It’s normal to think about Jesus’ sacrifice a little closer to Easter. Christmas is when we focus on the birth of Jesus. We picture the idyllic scene of Mary & Joseph and the animals all gathered around Jesus. And it’s really hard for us to fast forward thirty-some years and see that baby all grown up and hanging on the cross.

But that’s what was in God’s mind just after Adam & Eve ate the forbidden fruit. He was willing to sacrifice his own Son to fix our mistake. The baby Jesus is connected to the crucified Jesus and is connected to the resurrected Jesus.

We’ve been in Italy almost seven years now. And we’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to teach about the real, life-changing Jesus that we read about in the Bible to a nation of people who have spent generations keeping Him at arm’s length. We’ve messed up a lot, we’ve strained to hear God’s voice and see his directions. And after all that work, He has blessed us by using us to lead a small group of believers who are growing by leaps and bounds.

Many of you reading this had a part in the creation of this church. Isn’t it beautiful how the Body of Christ works? It really does cross over all of these silly lines we’ve written on the maps. Thank you for caring enough to sacrifice for a group of believers you probably won’t meet this side of eternity.

May God bless you with a relaxing Christmas, and may we spend some time thanking Him who already knew how to fix this sin problem of ours before we even started sinning.

Until next month…

In high school, part of our driver’s ed course included a few lessons on how to drive a stick shift. There were two of us in the back seat, the instructor on the right, and in the driver’s seat was the poor guy who was the first to try out a clutch. The noises that the car made as we all learned the nuances of just the right amount of gas and clutch were awful. Everyone within a mile knew that someone at the high school was learning how to drive a stick.

I experience a bit of that every time we come back to Ancona after some time in the US. Sometimes the gears grind a bit as I get used to the way of life here. The language comes slower after three months of speaking English. On a good day my sense of direction is bad. Being away from Ancona for a while makes it even worse. Our team has been separated during the summer, and being together again takes some getting used to.

All of these things are little adjustments. Added together and concentrated into  a cross-cultural reentry, and you get a little bit of gear-grinding. Nothing that will burn out the clutch.Even now, a couple of weeks later, things seem much more normal. We’ve gotten in touch with most of our friends, even had some over for dinner. Heidi amazes me as she shifts gears into buying groceries over here (a much different chore compared to the US). The kids dove right into school again. Francesca even started preschool and is beginning to remember all the Italian she forgot.

But despite the gear grinding, it’s good to be back. Our few meetings back with the church members have been so refreshing.In a few weeks our team will be having a team retreat (though with the kids in school we won’t actually be going anywhere). Can I ask you to start praying for our time together? Pray that God would speak clearly to us, and would reveal the next step that he has for the church here. More than anything we want to see a vibrant, growing, independent, Italian church! Ask God to show us what He would have us do.

Now, I’m looking at all that we have accomplished as a family and church this year. Our own Chloe was baptized on July 25^th. I would have to say that that is our biggest thing that we celebrated as a family. We also rejoiced with Daniel and Simona as they were baptized in October. They have been with us for so long, and it is so wonderful to see them really growing in their faith. This year was a real turning point for them. Let’s continue to pray that they can get rid of all of the hindrances (like superstitions and other things from their former ways of thinking).

We celebrated birthdays and beach days. We hosted many in our home. We shared in an awesome Bible Study with our friends Simone and Marianna, and then started a new one including one of the newest members of our church, Sam. Which brings me to the new folks that have joined us. We have a new family. Sam and Roxanna, their daughter (a precious 3 year old) Diana, Roxanna’s 18 year old brother Paul, and her parents, Michela and Stellian. What a joy they have been.

Like you, I can’t always recall each and everything that has happened throughout the year. Fortunately for us, God helps us forget the bad (though I’m getting older and starting to forget the good, too). I know that the kids have grown taller. I’ve noticed less hugs in public, and more heart to heart talks in private. I see a man I married 13 years ago, and couldn’t be happier with that decision. I see a growing community of believers that God has called us here to disciple. I see a blank slate before me. I look out the window at the amazing amounts of snow falling (it never snows like this here) and know that if there is anything I messed up this year, anything that didn’t go as planned, that’s OK. Why? Because His word tells me that he will make me whiter than snow! I have a chance for renewal, for change. So, I look at last year with joy! And I look at this next year with hope! And I’m praying that you can do the same, too.

