this last week, i've found it especially hard to focus on God's goodness. not just to focus on it, but to remember it at all. it seems like every time i hit a hard spot in terms of financial well-being, suddenly i doubt God's ability to provide. in so many other ways, i just naturally have faith that God will provide. but not with money.

it's something that i've been struggling with a lot. if God is truly good as He says He is, and as i know Him to be, then He WILL provide. He always has in the past! so why do i doubt Him now?

in short, because i haven't worked for the last four months, i spent all of my money, except the $14.28 i have left, on textbooks for classes. and i don't have a job yet. i've been looking at craigslist and moody's part-time off-campus employment postings every single day and i have not yet found success, though i've sent out my resume dozens of times.

i know God will provide. He always does.

on a lighter note, my pcm (practical christian ministry) this semester is with young life chicago northside. i'll be helping with a program thing after school at a high school not too far from here.. i'm excited! i'll go just to observe on wednesday, and then i'll start being involved next week!

school is starting out well. it's taking quite a bit of adjusting to get used to things here again. to get used to studying again. to get used to dorm life again. and to make new friends again. it's interesting how quickly friend groups change...
that's all.

oh. and julia and sarah are moving to chicago next week!!! i am MORE than excited to have the crazy silliness of those two in my life again. i've missed it :(
in fact, i've been realizing more and more that my life at northwestern was truly wonderful. it was fun, full of friends, full of excitement and growth and learning, road-tripping and concerts, and just... beauty in the small things. i loved it. and i had the perfect job... de koffiehoek will always have a special place in my heart...
but i've moved on and i can't look back except to love and to learn. no regrets.

i love chicago, and i never would have discovered my love for the city had i not come here. God is doing a new thing :)

-e

back home safe and sound!

hey guys!
sorry it's been so long since i've updated.. i hope you didn't think my plane crashed, or i never left italy! haha. anyways, i am, in fact, back in green bay. i made it home safely, all my flights were on time, i made it through customs okay, and... things went smoothly.

since i've been home, i haven't done much, to be honest. i've slept a lot, caught up with some old friends, wrapped christmas presents/celebrated christmas, and... well, that's about it. and it's getting a little boring. which means that i'm really looking forward to going back to chicago. i'm excited to get back to school, to be in the classroom again and to study and read! kind of a crazy thought, i know, but i guess this means my trip to italy served its purpose, right?

one of my reasons for taking time off of school had to do with bitterness. i was getting so tired of being filled with all this theological knowlege and never using it. i felt suffocated by moody's rules and the whole atmosphere of the school. and i just needed to get away from it for a while. it wasn't worth it to spend more time there if i wasn't going to appreciate the things i was learning and experiencing...

i am going to move back to chicago on saturday, and i am MORE than excited about it! finally, i can say that i'm looking forward to school. i'm anxious to get started in my classes and read all these books that i've ordered for classes as they arrive at my house almost every day now!

i'd say my time in italy, overall, was wonderful. certain things were hard, that's for sure. but overall, it served its purpose, i learned a lot, and i was able to be a part of Kingdom work.

i have only two semesters left at moody before i head on to the next phase of my life, though i'm not sure at all what that will hold. guess i just have to wait and see :)

fui a barcelona!

translation: i went to barcelona! (p.s. this is spanish not italian. oops.)

as you may already know, i went to barcelona two weekends ago. it was such a good time away to just relax and see things! first of all, it was great to actually understand most of what people said because it's a language that i know. besides, almost everyone speaks english, which makes things easier (unless you are trying to improve your spanish...). i went for about 5 days, so it was definitely enough time to see the city. fun :)

i stayed with amanda, a friend of mine who i worked/lived with this summer with CSM in chicago. (p.s. i almost just spelled it chigaco. ha.) it really was a good time, though.
i think i ate more cookies that weekend than in the entire year combined, but at least they were good ones!

here are some pictures from the weekend.

this is La Sagrada Familia - a huge church designed by Gaudi.
it has been under construction for over a hundred years, and still not finished!

this is one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip.
this is the door of la sagrada familia!

i love spiral staircases like this!
this was also in la sagrada familia.

the front of la sagrada familia.

waiting for our paella! (and waiting and waiting and waiting...)
(clockwise from left front.. sarah, amanda, jess, sarah, me)

parc guell - the park that gaudi designed.
(the same guy who designed la sagrada familia)
i never realized how beautiful landscape architecture could be!


