And we are off........

Ha ha, so you thought I was already living in Italy, sitting back on my terrazo and eating some sort of rich in calorie, highly delectable, Italian cuisine. Well, guess again!
I can only be reminded over and over again that the Lord says My thoughts are not your thoughts and My ways, not your ways! He has a plan and sometimes it's just a tad different than mine. (ok well a lot of times)
We ran into problems with the truck company that would have been overseeing all the care of our household goods-(I am thinking of writing a book entitled My Life In A Truck) LOL
Well, one thing led to another and we ended up having to find someone else at the midnight hour. (not literally) :)
It turned out to be an amazing blessing because our neighbor found one for us and it was cheaper than the original guy we planned to go with. He will also deliver it in less time than the other guy. That's what we like to hear!
God so blessed us this past week in amazing ways! He does know our breaking points and always proves Himself faithful. The girls and I had just been talking about how we have faith for everyone else's situations, but when it comes to our own, it's difficult to believe. Once more, God has proven above and beyond what we could think or ask! We are humbled by His love! We are thankful for those He uses!
So, dear friends please pray as we leave this am for our journey and hope to make it to Montebelluna in time for new student orientation. If you haven't checked out the CCBC Italy site-go to the right and click on the link. There is quite the handsome photo there too :)

Thank you for your prayers and as soon as we have internet I will try and post some photos.
May the Lord richly bless your day!
CIAO! or should I say "Gelato"!!!

Just a few more days

Yep, we are scheduled to move in just a few days *key work being "scheduled"
It's been quite a trying time to get a truck to move us that is big enough and can actually go to Italy. Most don't have international insurance, don't take credit cards, etc. It's so weird that places still don't take credit in Europe. The truck should be here Tuesday and we will head out in the evening and be in Italy Wed morning. Jim still has to come back here to Hungary for a couple days to wrap things up and I will just stay in Padova and begin the unloading task!
On a good note, the utilities are in place. We thought that was going to be a nightmare trying to set those up but it turns out the Lord was very gracious to us and all we need to do is go to the gas company to get the gas turned on. Hopefully it will be a quick procedure!

Jim had to go last week and sign all the documents for our new flat in Italy. By now, you faithful blog readers should know what I am about to write next!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes,,,,,,,,,you guessed correctly! I get a text message from Jim...."please pray the car isn't working". Apparently it was a belt or something like that. Whatever it was it cost about 200 euros! Yeah, that was money that was just burning a hole in our pocket and we had wondered how we could get rid of it LOL!
Now, we are looking to replace a bearing. Do I know what a bearing is? Of course not, but this I know...it needs replacing and we can't make the trip without it.

I find it amusing to hear things like "Wow, how lucky you are...you "get" to move to Italy. Yep, that's right folks....we "get" to move to Italy LOL..I suppose it is better than getting to live in the uttermost parts of the world where starvation and depravation are. Location wise, it is awesome! There is a world of beauty in Italy and the country has so much history and beauty in it. However, there is a spiritual battle going on! This is huge. From the moment we said Yes, we will go, there has been one problem after another with our car, with other things, and we know that these things happen in life, but we also know that spiritually speaking, we are being tested big time. God is so faithful though and He has seen us through each battle as it arises. It's almost like I just expect things to happen now. Praise the Lord that all things are in His control and He already knows how things will work out before we do!
It's harder than you know to be away from our children, grandbaby, our parents, friends.
We know the promises of God and trust in each one of them, but some days I just ache! It's a time in my life I thought that we would be living in our own home, enjoying our grandchildren, etc. I am not complaining here-just having one of those days as our girls and son-in-law are all getting together at Grandma's today to celebrate their birthdays! But, as challenging as some days are, I can honestly say I would dwell in a tent and be in God's will than live in a beautiful home outside of His will!
Here's a song I like by Barlow Girl- I really like the words to the song.

I know I know..........

