Take it Personally!

God has been meeting us here in very personal ways, providing just what we need (or want!) at just the right time.  For me, there were 4 things that people either did for me, gave to me, or that were simply there for me, and nobody knew where they had come from.

Scarf

The day before I left for Rome I was given a scarf.  I put it in my backpack and really forgot about it until the first morning in Rome.  We had a pre-breakfast prayer meeting by the swimming pool each morning.  Rome was hot, but not at 6:30AM.  So having that scarf to throw over my shoulders was just perfect.  It felt like a smile from God.  I have also needed the scarf on the buses here in Malta because they are hyper-uber-air-conditioned and freezing cold.  After a roasting hot day, getting on a freezing bus when you’re all sweaty feels really good—at first.  But our bus ride is about 25 minutes, which is plenty of time to get frozen.  So again, having the scarf to throw over my shoulders has been a real blessing and a life-saver.

Pearl

In the Malta airport I found a pearl on the ground.  As many of you know, I have recently opened my apartment in Milan as a missionary guesthouse.  What you might not know is that I named it Pearl House because of a dream that God gave me while I was fasting and praying.  In the dream I saw people lined up on the sidewalk in front of the apartment building.  Each person had a bag overflowing with pearls in their hands.  When I woke up, I realized that these were missionaries taking the Pearl of Great Price (the Gospel) to people in Europe.  So finding that pearl was significant in a very personal way.

Chicken Dinner

Yesterday I took a day off from the Prayer Center to rest, get some laundry done, and work on the computer.  We have had all our meals provided for us, but they have been brought to the Prayer Center.  I had spied a can of tuna and figured that I would just put tuna on crackers, and that would be fine for dinner.  But then the dance team woke up from their nap and made a delicious chicken dinner, and they invited me to share it with them.  They were going to do the overnight shift at the Prayer Center, and opted to get a good nap and arrive too late for dinner.  So instead of cold tuna on crackers, I got a lovely chicken dinner with oven fried potatoes and a delicious fresh fruit salad.

Yogurt

This morning I got up early and caught the first morning bus to the Prayer Center.  I had a cup of coffee before leaving, but I usually don’t wake up hungry.  As I walked into the Prayer Center I wanted a second cup of coffee and something to eat.  My favorite breakfast is a crunchy granola cereal with plain yogurt over it.  On the kitchen counter sat a cup of plain yogurt.  There were 3 people in the Prayer Room, so I asked if the yogurt belonged to anyone.  They all said that they didn’t know anything about it.  But I know: it was a breakfast treat from my Father, who loves me personally and intimately.  God is good!

Summer—Time to Get Out of Town

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!