Summer is not really my favorite season. I pant like a dog, sweat like a hog, constantly push my glasses back up my nose, slather on sunscreen, and search for shade wherever I go. I don’t paint a pretty picture, but it is unfortunately, a true one.
Milan is one of the most miserable places to be during the summer. The asphalt and concrete turn the city into an oven without the slightest breath of wind. You become used to the feeling of sweat-soaked clothing and the smell of mildew. The drops of sweat periodically roll down your spine to join the larger pool at the waistband of your underwear.
With windows open, the street noise and mosquitos invade the house. Happily, the skeeters don’t find me as tasty as most other people, but all it takes is one buzzing around my ear as I try to sleep. I slap my ear and I’m wide awake again—with the mosquito untouched and returning just as I fall asleep again. Car and building alarms sound for hours throughout the night. The criminals are active because they know that there are fewer police around to respond. Exhaustion eventually brings on sleep despite these disturbances.
The first several years that I lived here, I had to stay in the city for most of the summer, due to family obligations. But now that I’m a missionary serving the whole of Europe, I have not only the opportunity, but good motives for getting out of the city during the summer months. I wasn’t really thinking about what I would be getting out of when I set up this summer’s travel schedule. But when I realized that I would be spending very little time in the city this summer, I was very glad to know I would be gone most of the time. In fact, I’m leaving tomorrow.
God is good!
Walking By Faith in Europe 