A Time To Celebrate!

Nearly a year ago Kelly and I began planning a vacataion with two great friends of ours to celebrate her graduation from three grueling years of full-time night classes (while working full-time during the day!) At the time we knew that God was up to something in our lives - leading us towards a life less ordinary; an adventure with Him - but we didn't know what. So we went ahead and planned an exciting trip to Europe to celebrate, relax, experience culture and history, and reconnect with each other. During our planning we found a calling to work with COTN in the DR and decided that despite the tricky timing, we'd go ahead and launch on this "holiday" anyway.

So, here we are, in Cinque Terre, Italy. We've been traveling for 9 days now and have 9 to go (I believe.) We flew into Barcelona, Spain, and after spending a couple of nights there caught a train to Nice, France. Again, we spent about 3 days there and caught a train to Cinque Terre where we currently are staying in the town of Montorosso. From here we will go to Venice, Florence, Sienna, and Rome before flying home from Rome.

We knew it would be fantastic. We knew it would be beautiful and rich with history and tradition. We knew that everywhere we turned we would find ourselves marveling at all that was around us. But despite all of that knowledge, we were not prepared for just how spectacular it really is. The sights the smells and the sounds. The terrific beauty of the Mediterranean and its rugged coastline. The presence of God in the ancient cathedrals. The awesome smallness we feel as we move throughout cities and countries that cast large shadows in history and light in the world. We are awestruck at God's creation and provision and find ourselves immensely thankful for the chance to do this!

Not only that, but we are experiencing a lightness of spirit. Our lives over the past couple of years have been busy to say the least and our life in the DR will be filled with a joy and an intensity that we are gearing up for - so to be here, to be in love with each other and relaxed and amazed - to spend time holding hands, writing poetry, reading books, soaking in sun and culture - we have been blessed by this.

I apologize for the breviety but will write more when we get back to Seattle. We leave Rome on August 7th and head home for a short time before the next step in this great summer of discovery!

Cheers,
S & K