It's been awhile since I have updated but we have been incredibly busy. Another house hunting trip to Italy and this time we found a flat. It just got to the point where we were so tired of looking and this one Jim really likes and the price was right so we put in the application for it. I think the confirmation came as Jim bit into a sandwich and his newly fixed front tooth broke! Yep....it was the icing on the cake......oh wait a minute, no it wasn't :)

We decided to leave about 4am the next day to head back to Hungary. We made it a bit past the border and the car overheated!! Yes, another exciting moment in our ventures of Italy-Hungary. We ended up having to leave the car for a few days and ended up being the water pump. How fun!!
Fortunately, we have two of the most faithful gals in our church here in Baja and they drove the 3-1/2 hours to pick us up and bring us back to Baja. Praise the Lord for Andi and Magdi. I don't know what it is going to be like without the two of them. They are such amazing servants of the Lord!
We were blessed with the money to go to the missions conf in Austria so we will head out later on. I love this conference. The Lord always blesses the teachings and I get so ministered by them.

It's always a great time to catch up with other missionaries around Europe and see what the Lord is doing in their lives and churches. Please pray for safe travels :)

Here are a couple pictures of our new flat. No kitchen at all-just all blank walls and space! Pray we can find a kitchen to be donated!! We need a stove, sink, cupboards, etc! We have the fridge so that is a good start! Also, please pray we will be able to rent a vehicle to transport our furniture from our house in Hungary to Italy.

We have the top level of the flat. It's basically the same layout we have hear but on one level. There are 2 bedrooms and a smaller office/bedroom, kitchen and living room.

O magnify the Lord with me, let's exalt His Name! Psalm 34:3

Promises

We had quite the time since I last updated. We went with the Santa Barbara team to Italy and it was adventurous to say the least!
Our car decided to have problems the minute Jim took the team to the train station in Baja he heard a rattle-muffler. So, we had one of the guys at the church fix it and headed on our way to Italy via Budapest for a night and Milstatt for a night.

Of course the weather in Padova was over 100 every day we were there but hey-we have air conditioning in the car right???? Let's just say that when it wanted to be on it was on and when it needed a break, it took one! Get the picture??!!! So one of the days we head to Venice with the team and as Jim parks in the parking garage the battery light went on. Needless to say when we came back to the car it wouldn't start. Oh the fun now begins.
So you must picture this. Jim says, ok-one of you girls needs to steer (it was Charlotte, her husband Ed and Jim and I) Well, I am not steering, no way, no how! I think I would freak out. So we decided to let Jim steer and Ed, Charlotte and I would push! Yes, skirts and all, we are pushing the car. Well, I guess in all fairness it was mostly Ed, but Charlotte and I must have had some impact :) Here we are pushing and we are getting close to the part where the parking lot starts to make the curvy turn and I am just praying inside-Lord there is no way that I can push while going around a bend. Those of you who know me know that coordination is not one of my spiritual gifts! LOL


Anyway, the Lord had mercy upon us and at just the right time Jim started the car and we headed back to Padova. The car broke down again after a few days and this time it had to be put on a truck and taken to the repair shop. A new belt, new alternator, headaches, sore back for Jim and a whole bunch of euros later we were on our way back to Hungary!
Just one of those times where you ask the Lord....Lord why now? Whey did this have to happen now? I sometimes think He feels like saying...why not now...as if there is a better time for these things to happen :)

We ended up staying an extra week after the team left to find a place to live but didn't have much luck. We learned a lot about Italian culture that week. We learned how important the afternoon lunch/siesta is. So important that an hour before it starts not much gets accomplished so that you aren't in the middle of something when the lunch begins and then about an hour after it ends you are just getting back in the swing of work again. On the last day, we finally found a realtor franchise that seems helpful and we pray that things will go well next week when we return.


Last week was pretty gloomy and we had a rainstorm one of the days. I happened to look out my window and saw a beautiful rainbow right in my backyard. It was such a gift from the Lord! It was a rough week and you know how you have those times where you know the promises of God and His faithfulness but you just need some extra assurance-well, it was like God gave the rainbow just for me at just the right moment. I grabbed my camera and did my best to mark the memory. I love how personal the Lord is. He knows what His children need and His Word just comes alive in our lives as we cry out to Him.

