The Lighthouse at the End of Nomad's Land

"My Lighthouse,
My Lighthouse
Shining in the darkness,
I will follow You.
My Lighthouse,
My Lighthouse;
I will trust the promise
You will carry me safe to shore."

These lyrics have been a staple in our home, both during our final days in "our Canada house" as Nicholas calls it, and then again during these initial months of transition and observation here in this little coral colored rental in Italy. I remember every time it would come around in a playlist it would stop me in my tracks, draw me in, infuse me with its truth. Once was never enough, I would inevitably be drawn to hit repeat and allow myself to be reminded, strengthened, re-enforced. It brought joy, faith, a renewed anticipation in a way. In hindsight I can see how it was another one of those "Wait for it...." post it notes from God.

I am not a liar. But I don't always tell both sides of the story. This blog is a place for me to record the amazing Red Sea, manna and quail stories. Facebook is a place where I really enjoy posting pictures of our "recharge" day. The weekly day off we are committed to unplugging and retreating as a family, away from our tiny apartment, away from our dirty, noisy, busy street. Somewhere peaceful, restful, beautiful. I love to capture these places and experiences in photo, and share their beauty with people back home.

But what this blog and facebook don't show are are the sights or sounds or emotions of the other 6 days of our week. The day in and day out wandering in the desert of Nomad's land on our way to the place He has picked out.   It can not portray the fog that has been our constant companion as we continue to drift while persevering in trust that His hand in on the rudder. You trust that God has a shore in mind, you believe in the light of His towering, rock solid, guiding beacon. You keep telling yourself over and over, it's there... it's coming... watch for it. Your eyes get blurry as you keep straining to catch sight of it.

And then one day BOOM. It almost blinds you as it swings into sight and you sit wholly bathed in its blazing clarity.

The Lighthouse. How many times have we sung it, clinging to the truth of it. So why on earth would my heart race fit to bursting at the realization that He has brought our boat to shore at the foot of  Il Faro: The Lighthouse in Naples. I love to tell the story, I love to give Him glory...but the truth is that the more we learn to lean in and allow ourselves to be carried along in the current of His plot,  the more often we find ourselves sitting speechless and stunned by the intricacies of His sovereign penmanship. Why we would be surprised anymore continues to amaze me, but in a way I think He delights in stunning us. Yes, I do believe He delights in setting off fireworks that light up our darkness with the brilliance of His glory.

The mission of Il Faro is to develop mature and united disciples to reach Naples and the world for Jesus. Their desire is to see growing missional communities planted and growing, branching and multiplying in the region of Naples and beyond. Truly a body of believers that has a clear mission and a strategic vision to do their part in fulfilling the great commission. This requires small groups to be united in vision and purpose to missionally engage with their neighborhoods. This small group discipleship is exactly what God began laying on our heart for ministry over a year ago, and at Il Faro we have the chance to jump in and do just that.

We are so excited to have found the "team" with the like minded vision and mission that we have been praying for. We are acutely aware of what a phenomenal sending church, supporters and agency we are blessed with, truly equipping, releasing, guarding and supporting us. We are so thankful for all the prayers and the Sovereign Hand that have brought our boat safe to shore at the foot of The Lighthouse at the end of Nomad's Land.

An Incredible, Wonderful, So Good, Very Great Day

Wednesday was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. When we arrived in the country we were not able to register a vehicle in our name because we didn't yet have official residency papers. So we bought, registered, and insured our vehicle in Nonna's name, which is funny when you think of it because she doesn't even have a driver's license. Strangely, that was not a problem. What it was, was expensive. We had to pay 960 euros for 6 months insurance.

Since our insurance was up for renewal Pietro went to work to transfer the title of the van to his name first so that he could start to rebuild his safe driving record for insurance discount. It took a few days to do that, as with everything here, and I don't just mean a few days of waiting. I mean a few days of coming and going from the office 3 times a day and back to back phone calls in between. Oh, and I should mention, the people at this office said this transfer and the 550 euro bill to do it would have been unnecessary if the other office would have put Pietro's name on the registration together with his mom's. Something noone told us was possible at the time.

Anyway... property transfer in hand Pietro went to renew the insurance only to be told that they could not insure a vehicle that was registered in his name because he does not carry a valid Italian driver's license.  Seriously? Apparently. And now? Now we continued  to pray that God would put someone in our path who had the power and the patience to help us get through all the beuracracy and find a solution.

And then today happened. Yesterday we had found a local insurance broker who took on our case and believed he could get our driver's abstract from Canada recognized by one particular company. Indeed, he did manage that, and it ended up bumping Pietro down from a class 16 to a class 9. This saved us about 800 euros a year on insurance. Today he called back and informed us that he was able to do even more. He was able to internally classify Pietro as a class 1 for insurance purposes even though he doesn't hold a valid Italian driver's license. Essentially because it was the last class he held, and it was never penalized or revoked or something like that... we don't know and we don't care we are just SUPER excited that our insurance just dropped from 960 euros for six months to 650 euros for an entire year!

Today Pietro also went to register for autoscuola. These are the classes that you must take in order to have a remote chance of passing your written and driving exams for your license. They cost about 700 euros and take a couple of months. Since the autoscuola in Lesina has not been helpful or dependable Pietro decided to go to San Severo, about a half hour from us. The staff there were SO friendly and helpful and showed such favor for Pietro's case that he came home incredibly relieved. They listened to his whole story, said they had faced cases like this in the past and they were going to do everything in their power to renew his license without him having to retake the exam. For free.

So, yes. It's been an incredible, wonderful, so good, very great day.