barcelona. and the sunset :)
(taken from the highest point of parc guell.

it was a good time. we even went to the ywam church there, so i got to meet even more ywam-ers from around the world! and it was fun to be in a church full of young people.

kay, that's all.
i leave here in less than four days. crazy...

as i teach english to italians, i realize more and more just how incredible languages are. when i speak, i think that the words i use are the only ones that make sense, so why should there be other sounds that have the same meaning?

even the phrase, "make sense" is a strictly english phrase! so many things we say are exclusive to the english language. like "i'm going to stop by the store tonight".. stop by is only english. to "try on" clothes.. only english. i'm amazed.

i pray for a gifting in languages, because i would love, more than anything, to learn different languages. i have a good start in spanish, and a minimal beginning in italian. but all of the latin-based languages ... wouldn't it be wonderful to know all of them?! wow.

like when i was in barcelona, amanda told me that instead of saying "blocks" (like, the store is five blocks away), they say "manzanas" which means apples! crazy, huh? i love it!

language is a truly beautiful thing..

"io faccio una cosa nuova"

translation: "I am doing a New Thing"

this was the title of the consultation that took place here in pescara, november 21-23. about 60 people came here from all over the world to talk about the future of ywam italy. each of these people had a different reason for being here, but each one was equally as beautiful, and definitely from the Lord.

there have been some problems in the old ywam italy, and many people still felt so hurt by those things. the goal has never been to push those things under the rug, but to address them head-on and deal with each one.

so this was, in a way, the re-launch of ywam italy. the leaders of ywam western europe were here, jeff and romkje fountain, as well as other major leaders. the purpose was to cast vision for the future of ywam italy, and that is exactly what happened. in soo many ways, the Lord spoke to people.

within the next year, there are about 10 people who plan to move to italy to start ministries here or join existing ywam bases. it's incredible how God has brought this all together!

here are a few pictures that are pretty demonstrative of what happened that weekend::

here's a prayer and worship time.

a map of italy, regions, major cities, and monuments labeled.
the post its, though, are my favorite part... they are the dreams and visions that people have for the people and nation of italy. they are scriptures that the Lord laid on people's hearts for this nation. what a beautiful picture of God's plans for this country!

this is a tree, deeply rooted in ywam values, and growing leaves of vision for italy.
again.. beautiful :)

this is most of the dts team from harpenden, england. they were in pescara for the week prior to the consultation as well as a few days after it. this could not have happened without them and their help cooking, cleaning, and serving!
so this picture is of all of us having pizza on their last night here.

and these are my favorite women here :)
far left is Noelia, from argentina. (i get to practice my spanish with her!)
middle is cristiana. she's like my mom here. the woman who helps to run the base here.

and that's it.. the consultation was fun, tiring, and more than anything, it was inspiring. i can't imagine all of the damage done by the former ywam italy, but God is healing those wounds slowly, but surely. God is truly doing a new thing in italy :)
---
as for me, i went to barcelona this weekend and stayed with amanda, a friend who i lived and worked with this summer. it was a great time! i'll post a few pictures some other time.
for now?
i only have 10 days left in italy. let's make the most of them!

random fact:
the ferris wheel was invented by a guy by the name of ferris.
the first ferris wheel held over 1,000 people and was located in chicago and was built for the world fair in 1893.
guess where??
JACKSON PARK! which is where i spent every morning this entire summer.
crazy, huh?

random fact #2:
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
is the name of a town in wales. crazy, huh? and it's for real! wikipedia it.

add::
-this is the first time i've been at the office by myself in weeks. i like it!
-and this morning's english lesson was sad. because we talked about how i will leave in less than three weeks. and they were so disappointed that i was leaving :( but i also mentioned that i talk to my family on skype, and barbara had the idea that maybe we could still speak english together on skype.. how fun would that be?! i'm happy that she wants so badly to know english.
-i'm going to barcelona in two days, and i'm so excited to have some time off of everything. things have been too crazybusy to even have time to think recently.

i will still post about the consultation. have no fear :)

"you americans... you change your clothes every day!"
ha.
it's true, though, that many europeans will wear the same thing 3 even 4 days in a row. why change all the time? the clothes aren't even dirty! besides, it saves laundry money :)
---
on a completely different note... this weekend has been incredible in so many ways.
i'm exhausted, but God is working! i'm so excited to see how things will move here in italy.

i'll update more and talk about what happened at the consultation, but right now? the compy's battery is about to die.