Extra-long bed available upon request...

Our 11th anniversary was Friday and I surprised Heather by booking a room at the Hotel Federico II in nearby Jesi. We enjoyed the 18 hours away from the kids, the dinner in Moie and each other's company. I'm so lucky to have Heather and love watching how she continues to grow and blossom into the woman God intends for her to be.

It's a Date!

The other night as our family walked in front of Ancona's principal theater we noticed the new poster announcing the coming concerts and performances. We got really excited when we noticed what was scheduled on November 17th (the 12th anniversary of our engagement). A ballet (Heather's favorite) set to the music of Vivaldi's Four Seasons (Jason's favorite) here in our very own, beloved Ancona. Yahoo!

Ancona Team Retreat - Day 3

Well, we're done. After three straight days of meetings with very few breaks, we emerged tired, yes, but united, excited and ready for action. I'll be sharing with you in the next few days some of the results of our conversations including our reworded vision statement, our primary purpose for the next 5 months, our 6 primary objectives which will get us there and some explanations of some of the changes.

One of my favorite things about the retreat was the emergence of the primacy of prayer - more than just a value or a 'we should because we're Christians' there seems to be a passion for it and a commitment to make it central to everything we are and do: in practice, in teaching, personally, corporately, in discipleship and in evangelism.

I am very proud of our team for being willing to be very honest and transparent, willing to sacrifice and share for the furthering of the church here. For all of your prayers and encouragement, thank you! If I can now ask you to pray for our team as we take the next step, which is to, together, turn these conversations into goals. Please pray for wisdom, unity and above all, protection as we all sense that Satan, he who would keep everyone from getting any closer to Christ, is not pleased with our progress.

Ancona Team Retreat - Day 2

Whew, just got back from jogging with Brian - we broke through another level today - jogged for 4 minutes/walked for 2, five times for a total of 30 minutes. It feels really good to push through the pain and discomfort, knowing that my body is burning fat, building muscle and that my lung capacity is improving.

I feel a similar way about our conversations today. We met again from 8 to 5 with just a few short breaks and though we were tired, sleepy, and we didn't always agree on everything, I feel we were able to really push through and get to a new level today as a team. We're trimming away unnecessary things, building new and healthy habits and improving our ability to work together toward a common goal. Thanks for praying!

Ancona Team Retreat - Day 1

We just finished our first day of meetings and I couldn't be more pleased. We are meeting at the Rotert house today, tomorrow and Wednesday. Matt & Angie are watching the kids for us this week which is a real blessing. We dropped the kiddos off before 8:00 and started our conversations with a mug of Swedish coffee and some pastries. Today's agenda was mainly team-building and I feel we were able to lay a really good foundation for the next couple of days' worth of conversations. Tomorrow we will be revisiting some of our team's core values and documents as well as talking about the vision for what's ahead. Thanks for praying!

Ancona Team Retreat - Takeoff

At 20:00 we kicked off our retreat at our house. Jacob volunteered to take care of the kids while the adults shared a worship & prayer time. Here was his 'order of service':
-opening prayer
-icebreaker: what are you thankful for?
-sing three songs (in italian)
-Bible story
-coloring page
-closing prayer

Meanwhile, the adults (Heather & I, Brian & Heidi and Marcus), gathered to pray, sing and worship together. Afterwards, the guys and older kids went up to Forte Altavilla to lay on the grass and watch the shooting stars.

I'm excited about the next three days - there's lots to discuss. Tomorrow, Monday, we will be focusing on team building, looking at lots of things, among them some of Lencioni's principles of teamwork. Thanks for praying!

Trigger

I've often said that the hardest thing about living overseas is watching my kids adjust back-and-forth between American and Italian cultures. Whether at school, at home, traveling, at play, however it manifests itself, it is the hardest thing for me to accept about cross-cultural ministry. Today, I was able to pinpoint one of the triggers for this sentiment.

I've recently begun jogging again, thanks to the promptings of my teammate, Brian. We drive up to the Cittadella park and jog around for 30 minutes. It is a beautiful setting: a park on the top of a hill overlooking the city inside the walls of an ancient fort. There are lots of families with kids at the playground and people laying on the grass or walking around. As we were jogging this evening, I saw two grandparents sitting on a bench, baby grandchild in a stroller. They just sat there together, smiling, looking at their grandchild...no hurry, no rush, just enjoying the cool, summer evening with their grandchild.

Gulp.

While our parents do a good job of keeping in touch and showering us with love, both while we are away and 'at home', it is a gut check every time I see it. It makes the times when we do return to the U.S. that more special, that more important. It pushes us to pack in as much time and as many memories into those weeks and months as possible. It encourages us to be creative in how we communicate with grandmas and grandpas. In the end, it makes us grateful for having the kind of parents we want our kids to spend time with.