A Season of Thankfulness,,,

It's been a while since I have posted an update on life here in Florence.

We have been so busy with the end of the semester!

Although it has been busy and a bit exhausting, things here have been very exciting!

We celebrated Thanksgiving for an entire week in Florence this year. Our team Thanksgiving dinner was put off until December 4 (or November 34 as we like to call it...), and so we just had a simple laid back pasta dinner on November 27 (Thanksgiving Day to all of you). Then, Saturday November 29, we had a HUGE Thanksgiving for all of our Italian friends.

It was such a great time! We had around 100 people crammed into Drew's apartment. Two massive turkeys, 10 pies, and all of the other Thanksgiving food your heart could desire!

We shared the story of Thanksgiving with the group as well as did quite a bit of explaining about what exactly they were about to eat - They liked the mac & cheese - it was the only pasta option available. :)

Although it was a long day, with a lot of preparation preceeding it, it was so worth it! One of the best things was seeing all of our different friend groups coming together at this one event. We had some of our teachers from our language school, friends from a local coffee bar, students we met on campus, students who come to our English club, friends from our church, and on and on...friends from many different places! By the end of the day some of our friends had even exchanged numbers and e-mails with each other.

Drew - our team leader, and host of the event - has a big orange door in his living room. This door was turned into a place for everyone to write what they were thankful for. Some people wrote lighter things - such as "ABBIGALE'S MASHED POTATOES" :)...but there were also many other more serious entries on the orange door. Several Italians wrote (or told us later because they were too shy to write on the door...) that they were thankful for their American friends (us). I don't say this to pump us up in any way, but rather to highlight what God is doing in the hearts of Italians. For some strange reason, all of these Italians are drawn to us "weird Americans". They want to be friends with us. They want to talk to us about the deeper issues of life. God is grabbing ahold of hearts in this city and in this nation. Although it may seem like a small ripple right now...I believe there will be waves. The wheels are turning in their heads...and more importantly - their hearts. There are several students who are asking big questions right now and who are really searching for answers. In this holiday season I find myself so thankful for what the Lord is doing here and thankful that He has brought me here to be a part of it...but also, desperately wanting to see more.

Pray with us for these students who are searching.

Pray for the ones who are searching but just don't know it yet.

Pray for us as we engage with them regularly.

Pray for us as a team - we are the light of Christ to them. We are the Body that they see.

But also, Thank God for what He is doing! He has a heart for Italy and He wants to see these people turn to Him.