Soooo Jesus has graciously allowed us to sleep in the past two days, make food when we want to make food, watch a movie when we want to watch a movie, take a much needed nap when we have the urge, and eat some more. It has been wonderful. There were no trains, planes, or buses to catch. Nope, just sweet, sweet sitting, sleepin', and eatin'.
This down time allowed for some sweet time spent in the Word, and Jesus met me through the book of James. Have you ever just sat down and read the book of James in it's entirity, not simply picking and choosing through its awesome verses? If not, you should. It is really powerful. One of the verses that hit me in the stomach like a powerful punch was
Do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the Spirit that He has made to dwell in us"? But He gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble". Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
James 4:7,8
Wow. Just take time to soak in the power of those words. He is jealous for us. Jealous. For. Us. The Creator, the Author, the Master, who has no faults or shadows or doubts, yearns to be with us. How much of a waste is anything and everything that is not done through Him and in His name.
I mean, He's jealous! Once we realize this truth, and we open ourselves to Him, He will meet us. Jesus is the definition of steadfast, faithful, and perfection, and He will stoop down to us, just because He can't help but love us. How much sweeter is submission when it is done in the name of true love?
Here are some meals from the past couple of days.
Pretty much just fruits and veggies. We're not mad.
More veggies and pasta. This was one of the best meals we have had since we have been here. The only bad part was that we decided to eat outside, and it was stracaldo (veryyyy hot).
See that doghouse in the background? When Kate is mean, she has to sleep there. She ends up sleeping there a lot.
Silly Italian, open your eyes when you take pictures!
Chocolate ball from the pasteccierra. Yum yum yum.
Fruit cake from the pasteccierra. Once again, yum yum yum.
Listen, if you are used to drinking lots of water, then you come to Europe, get prepared to drink even more water. Oh my gosh, I am dehydrated like all the time. It is crazy how much water I guzzle here. It never seems like its enough either, no matter how much I force down.
We love eating. So much. Especially Anna.
Anna's mom is pretty much a beast at cooking. All of her food feels like it should cost about $20 a plate at a nice Italian restaurant. It's awesome.
Veggies, veggies, veggies!
We have left the house a total of three times in the past two days. Once, we went to the supermarket, where we got all the makings for a happy, happy tummy. While at the supermarket we saw a couple of characters, and some very interesting selections of food.
On the way to the store.
Check that out. It was even better after the picture, because we apparently forgot to turn the flash off. The man definitely knew what we were doing. Score.
That whole section is ham. So much ham. Italians love their ham.
Ok, this girl is just precious. We had to take a picture of our Italian mom and this sweet baby girl.
Did you know that in Italy they slaughter and eat horses? Yea, you can have a cheese and horse sandwich. What the mess? Coming from Asbury, smack dab in the middle of the sacred rolling hills of horse country Ketucky, eating a horse is pretty much a sin.
Notice, I said pretty much.
When we went out to the supermarket, which has been the only thing I have seen to resemble Walmart in Europe, we stopped for some gelato (of course), and a movie. We rented "Friends with Money" with Jennifer Anniston, and it was a huge let down. Never watch it, it is a waste of an hour and a half of your life. It's just depressing, and teaches the only way to be happy is to have money.
I am pretty sure the only way to be happy is with Jesus centered in your life, but maybe I am just crazy....
The second time we left the house was to go on a five mile run through the pretty trails in the woods. Don't worry Mom, we way earlier this time. It may have been way hotter, but at least we could actually see the trail this time. Next time we run, I'll take pictures to show yall how pretty Italian the wildflower littered, sheep covered, manure staaaankin' country-side is.
Then, last night, after chowing through a meal of fresh pasta with red sauce, a wonderful salad courtesy of Kate and yours truly, fresh mozzarella, German wheat bread, Anna, Kate, and I went out with one of Anna's friends. He picked us up in his nice Audi, which unfortunately did NOT have a working seat belt for me... This would not have been that much of a problem if he didn't drive like a complete maniac. I may or may not have been scared for my life, on more than one turn.
Let's just say that it didn't help that he was blaring some "Don't Need No Education", using zero air conditioning, and that I had a full stomach. Can you say car-sick central?
Ah, European drivers.
We met up with Andrea's (Andrea is a boy's name here. So yes, I am Mandrea here...) friends and hung out for a little bit, then we headed to a Kebab shop. These are like huge burgers, that are kind of like wraps. They are a Turkish food, and there are Kebab shops everywhere. Well, the owner of this particular shop was VERY open and maybe over friendly, and walker up to us as soon as he heard the word "Americanas". Even though he didn't speak English, he kept talking to Kate through Anna.
I stopped listening to the crazy bald man who said he looked like Vin Deisel (as he flexed his scrawny muscles for us of course), and was immediately bombarded with Andrea's friends. I don't know what it is about Italians thinking that if you shout English at me, thennnn I will understand you so much better. Needless to say, my ears were about to fall off due to the volume of these boy's voices.
After we escaped the Kebab man, who kept talking about the revolutions in Northern Africa, the politics of Spain, and how he saw Brittney Spears at a restaurant in Germany, we headed to a square in the middle of some town. We all sat on benches and talked for about 15 minutes, and then Kate and I expressed how we were strastanca (very tired). Anna got the hint, and we headed home.
And what beautiful masterpiece awaited us at home? What was the climax of our day? What was the "cherry" on top of a rough night?
Homemade. Flippin. Tiramisu.
We went to bed strafelise (very, very happy).
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