-Kebabs

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:52:00 +0000

So for years, our team in Ancona has enjoyed a delicacy which does not hail from here. It is....(hold for it)....the Kebab. Not to be confused with the shishkebab, which is the small cubes of meat and vegetables skewered for grilling. But this comes from the Döner kebab variant, which in Turkish literally means "rotating meat". It's called this because the meat is on a vertical rotating spit that turns so that it is slowly roasted in front of a vertical glowing orange oven. As it turns the outer edges cook and the slice it off. They put this in a pita bread with various vegetables, including french fries, and mayonnaise and yogurt sauces. If you like it hot, they will also put some hot red pepper sauce. Wikipedia refers to the popularity of the take out kebab throughout europe..."Döner kebab is said to be the best-selling fast food in Germany, Poland and Romania as well as being popular in the UK, France, The Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Canada, and Australia." The meat used is usually beef, chicken or lamb. Our favorite place in Ancona has beef and chicken. Here are some pictures of our last outing at Tunital.

Homemade Stuffed Ravioli

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:16:00 +0000

So, one of the great things about living in Italy is experiencing the food. Another great thing is learning new recipes. Contrary to popular belief not everyone in Italy can cook, no more than everyone in America can barbecue. However, great recipes can be found. We try to share some of these in our newsletters as a way of involving you in our cultural experience. If you aren't receiving our paper newsletter and would like to receive it, email us.

Angie decided she was going to take some of what she had learned so far and create something of her own creation. She made homemade stuffed ravioli! It was good, as you can imagine. Here are some pics from cooking to plate.

Elvis in Ancona?

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 02:41:00 +0000

So, we were leaving our facility awhile back after easter and on the wall of a communist social club was this poster....

That's right. It's a resurrection party with the other king. However, as much as I like listening to Elvis, I don't plan on putting my afterlife in his hands.

Prayer of Thankfulness

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Crosser) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:01:00 +0000

This morning I decided to tackle packing the books in the living room. I turned on my favorite DVD of the Gilmore Girls and happily set to work. I hadn’t been working long when I noticed that I could hear a group of kids outside. I went to the window to see and there below in our piazza were kids on a field trip. One of the schools near our house has a teacher who on occasion brings his students to our piazza for class. It is a nice piazza with lots of trees and a small area with stadium like seating where the kids can sit and the teacher stands below so all the kids can see him. I have seen him down there many times and he seems like a fun teacher making the kids laugh and often including songs in his teaching.
I stood outside and watched them for awhile. I noticed two other people in our piazza a elderly man named Gino who is an older man who has lived in this piazza since he was a child. He has some form of dementia. Every day he walks around meeting new friends, of course these are the same people he meets everyday, and he is always willing give you a warm smile and to tell you a war story or two. Then there was Stefania who is a woman who wanders around the downtown area of Ancona. Some days she is as lucid as you and I and you can actually have a real conversation with her. Other days she walks the streets singing at the top of her lungs or on the really bad days screaming as if she is reliving a haunting memory over and over again. Every morning she walks from somewhere up back behind our building around and across the piazza off to wherever she is going that day. Then again in the evening she takes the same path but in reverse back to wherever it is that she calls home.
I know that in a few hours when school is out for the day our piazza will once again be filled with the voices of children playing. Every afternoon from about 5 until the sun goes down our piazza is filled with life. Children playing on the swings, sliding down the slide, playing hide and go seek, boys playing soccer and girls making up dances. The parents and grandparents sit around and talk about their children.
These are the people that we hear, see and talk to each day. They describe the daily life in our piazza and as I stood this morning and watched I felt comforted. All was right and normal today but then I remembered…not all is normal because I am packing my house into cardboard boxes. These people and sounds that have over the years become home to me are soon to be a memory. This will only be my home for a few more weeks. I don’t know what I will see when I look out my window in Verona but I pray that the people and sounds will again become comfortable to us. I will miss our piazza and I am so thankful that God has given us the years we have had here. So with a prayer of thankfulness in my heart I return to my boxes wondering what sounds I will hear coming in my windows when it is time to unpack these boxes.

Sick and Tired

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 15:15:00 +0000

I've been sick.

I don't like to be sick.

I think I have been going, going and going, as well as experiencing high levels of stress from moving, changing jobs, changing churches, leaving friends behind, etc.... When I finally slowed down for some time off, my body said, great now we can shut down. I have been going through a cycle of having cold like symptoms for a couple of days, then being congested and just feeling less than 100%. Oh well, I'll take some extra time to relax and feel better, so I can get back to being 100%.

Newsletter - September 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Crosser) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:23:00 +0000

Here's our latest newsletter, enjoy. Click the thumbnail above to view it or right click and choose "save target as" to download it to your computer.