Cold Hands, Warm Hearts

Monday was great! Monica was gone to Tuscany for work all day, the girls were at their grandmother’s, and Sergio was in Rome for work for the week. The sun was out and I sat on the patio with a few of Monica’s recipe books and some recipe cards that my awesome friend, Kristen Donahue, gave me :o) I found some great pasta recipes; although, they are in Italian, but that makes it so much cooler! I was wishing, and hoping, and thinking, and praying that there might possibly be a package coming from my fiancée or madre, but alas, nothing. Later in the morning, I listened to a sermon on iTunes by Matt Chandler … Such a blessing!! He made me laugh out loud a few times because he was so intense and passionate about what he was saying :o) It was great!! I highly encourage anyone who has iTunes to start downloading podcasts of legit pastors. This afternoon, I had plans with Giovanna to go for a walk around the square and talk. Fifteen minutes before we were supposed to meet, she calls and tells me she has a lot of homework and a test tomorrow :o( I went out by myself … I had a few gifts to exchange and I wanted to enjoy the sun. So I spent the afternoon and evening in town. I met two ladies in the shops I went to that spoke a little bit of English. Hopefully, I have more opportunities to go back to visit the stores and witness. It was strange coming home to an empty house … I didn’t really like it. I wanted Monica and the girls to be here.

Tuesday I waited again in the morning for the packages … nope. It was rainy and cold on Tuesday, not so great :oP I knew it was best to take every opportunity when the sun is out to enjoy it because winter weather isn’t fun. Monica and the girls came home for lunch, then the girls did their homework, and then it was time to go to swimming lessons. Nicole didn’t swim today because she had an earache. On our way back home, we stopped for pizza, then into a shop for some school supplies. There was this glue in metal tin that Monica and the woman behind the counter kept talking about, but I didn’t understand and wasn’t paying much attention because I was checking out all the neat things :o) Monica told me in the car that inside the tin was glue, and that she used to use that exact same kind of glue when she was younger … she used to eat the glue! Haha! She said it was so good :oD We laughed really hard about that. When we got back to the house, I wanted to work on English with Greta, but she said later … that didn’t happen lol. So once Nicole got out of the shower, she worked with me. She is a very smart girl and understands quite a bit of English. We are working on using pronouns (he, she, they, you, etc.) and is/are. I’m so proud of how well she is doing! For dinner, Monica made gnocchi (didn’t turn out quite like she hoped as far as what it looked like, but it tasted great!) She also had some kind of vegetable thing that looked really funny … I can’t remember what she called it in Italian, but it was surprisingly good. She served it with Sicilian oranges, olives, and of course some olive oil. The girls finished eating quickly and left the table, which left me time with Monica to just talk. We started in on some topic and she asked if she could ask me a very personal question. I said, “Absolutely! There is nothing that is too personal to me. Ask me anything and I will give you an honest answer.” She asked about my relationship with Tristan and our physical intimacy. I told her that when I was in middle school I made a commitment to the Lord and myself that I would wait until marriage to have sex. I told her about my purity ring (got to show her) and about what the commitment meant to me … I explained that it is mine and Tristan’s heart to wait until marriage to share that part of ourselves. I’ve been learning a lot about the way God designed men and women and the meaning of sex inside a marriage. While in Italy, I’ve been reading Love and War by John and Stacey Eldridge (authors of Captivating and Wild at Heart). There is just no other way to honor God and enjoy sex except in the confines of marriage. I was really glad to have an opportunity to share my heart about those things with Monica … I think that question has been in her mind for quite a while :o) She expressed how she didn’t want her girls to get caught up in boys and sex at such a young age which is becoming increasingly common with younger girls in Italy. I told her it is the same in the U.S. She needs to take these things to the Lord in prayer and be open with her girls about issues like this.

Yesterday was another cold day. Greta stayed home from school because she had a sore throat (sort of stayed home … grandma’s home while Monica was at work) I got up early, spoke with Tristan for a short time on Skype, and was listening to some good older worship music while lying down on the couch. I was waiting for the mailman, and trying not to fall asleep. For some reason I felt horrible. My head was pounding and my body was achy. Maybe it’s the weather? I went back upstairs to take about an hour to rest before getting some things done. That hour turned into 3 hours and I didn’t get up until after 1! I still felt bad and could have stayed in bed all day. Took some Tylenol and sucked it up. Went downstairs to eat something because I figured it would be best. While eating my favorite thing right now (tomatoes, feta cheese, and olive oil … Greek salad w/o olives and bell pepper), I listened to a sermon on iTunes called “Sound Woman.” The man was teaching out of Titus 3. I was encouraged by the message. When the girls got home, we carved pumpkins!! I prayed that the Lord would give me a joyful heart to spend that time with the girls even though I wasn’t feeling well. He did! Greta grabbed a huge knife first thing and started cutting out the eyes on her pumpkin haha! I told her to hang on a second … We had to take out the inside first :o) Like children, the girls wanted to rush through everything, and use the sharp knives which made me nervous lol. The pumpkins turned out great!! Greta let me teach her a bit of English, and then she wanted me to come upstairs and watch her play Sims. I made arrangements to go to Rosita and Danilo’s for two hours once a week to teach the boys English and have dinner with the family. Rosita insists on paying me, but she doesn’t understand how much I enjoy the time with her and her family, and that is payment enough :o) She stuck money in my jacket anyway. The time with them went by so fast … An hour lesson with the boys was nothing! They behaved really well, but then had to be boys when we were upstairs at dinner. Danilo wasn’t there, so they were a little more rambunctious. Here’s a great story: Francesco likes spinach; yes, cooked spinach like Popeye. Rosita put out the bowl of spinach on the table and that’s the first thing Francesco grabs … She tells him in Italian that he has gotten enough and he needs to let me get some too. So Francesco turns the bowl upside down and dumps all of the spinach on his plate. Rosita gets onto him, grabs his plate, and starts to put the spinach back in the bowl. Francesco really wanted all that spinach, so he takes his fork, licks it, and begins rubbing it all over the spinach before his mom can put it back in the bowl. Haha! Oh, boys!! I’m pretty sure I ate some Francesco germs :o) Rosita had made stuffed squid … it was really good! I even ate the tentacles :oD (just for you, Momma) When I got back to the house, Monica was putting Greta to sleep. It was a sweet moment to share with them. Then Monica, Nicole, and I watched a children’s singing show … The kids are really good! There were six little girls maybe 11 and 12 years old that sang “I Will Survive” … haha! It was great! Some of the girls didn’t really know what they were saying, so the words were a little jumbled, but this one girl pronounced all the words very well!

Needless to say, I’ve really been enjoying time with the family and building a closer relationship with Nicole and Greta. They would rather stay at their grandma’s house than with me, but at least they enjoy sharing time with me when we are home together :o) Oh! Great story! Yesterday, Greta was asking Monica if she could play Sims, and I was helping her ask in English … Then I had her say, “Pretty please!” It was so cute! We kept saying, “Pretty please,” and then Greta put her arm around me and we asked over and over … Greta is only affectionate with Sergio and her grandma. When Monica wants to hug her or show affection, Greta usually pulls away. To have her sit there with her arm around me and her head against mine made my heart melt! Monica had told me earlier that day that Greta asked if I was coming back after I went to Rosita’s house :o) I’m so thankful that the girls care about me!!

Thank you for the prayers!!

Grace and peace,

Jodi