Some of our girls were baptized last week at the family conference. It brought tears to my eyes seeing them make this commitment before the Lord. We have been together all year for women's studies and watching them grow in their relationship and seeing Jesus at work in their lives is so precious!
So many beautiful memories! The Lord is indeed good isn't He!!!

Team SB

What a great week we have been having with the Santa Barbara team!! Lots of this and that getting done at the church ie-painting, repairs, etc. All the things that aren't big by themselves but add up to lots of work!! It was great to walk into the church and see all that the guys had done!

Lars and Emily also taught the youth group some fun stuff-lots of crazy fun to be had. The time in the Word was a great reminder of Jesus being the door and the safety we can find in Him alone!

Yesterday proved once again to be a day where we saw God do amazingly and abundantly above and beyond all we could think! We had a Kid's Day and weren't expecting more than about 20 kids. Well, over 40 kids came and not only that but many of the parents came in the afternoon and joined us for lunch and more fun games at the park. It was great to see kids from all ages playing, hearing and acting out bible stories, doing fun crafts and singing praises to the Lord!! Such a blessed time!

Here are a few photos from the youth group. Charles from SB has a great talent for art and led the kids in painting the skateboard ramps. I'll add the ones from kids day when we get back.

Please keep us in your prayers as we travel today to make our way through Budapest, Austria and then on to Italy with the team. Pray for energy as we endure the heat and humidity, travelling graces, health, etc. We will be in Padova for a few days with the team and Jim and I will stay on after they leave in hopes to find a place to live. Actually, we MUST find a place so we can begin the moving process.

Thanks for praying!! :)

Little Miss Juliet

Finally a sweet little photo of the most beautiful grandbaby!!! Am I a bit biased ??? LOL!!!
Jim finally got to meet his little granddaughter and was thrilled to feed her! What a blessing!
Thanks for all your prayers and those who helped make this trip happen for Jim. It meant so much to him!
Jim was able to get a lot of our paperwork done for Italy also. So much to do to apply for our Italian citizenship but it will be worth it. Now all the kids want to apply too. You never know how the Lord might use it in the future! I think it's funny how our ancestors were all trying to get to America and become citizens and now we are trying to go back to the countries they came from.
Please be praying for the team that will arrive from Santa Barbara next week. We will be busy doing fix up work around the church, having a kids day and if I am lucky, maybe get some more packing done. We will also head to Padova the following week and look over the city with the team, pray and perhaps scout out places to have an outreach the following year. Lots to do and so we covet your prayers. Pray they will be healthy and for good weather to do all we want to do!
So without further ado.....here is the Princess :)

Siegen Conference

We were so blessed to be able to go to the Servanthood Conference at the Siegen church a couple weeks ago. We went last year and it was awesome but this year it just didn't seem possible to go. The dollar has dropped so much and everything is more expensive. Gas alone is between 7.50 -8.00 dollars a gallon. (sorry to our US friends, we don't feel your pain) :) just kidding :)
Anyway, the conference started on Tues and we rec'd a phone call on Monday telling us that if we wanted to go it was covered!! How amazing is that! God is so good and we knew there were things the Lord wanted to speak to our hearts since He made the way for us to go. It was a double blessing because we were able to go a couple hours from the church and pick up some boxes that were shipped full of clothes for the church. We brought them to the church yesterday and everyone had a great time picking out things to wear!! Thanks Kim and Martha!!!! :)
At the conference we were able to see some old friends from SB church and meet some new ones. The messages were great and Jim and I both went up for prayer to have a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit. There was such a joy and a power in the prayer! It was one of those that I just want to carry with me as a reminder when I feel blah. Our friends Sadie and David were there and Pastor Ricky and some others prayed for us too. We are ready!! Ha ha-just remind me I said that!! There's just something about it when people are praying for you and you know they really want to be praying. It was a good reminder to me too because when I pray with people I want them to know that I want to be praying for them, it's not just a formality or something I do.
I wrote down a few highlights that spoke to my heart during the conference. Of course there were many things, but these are the main things. (You can click on it for a bigger size)