Until next month…

But when everyone is spread out all over, even in other countries, it makes getting together pretty hard! I’m starting to think that God wants this time to be a time of Sabbath and renewal. We have church members in two other regions (like states) and one other country. We have people who have to work Sundays during the summer months, and join us in the evening exhausted but happy. We have a hard time getting together with people because they are at their beach homes or on vacation. Sometimes, even I say “I’m bo-oored.”

Then, I think of it another way. I can use this time to concentrate, really concentrate, on the people before me. Tonight we are having two families over for dinner. They don’t really know each other, but one is from church and the other have expressed interest in coming to church. I’ve been wanting to introduce them for a while. The more relaxed schedule of August makes dinners like this much easier to plan. And no one has to rush off and get the kids in bed for school the next day. Conversation is relaxed. People seem to let their guards down a bit, giving us an opportunity to bring faith into the discussion.

Tomorrow, we are headed about an hour away to the water park with this same family. Since it is hard to take our whole family on a vacation, it is nice to be able to take a vacation day here and there to spend some concentrated time building relationships.

This weekend we are hosting a missionary couple from the Rome area, and I really hope it can be a time of growth and encouragement (and rest, too!). This couple is in the very beginning stages of church planting in the Rome area, and the topic of building the Kingdom here in Italy always comes up. The following week another missionary will be staying with us for a few days.

When all is said and done, I want to look back on my summer knowing that we made many memories. I want to really know that we have used all of the opportunities that God had given us to share and encourage. When school starts, I want to see that we’ve all grown up a bit, not just the kids.

Until next month…

Some good friends of ours invited us to attend a fish dinner down by the port. The area of town is called Gli Archi (The Arches), and all of the buildings have a large sidewalk in front and are covered with huge arches.

The dinner was a benefit for some non-profit organization. They spread out picnic tables underneath the arches and everyone mingled around until the boy scouts hurried by to take tickets and bring the food.

There is a street right in front of the arches, and it’s one of the main ways into town. Traffic tapered off as dinner went on, but the occasional bus or streetbike roaring by quickly reminded us to hang on to the kids.

When people think of Italy they often think of a fancy restaurant or a big plate of pasta. They picture wine glasses and pizza. And to be sure, the big fancy Italian dinner is something we enjoy about living here.

But as I sat, scrunched on a flimsy picnic bench with family and friends on either side, I realized that I would much rather have dinner sotto gli archi than in some fancy restaurant. The seafood pasta and fried fish was great, but not nearly as great as the company. I found myself smiling as Trey chatted with Maurizio, as Silla grabbed Francesca to take her for a walk, as Marco brought over a huge dessert that he bought before the pastry shop closed. Dinners like this are just as much for the company as the food.

But … the food was delicious, too!

But it’s more than just free babysitting. Italian kids seem to enjoy a closer relationship with their grandparents. And it’s made me realize how little contact my kids have with theirs. It really does make life harder. I know my kids miss out on that special bond with grandma and grandpa (and it’s our fault – we’re the ones who moved here). They miss getting to know adults who are less busy and have more time to focus on kid-stuff. Heidi and I miss having someone who can watch the kids for date nights (which hardly ever happen when the going rate for babysitters is $15/hour). I think even our church misses out on the wisdom that grandparents bring. The internet does allow a bit more of a connection than would normally be possible via letters and phone calls. But the distance is still there and still changes things.

And I have yet to find a way to fill that gap.

A lot has happened over the years. We spent over two years in the US raising support for our work in Ancona. What an experience that was – easily the most faith-stretching experience of our lives.

Then we moved to Perugia to study Italian. We enrolled in a small language school and tried to train our mouths to make all the weird sounds we heard all around us. We also adapted to the Italian rhythm of life, and enrolled our two oldest kids in school. What an experience that was – easily the most faith-stretching experience of our lives.

Next we moved to Ancona and started to dip our toes into life on a team. We learned all the reasons why working on a team is such a great thing, and we also learned why it can be a really challenging thing. The Italian culture started to feel a bit more familiar to us, but things were still new and scary sometimes. Moving to Ancona and working on a team was a great experience – easily the most faith-stretching experience of our lives.

After our first furlough, we came back to Ancona with a new confidence. The language wasn’t quite so difficult. Our kids were doing pretty well in school. We even had a baby in Ancona. Our team leader asked us to be the interim team leader for six months while he was in the US. What an experience that was – easily the most faith-stretching experience of our lives.

