Italy; more beautiful places than I can see

Friday 7/15/11

     Happy Birthday Erin! Not quite the 15^th back home as I write this, but it is here, so I am the first to wish it. Woke up to the Duomo bell tower this morning. I can give you a list of the most amazing sounds to wake up to in the mornings, and that is certainly one of them. I did not sleep with any covers last night, the temperature is higher here right now than it was in Uganda. I got out of bed and went into the kitchen where Karen was starting to prepare breakfast. She let me help her grate some cheese. There are huge doors that open up into a ...space? Between the apartments in the area. I don't know what to call it since it was definitely not something that was planned. I think as they built the buildings in the area, they would say, "oh I need a house, so I am just going to start building on top of Bob's house down the road." None of the roof lines are straight, they are all tile, and it is beautiful. There are random windows in places that architects back home would not even think to include in their designs. Its really quite memorizing. Yesterday a guy named Joubert came home, he has been staying with the Quicks for a short while until he finds a place to stay. He is from Brazil and is quite the gentleman. I have been particularly impressed with his character. He is just a boy seeking only to do what God is calling him to do. He is willing to go anywhere, sleep anywhere, eat anything, whatever he is given he appreciates and considers it a blessing. He is my height, my weight, my build, only he has black hair and a Portuguese accent... and he is younger than me. He has been really fun to get to know. So this morning after breakfast he and I sat on the couch while Dennis went to have a chiropractor appointment and he watched football, and I checked email, a few blogs, and facebook. I also plugged in my ipod and listened to some worship music and got into Romans a little bit. That just happens to be what we studied in Africa as a team... Anyways; rabbit trail! Last night we had a bible study with Joubert and quite a few other people that are here in Florence for a time. If you want to read more about the bible study, Dennis keeps a blog CLICK HERE. He is always typing fun stories about his ministry here in Florence. He might even have a picture of the group! We had some good discussion about what areas in our lives that might be preventing us from being blessed by God. He compared it with the feeding of a baby. The baby needs food, and sometimes it seems like more goes onto a baby's face than in its mouth almost resisting or rejecting the very thing that it needs. He asked for one thing that we need more of in our lives that would help us accept those blessings and become closer to God. I think it is always good to evaluate your situation and really think about things like that. What is it that is keeping me from growing in Christ and being blessed by him? I got to think about it. I wrestle with pride, so I would need more humility to try and eliminate that pride. Then I thought about it a little more. I could be the most humble person in the world and still not be worthy of what Jesus has done for me. What is the one thing that I need more than anything else?.. Grace. Only because of grace am I able to be with God for all of eternity. Jesus coming down and giving us our freedom with his life is how we have received grace; something that we are given even though we are undeserving. I like to think of the sin as chain that is binding us to a fate that we deserve – eternity separate from God. Jesus basically came along, unbound each of our chains, bound himself with all of our chains and took the punishment that we were going to receive because he wants us to go and relax and be at peace with his Father. When someone says “Jesus paid the price”, I almost feel like that doesn't give him enough credit; I always just think of Jesus going into a grocery store and paying a clerk some cash for a loaf of bread or something. It should be more like “Jesus died our death”. Only he came back to life; he defeated death. He didn't buy a loaf of bread and then steal his money back..

     So, we had a good bible study. Some of the people that came had never been there, so it was cool that they were involved in the discussion and contributing to it. We had people here until around 12:30pm. Dennis started to usher them out the door. And then we went to bed.

Saturday 7/15/11

I dont really have a set agenda for about a week. I have not gotten out to see anything in detail around me yet, but I guess I am in no rush and that is not really what I am here to do. =) I will more than likely go and see some of the tourist attractions, but it is not so high on my priority list that I must go today. It as been really nice to just relax for a bit. My lungs are clearing up a bit. I still get into a few coughing fits that result in getting a little bit of delicious mucus out of my lungs, but for the most part I don't feel it in my lungs when I breathe any more, so thanks for your prayers about that. Dennis was told by his chiropractor that he should do more swimming to get exercise instead of walking, So we went to the pool today. It is out of the tourism area, so when we got out we were the only ones on the sidewalk. The pool was nice. Joubert and I had a little jumping contest. A few of the local Italians decided to judge us. He won. We had a lot of fun though. I was able to read some of my book, then we took the bus back into the tourist area, and walked back to the apartment. Karen has been doing a wonderful job cooking. I have been really impressed with the flavors of the food here, I have not yet been to a restaurant; it has all been cooked in house. The flavor of all the vegetables is more intense than at home, and the bread even the juice. I must just be so used to the Winco produce that I have gotten used to the bulk food. Micah is gluten intolerant, and he has eaten every pasta dish that we have had. They do something different with the wheat here. It is really amazing! I love walking to the store and to the market, we walk by “Casa di Dante” every time. (Dante's house; like the “Dante's Inferno” Dante) No big deal. =)

Duomo

I have been able to look up different things on Wikipedia so when I go to these places I know some thing about them. I typed in Ponte Vecchio and read all about it. Speaking of Dante, I read a really awesome story about how Dante saw Beatrice on the bridge and fell in love with her. He never said anything to her because she was young, then she died during the black plague. So, years later during WWII the Germans, as they were retreating, knew the historical significance of the bridge and contacted the Americans telling us if we would promise not to use it, they would not destroy it. America agreed and the Germans left it alone. Buildings were destroyed on both ends of the bridge blocking its path and all of the other bridges in Florence were destroyed. No American attempted to cross the bridge and it was preserved.
         I look foreward to reading more about The different places that I might get to see. It has been nice. Dennis and Karen took me on a walk up to “Piazzale Michelangelo” where there is a statue of David, which I really didnt even look at, but there was an amazing view out over Florence. They wanted to show me a beautiful rose garden there, but it was closed. It seems that every corner I turn when I am here I see something that just captivates me. When we got back Karen made another wonderful lunch. Then everyone went into a nap mode. I grabbed Dennis's camera and started to play with it. He still does not know very much about how his camera works, so he is wanting me to help him figure some things out. It is a Cannon, and I use a Nikon so its a little foreign but I fumble into the right menu settings. 

      Dennis and Karen decided to take me out for my birthday tonight even though it was a few days ago. We started by ducking into a pipe organ concert right down the street from the apartment in an small church. 

The pipe organ resonated off the walls and echoed throughout the church into the street. Was very beautiful. Then we headed on our way to a restaurant called “Ciro & Sons” Authentic Napolitano Pizza. It was wonderful. I had a pizza with smoked Mozzarella, smoked Sausage and Spinach. Then we decided to head past the Duomo over toward the Ponte Vecchio so I could look for a stone I read about on Wikipedia that Dante inscribed “Paradiso XVI” or something onto that marks a place where someone was murdered that started the conflict that eventually caused his exile from Florence.

 I looked over the streets on both sides of the bridge but the stone must have been removed. I did take a nice picture of the Arno River looking east at the moon though. Then on our way back we stopped at the famous Gelato place that all the tourists seem to know about. I think my good buddy Neal even told me about it once. I had a dish of Pistachio. It was so good. Then it was about time to come back home. It is getting late, and I am getting tired.  

Sidewalk Chalk