Moving

I have always prided myself on being somewhat of a nomad. Here's a list of the homes I've lived in throughout the 33 years of my life:

-apartment in Santiago (2 years)
-trailer in Lincoln, Illinois (2 years)
-red/white house in Santiago (1 year)
-wooden house in Santiago (1 year)
-Pepe Villa house in Santiago (7 years)
-Grandpa's house in Correctionville, Iowa (6 months)
-missions trailer in Joplin, MO (6 months)
-rented house in Santiago (3 months)
-208 S. 16th Street, Norfolk, Nebraska (1 year)
-508 S. 4th Street, Norfolk, Nebraska (4 years)
-1302 N. Florida, Joplin, Missouri (1 year)
-Boatman 2nd, Ozark Campus, Joplin, Missouri (off and on for 3 years)
-Trailer #6, Ozark Campus, Joplin, Missouri (2 years)
-apartment behind Saez house, Santiago, Chile (2 months)
-1101 Lone Star Drive, New Braunfels, Texas (4 months)
-apartment on Fir Road, Carthage, Missouri (7 months)
-house in Trillium Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky (6 months)
-Via Michelloti, 1, Perugia (15 months)
-Via del Conero 2/C, Ancona (7 years)
-Hop-Along-Hollow, Joplin (6 months)

OK - so that's 20 places. The longest I've ever been 'planted' is in the apartment we now call home. Seven years here. A couple of times over the last couple of years we've talked about moving to a new apartment with a yard but always come back to being grateful for what we have and made the best of it. For the record, it is a BEAUTIFUL place and we love it.

Yesterday afternoon the doorbell rang and my landlord walked in, his face long, sad. First words out of his mouth, "I have to tell you something you won't like."

Gulp.

"I need my apartment back."

Gulp.

"My son and his family need it so I need you to move out as soon as you can."

Gulp. "Do I have an option or is this for sure?"

"It's for sure. Take the time you need to find a place, but you need to move out."

As the door closed behind him I started looking around at this place that currently holds the record for the place I've lived the longest and I was filled with a certain sadness. Two of my kids were basically born in this home. We 'raised' this apartment from a bare-walled canvas with wires hanging from the ceiling to a colorful, warm, beautiful home.

'Tis the life of a missionary I guess - the nomadic one. And with that, 2008 becomes the year we move again.

Bad WORD or BAD Word?

OK, help me settle a monetary-less bet. When talking about words one shouldn't say, do you call them bad WORDS or BAD words (capital letters implies emphasis)? A teammate of mine (who shall remain nameless) thinks my kids pronounce it wrong. How do you say it?

Everyone Loves a Sfilata...

This afternoon was the annual 'Carnevale' parade in downtown Ancona. Crowds, confetti, costumes...enjoy.

Dry

I go through fazes like this, don't you? Where you're just out of energy to say anything; where you're just, dry?

Well, in spite of that, things are going well here. Our team just got out of our latest retreat with some great goals for 2008. Family's doing well. Church continues to grow and take shape.

Stephen and Ashley Capps have been with us a couple of weeks. We met Stephen last home service visit at Ozark. They have long-range plans to serve in Ireland, but came to visit Ancona and help with childcare during our retreat. They have been GREAT - super positive, servants and have really enjoyed meeting some of our friends and exploring our city. Heading out the door to a birthday party for Maria Chiara and then date night...yeah buddy!

Community & Roller Skates

Heather and the kids picked me up on the corner by La Via and we drove up to the 'Pincio' park. Haven had been given a set of roller skates by some Czech friends a few months ago and had been waiting for a helmet and padding (which she got for Christmas) to try them out. Tonight was the night.

So, as the Italian sun set a fierce pink behind her, she strapped on her skates and her helmet and got to her feet. Wobbly would be a good word to describe her as she clung alternatively to my arm and Heather's waist. She couldn't control her legs and was completely at the mercy of the wheels attached to her feet. As I watched her, I realized that in many ways, what we're attempting to create in this city is similar.

Many would advocate that we should have first told Haven that she needs to skate, after all there's lots of reasons! Then, some would posit, we should sit her down and teach her all about skating: the history, the fundamentals, the physical skills necessary, the safety hazards and precautions and maybe even the dangers of couple-skating. Next would come the part where we begin the structured lessons where she learns all the skills necessary to put into practice what she heard during the teaching. Finally, the day would come when we take her to the roller-rink and let her skate with all the others. You see, in this way, she avoids falling and hurting herself. She is not a danger to those around her. She also fits in - she knows which direction to skate in, what color skates to wear and how to blend in with the crowd.

There's a problem with this though. Most of the people here already know they need to skate and have been taught how to from a very early age. They've attended the classes. They've been gifted fancy sets of skates and safety equipment. They simply do it a little differently than we do. They skate to a different rhythm. Most of them don't skate very often and when they do, it is only because someone tells them they have to.

So we skate. Not because we must but because we love to. We skate and invite others to jump in the rink. We know we skate a bit differently, but that's OK. We have fun anyway. We learn from them and they from us. We hope they will catch on, that they will see why we love to do it. We don't do it perfectly, but we do it together.

I shake my head and Haven is stumbling toward me, with surprisingly few falls. A dad and two kids watch Haven closely, asking questions, curious. It's dark. We let Haven skate for a couple of minutes and head home. On the way home, Jacob keeps asking when it's his turn to skate.

A Sunken Church

I heard today an interesting story about our beloved city. It seems that after the war there was a church near the port that began sinking into the deep Adriatic waters. On really windy days it was said that if you were standing nearby you could hear the ringing of the bells underwater and that if you looked close enough you could see the cross near the surface. It is said that it can only now be accessed by scuba divers, those with lots of equipment and experience and the willingness to immerse themselves in the chilly waters that surround her. Anyone else see a metaphor here?

Casey Christmas Plans

Hey all, hope your Christmas season has been joyful! Ours certainly has. Of course we've had to juggle extra activities like school performances and shopping. There has been extra traffic and longer lines. We continue wrestling with keeping the right balance between generosity and stinginess. We keep checking our motives - are we giving because we want to keep things even? Are we buying this present because we feel we have to? It's really easy to get sucked into the Christmas-shopping vortex and lose sight of the 'why'. This year our church has been doing a series of lessons on the Advent, the first for me, at least in a long time. It has been a really good reminder, not in some cheesy 'Jesus is the Reason for the Season'-way, but in a thoroughly deep way. We can argue about why we put up a tree, and whether putting up a nativity scene is a form of idolatry. We can study the history of why December 25th was chosen and argue about how much Christmas is appropriate to celebrate. What's important though, is to see the connection between the manger and the cross and how they both must be seen in light of the empty tomb and the purpose for which the Father send his Son.
In the past, I've gauged my success in this in terms of simply remembering the nativity, of Jesus' birth and life. But this year it really served as a reminder to be grateful for the 'why' - for God's grace and forgiveness and to let that gratefulness then turn into letting that forgiveness flow unto those around me.

OK - so plans.

December 24th - Our American friend Emily is spending the night with us and just being a member of our family. Our church is hosting a Midnight gathering where we will read the Nativity story, sing together and light the fifth advent candle.
December 25th - Open presents and lunch at the Rotert home. Final packing and preparing for trip to Germany.
December 26th - Leave at 7:00 am for Munich, and the next day on to Colditz. Check out www.midwinterrally07.com for a peek at what we will be doing there.

From our family, have a very Merry Christmas!