oh the holidays.

ciao tutti!

it's beginning to look like Christmas here in florence... the windows are full of colorful displays, the streets are lined with mini Christmas trees [well, the nicer ones anyway], and twinkle lights are hung from building to building. and in our own little apartment, i find myself listening to sufjan's Christmas album more often than not.

it's strange to be away from America in this season. it's definitely hard to believe that you will all be carving up turkey on thursday and then hitting the malls on friday. oh how i wish i was around to take part in this beloved time of year!

this saturday, i will blessed with the presence of two giant turkeys! our team is hosting a thanksgiving dinner for our italian friends... about 60 of them! of course the idea of thanksgiving is completely foreign to them- their eyes usually light up, arms spread wide, and whisper urgently: grande tacchino! yes. so we shall provide two.

so as you munch on your leftovers this weekend, be thinking of the tiny apartment we are cramming students into, feeding turkey, and sharing about the religious freedom that sparked this day we call thanksgiving.

america votes.

it's strange to be in a foreign country during such an exciting time in the good ole usa. what makes it even crazier is when the internet in your florentine apartment goes out- so you are completely cut off from all news... or palin snl videos.

italy is quite excited to see obama as the new face of america. i admit it's a relief to now introduce myself without being asked, "who are you voting for?", and then of course being judged accordingly. it was getting more and more difficult to evade such a question.

what shall i miss most? tina fey of course. but don't you worry- there are three girls in florence that will continue to "get mavericky". we will miss you sarah palin, but your maverick legacy shall live on in our hearts... and our youtube videos.

saturday with sarah.

okay. so potentially the grandest moment of 'florence in the fall' just happened. and i mean JUST. this little post... well, it's coming at you live... if you will.

if you have ever lived anywhere near stillwater then i know you are familiar with aspen coffee. and if you are familiar with aspen coffee then i know you heart chai. and if you heart aspen chai, we are probably bff.

well, even here in italy, people are bonding over this delicious beverage. on more than one occasion i have found myself in an 'aspen' conversation.

but today my friends, today, all this talk became reality... thanks to a dear friend... sarah. i may or may not have been leaping round her kitchen. no big deal.

apparently, you can partake via big train brand. and i kid you not, it IS aspen chai. aka, the love of my life.

so here's to you aspen- from europe- i salute you.

and so it begins.

ciao mi amici.

i've been in italy for exactly 3 weeks now. it truly feels like so much longer- not in a bad way- in a 'this really is my life' way.

this week, we've spent some time on campus meeting students, and we also started our Bible study, called La Porta... aka The Door. this Bible study is hosted at our apartment. it was quite an experience to have my living room full with 25 people! we visited, ate dinner, and then listened to three women [one american, two italiani] speak of their summer project in malawi. along with a team, these women raised money to go and serve the people of malawi by building a school and a well. the pictures and stories were extremely moving. it was absolutely beautiful to hear two italians speak of serving God to their fellow italians [even though i only caught about every 5th word] :). next time, we will begin our study of the Sermon on the Mount.

today, our team went to careggi [the engineering campus here in florence]. i visited this campus back in march, so it was surreal to enter onto it again knowing i was long-term. my teammate michelle and i spoke with two girls who were very interested in american pop culture. they questioned me mostly about film stars and tv shows. i am rediscovering the life of the lost. it was so easy for these girls to transition into joking about porn, sex, etc. this is something i've just never been confronted with [especially living in oklahoma] but is so understandable.

these precious italians just don't know any better. oh how i pray that their eyes would be opened to the knowledge of their great Savior. please join me.

below is a picture of my team. it is a joy and privilege to serve italians alongside them. clockwise from left: le presento: kelly, abigail, marti, drew, cecilia [italian], sarah, michelle, and me. please continue to pray for each of us- that we would be bonded together as one and love the Lord as we ought.

Day with the Lord.

Greetings.

Our team just came back from a New Beginnings conference near Grossetto- Fattoria Il Santo. It was such a joy to connect with teams headed to different areas of Italy, and discuss what it looks like to really dive into the lives of Italians. We talked about what it will look like to practically launch movements among students.

One of my favorite points of the weekend was hearing what has worked in the past- Italians that had surrendered their lives to Christ shared what made them want to cross over from death to life. These things included: being exposed to Christ centered community, exposure to large sections of Scripture, hearing someone's life changed story, and having a few of their burning questions answered. I cannot wait to join with my team in making sure that every student we invest in sees these 4 aspects.

Currently, I am learning to have a more accurate perspective on the glory of God. At the Fattoria [which is a working farm] we were surrounded by beauty- from the Tuscan hills to the vast skies blanketed in stars- and I found myself feeling small and insignificant. But that is not the right perspective at all. The Lord is great, vast, worthy, and infinite. When I see His beauty and soak it in, my thoughts should be about His glory- these things exist to glorify Him. I want my life to be the same.

ci siamo.

i [along with my two teammates] have officially arrived in firenze!

we were greeted at the airport by the rest of our team- praise the Lord all of our suitcases made it safe and sound. ems, my luggage tag even beat out the airline- he's still as cute as ever.

today was a big day in italia- abigail and i now have cellphones! it's almost like starting life all over. there are so many things that you don't think about have to "re-aquire", and to do them while living in a jet-lagged fog is quite an experience.

and speaking of jet-lag, i had a grand notion of writing a very excited and quite witty post, but let's be honest, the creative juices aren't currently flowing. all this to say, life hasn't changed too much. i'm still avoiding reality [aka unpacked suitcases] by checking email and facebook- same same but different.

ciao!

Meet My Team.

Team Florence: Going Where the Soil is Hard.

Abigail, Melody, and Kelly. I can't wait to walk through a life of ministry with these women!