Italy in a "nutshell" . . . If that's even possible?!

Hello! Or should I say "ciao"!?

For all you faithfully patient readers here we are back in the swing of things deep down in LA (again, that's "lower Alabama"). Unlike I had planned, this is our first and most likely only blog about our missions trip to Italy. So sorry!
But "Why?" you ask! . . . To answer such a question could take a long time, however, due to the reality of the situation, let's just say it in one word, "Timmy". Once we finally arrived in Italy, a number of excuses kept evolving till eventually I just realized that it would be much easier to try and sum up the experience in a few words and a bunch of great photos.

Just prior to leaving, that's four days to be exact, we found out that Natalie was not only going to need an airline ticket (even though she would not have a seat), but also a passport. If you have been watching the news at all, you know that there is a huge backup on passport processing - approximately one month before processing can even begin on a requested passport. Long story short, I called agency after agency, and even our regional office in New Orleans, and everyone literally laughed at me when I told them I needed it in 3 days. And then, I believe with all my heart, that the Lord led me to one additional google try -and eventually to an agency who got us Natalie's passport on Saturday morning - the day of our departure! God is good!

Little did we know that that little escapade was just the beginning of a great many other small experiences and in turn, a grand adventure . . . like . . . having the wrong seats on our long flight over the great pond, getting a bassinet that sat on the floor- which Natalie rolled right out of, a 14 hour car ride, a 9 hour layover in Germany, or getting our tires locked because we parked in the wrong place (mind you, our two rental cars were the only ones locked even though there were other cars parked around us . . .hmmm?) . . . Or how God used our prayer walking, bar-hopping, and testimonies as avenues of grace. . . and much much more.

I could tell you story after story about how God most definitely brought 13 different people together to serve others in His name, in Italy. How He used the gift of soccer, our manual labor, a small attempt at singing, some amazing stories, cliff diving, and literally our bodies through a common experience of life-together for God's glory. I could then tell you about how God not only used us in a variety of ways through the gifts that He gave us, but how in and through it all we were shaped yet again by His hands as well.

We went to serve and were served. We went to grace and were graced. We went to love and were loved. This is, I believe, how God loves to work.

So thanks to all who helped make this experience happen. Thanks to all those who were a part of what God was and is still doing in Italy and through the lives of those on the AA team. And thanks to the AA team- we love you, and will forever be changed by our life-together spent in Italia, in the summer of '07!

So, gaze, gawk, and ponder the wonderful sites of Italy and what it looks like to be a soccer missions team in such a beautiful place. . . http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2089930384