Just before our second furlough our landlord gave us six months to move out of her apartment, and we were faced with finding a new place and completely furnishing it with absolutely no way to pay for it. What an experience that was – easily the most faith-stretching experience of our lives.

Which brings us more or less to the present day. We still get our faith stretched on a regular basis. God still pulls us through despite our doubts, and shows us how faithful He is to us.

And through it all, He’s forming a church in Ancona. Sometimes He uses us, and sometimes He does an end-run and brings people to us that we never would have even met. He molds us and shapes us and chips away at our rough edges until we become more and more like Him.

And to think. It’s only taken seven years so far…

Thanks for sticking with us.

A couple of weeks ago my kids were playing at a park just down the street from our house. We let them go there all the time by themselves. It’s nice to have someplace for the kids to get out their wiggles. Our oldest daughter comes running back and tells us that she found €89 ($114) in some long grass by a tree at the park. I couldn’t believe it.

At first I was hesitant to let the kids spend it. I thought briefly about contacting some of our neighbors to see if anyone lost money, but there are easily 100 apartments surrounding the park. We were headed to the city fair that night, so I just shrugged my shoulders and said to my daughter that she could keep it.

That’s when the trouble started. Apparently she had told her brothers that she wanted to split the money with them. She found it, but they were all there playing. But when it came time to actually giving the money away, she choked and told the boys never mind. I sat her down in the middle of the fair and told her that it absolutely was her money. Finders keepers. But she told the boys something that they were counting on and were already excited about. And I told her she needed to decide right then and there what she was going to do and then stand by her decision. She really struggled and finally split the money with the boys. I was proud. Our youngest bought a little toy helicopter which he loves and I pulled my daughter aside and said, “You made it possible for him to be so happy.” I patted myself on the back for my smooth parenting skills.

The next day, the kids go to the park. And this time they find €100 ($135)! It was in a slightly different place, but somewhere that they said they looked the day before. For some reason alarm bells start going off. I don’t think kidnappers try and bait children with cash, but my mind cannot figure out how someone could lose so much money. This time I tell the kids we’re going to hold on to the money for one week. We’re going to keep an eye out to see if anyone posts a sign saying they lost some money. If nothing happens, the kids can keep the money.

And of course, nothing happens. One week goes by and the kids start asking when they can have the money. So we sit down at lunch and we start talking about how to handle such a big blessing. I talked about how their mom and I like to give some of our paychecks to the church. And how we try and save a little for emergencies. But what bothers me is that I start to see greed building up in their little minds. Our daughter tries again to tell the boys that she found the money and it’s all hers. The boys complain because she said she would share. In my mind I’m thinking that this money is just too much for them. They’re used to their €2 a week allowance, and they just aren’t mature enough for such a windfall. They start talking about the junky toys they want to buy (kind of a pet peeve of mine – I hate cheap plastic toys that break in a week). Our daughter takes the money off my desk because she knows we have to go to a toy store to buy a birthday present for a friend. She didn’t steal the money, but she just assumed (incorrectly) that we were done talking about it and the money was theirs.

So what’s a parent to do? Should I let the kids blow the money? Is it OK to just treat this as a little blessing from God? Do I make them save some and give some and them use the rest as they want? How can I snuff out the greed that this “blessing” has caused? What lessons can I help them learn? I’d love the hear what you think…

Later in the evening, Chloe and I were driving around and she was asking when the water would be fixed. She stopped mid-sentence and asked, “Dad, if we don’t have water, how will we boil pasta?!”

Couldn’t be more Italian, could she?

Dear Dad:

Here are a few little things about you that I will always remember.

When we watch a movie together, three seconds after the film starts you forget all about it and fall asleep. When we go to the Auchan or Obi, when we leave you always ask if we can go to McDonalds. Every Sunday you make breakfast. And you play on your computer. And you help me with my homework. And we play Xbox together. Sometimes you and I go shopping. You are the dad that all of the kids would like to have!

You’re the best dad in the world!

I love you very much!

Chloe

Dear Dad,

I like it when you go outside and go hiking and sometimes you take me with you. And also when we play together.

Or when it’s Sunday and you make pancakes or the best french toast in the whole world.

It makes me laugh when you wake up early in the morning, and you’re so tired that you seem mad.

I also like it when you take me to the cheap seats and we watch Ancona soccer games.

You really are a great dad.

I love you very much.

Lance

Naturally, this was all in Italian. But no matter what the language, it really made my day.

Aww … shucks …