Always Something There to Remind Me

The past few days have been slow, but incredibly relaxing. Slow is good, don't let anyone tell you otherwise... Well, it's mainly been quiet and slow because I didn't travel this weekend, but also because it rained for a good part of the weekend. Quick, what are some of your favorites past times to do when its raining? Go bowling? Watching a movie? Playing cards? Reading a book? Drinking a hot cup of tea?
Okay times up. Let's see what the survey says: Watching movies...Bingo! thats our number one answer for 100 points, followed closely behind drinking a hot cup of tea/hot chocolate for 75 points.

We do plenty of reading for class and didn't feel like taking a bus and walking to go bowling, so our weekend was filled with lounging and movies. A group of us saw a movie called Il Principe Abusivo...I don't think you need to know Italian to figure that one out :)

The main character was also the director, pretty talented and funny guy!

The Italian theatre was fairly simple, but it didn't feel that much different than an American theatre, except for the obvious language barrier. The movie was a comedic fairytale, so the plot was generally easy to follow and enjoyable.

Later that night guess what we did? We watched more movies, how creative right? Cut us some slack, we needed a lazy activity to just chill out. With 17 girls on the floor, naturally we watched Girls Just Want to Have Fun...Ever heard of it? Haha - classic 80s movie, so naturally we loved it...

The soundtrack and dancing were the highlights for me; the dialogue was average at best.

Oh yeah, more movies! Our weekend actually started with a movie that Kristen showed us on Thursday night called Nefarious. It's a pretty heavy movie about sex-trafficking and shows how innocent girls are manipulated and victimized into becoming prostitutes for these brutal, heartless, and abusive men. Recently, my heart has been broken for this cause and watching that movie definitely made me angry, helpless and upset all at once. Luckily, the movie showed the redemptive work that God is doing through his people, especially in Europe and Asia and the word is getting out. Don't be fooled; this is a terrible issue that happens all the time, even in the US.

Please pray for these girls and situations and for the governments who may turn a blind eye to this issue. Get involved with a safe-house if possible. But if nothing else, again, pray.

The weekend continued with dreary weather and we served the Afghan refugees lunch underneath of a tunnel/overpass type area amidst the pouring rain. We had some extra help from some new Dutch friends Myrthe and Ells who work with Athletes in Action, and with a guy named Rick who is studying for his MBA in Rome. He said that his university is small with about 7,000 people..haha. But no, really, he said there's one university in Rome with 140,000 people!! Say what?!? UMD-College Park has nothing on that! The thing is though, that 140,000 people university probably isn't much of a unified campus. The students probably just live in their own apartments, come to class and peace out. I prefer the American college experience personally, even if it is a "bubble" and isn't quite real life...Anyway, back to my new friends. They have great hearts and they showed the biggest smiles that were awesome to see when we served the refugees. They live nearby too, so that's even cooler!

I haven't really been homesick because I'm accustomed to being away from home for nearly the whole semester because of soccer, but it's been cool to rest and see what words God put in my mind or on my heart. Today, it was so nice to worship at RBC because I've traveled the past two weekends and missed church...Don't ever underestimate the power of being with other believers and the teaching God has in store for you when you come together to worship. Recently, he's put some fun lyrics on my lips that remind me of my early days as a Christian. He was giving me some 80s throwbacks if you will; just a little something to remind me of Him and how my story with life in Him began. They made me smile to sing them and think of my days in youth group or at PCTC/CIY. I'll leave you with some of the hooks, and you can either sing-along at home, or look them up if you're interested....

-"Every move I make, I make in you, you make me move Jesus. Every breath I take, I breathe in you..."

-"Indescribable, Uncontainable. You placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name. You are amazing God. All powerful, untamable. Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim - You are amazing God..."

-"Find rest, my soul. In Christ alone. Know His pow'r in quietness...When the oceans rise and thunders roar. I will soar with you above the storm. Father, you are King over the flood. I will be still and know you are God..."