Tuscany

You would think by now I wouldn't be so surprised at how perfectly the Scripture Jesus gave me for Italy is coinciding with the things He is teaching me here; nevertheless, I have been astounded time and time again by His faithfulness to speak to me.  

Psalm 84 is speaking beautifully into and correlating perfectly with my adventures in Italy.  I have been in a quaint town in the mountains of Tuscany since Tuesday and to say I have a deep fondness for Tuscany would be an understatement.  I love so many things here.  Then again, a lot of my enjoyment of Tuscany is intricately interwoven with the people with me; therefore, I have a feeling I will love our future European destinations just as much.  

Psalm 84:8-10 is the specific passage that has been most on my mind and most moving to me during our stay at Casa Cares (the villa name) in Tuscany:

"Lord God of Hosts, hear my prayer;
listen, God of Jacob. 
⁹ Consider our shield, God; 
look on the face of Your anointed one.

Better a day in Your courts
than a thousand anywhere else.
I would rather be at the door of the house of my God
than to live in the tents of wicked people."

Surely His face is turned toward us, His anointed ones and He is listening to us.


As per usual, some pictures:

The view outside my window:

Megan and I after we booked our plane tickets to France.  The two of us are going to spend 4 nights at the beach in Nice for our free week.  This was a huge growing up moment for us both and I was so thankful to share it with such a sweet new friend.  We are going to buy big sunglasses and huge sun hats, look for celebrities, and visit a monastery in a field of lavender flowers.  

This is the window in the girls bathroom; and obviously the most used bathroom in the whole house.  

This is the villa, Casa Cares, that we are staying at.  Spectacular.  

My new friend, Becky!  Lauren, Becky, and I are Tuscan roomies and absolutely loving life.  

Jin and I.  I talked about Jin twice in my last blog post and I'm about to talk about her again.  She is beautiful and so hilarious. It will be really hard to get a picture of us that I like more than this one.  

We abducted Ashely for a picture.

Slack lining.  So fun!  I'm hoping to be a pro by the end of the summer.  

Forever thankful that these years of my life get to be so full of time with a friend as amazing as Lauren.

I love Tuscany for its simplicity.  Evenings playing chess, eating delicious food, going for ice-cream, slack lining, drilling our professors with all sorts of questions, and doing homework by candlelight. 

Thursday after class, Dr. Litfin, took a big group of us by bus and train to Florence.  We shopped, ate gelato, and enjoyed the beauty of this city and its art.  

Lauren, Ashley, me, Jin, Megan, Katie, and Melissa.  And Johnny successfully photo bombing our picture.  A replica of the statue of David is in the background but you can't really see it.  We decided this is the closest picture we wanted.  It's totally more about us than the naked statue.  And I think that's ok. 

We have only been here two weeks and I am already overwhelmed by the incredible beauty wrapped up in each person on this trip.  Tonight we sat around the fire, worshiped, and shared stories of Jesus' work in some of our lives.  Just a couple of prayers and two testimonies were enough evidence to prove that Jesus does indeed listen to us.  His faithfulness and kindness are so evident in the hearts and lives of all those that I have the privilege of sharing this European summer adventure with.