i'm back

After a one day adventure to the coast--followed by a three day adventure to Florence and Rome after three days of work--i am back at work. the time off was really well spent and was super encouraging; i saw people living out their faith with a boldness and a wisdom that really refreshed me and challenged me to do it better. i got back on sunday night--exhausted--and started work on monday morning. as far as work goes, i am really getting into the heat of it, and i love what i am doing as i am helping to reorganize and restructure three small businesses. the work is great, the people are encouraging, and a lot is getting accomplished. the break allowed for some time to refocus and to be re-encouraged. i loved it.

i learned a lot through this past week, and one of the bigger areas centered around direction for my life. in this past month i have not touched a musical instrument more than once, and i have felt the space missing in my life from not having personal time in music and musical worship. along with this, i have realized that while i love what i am doing here, i am much more motivated in a lifestyle that is more cyclical, with times of preparation, times of prayer and intercession, times of setting up, and times of doing, seeing the fruits of my labor. taking a few steps back and looking at these lessons, i have quickly realized that this is a lifestyle more conducive with a music ministry or event planning of some sort. i don't know how this will all work together, but i am trusting God that He has revealed this to me and i can trust Him to provide. it's an amazing life, one of uncertainty in one's own vision and complete assurance in God's plan. whatever God is doing, i know it will be the best way.

i'm learning to live here in Italy and to live for Christ. the other day i went into a pizzeria which is located on my way home. the shop is run by a lady named Anna, who i had a chance to meet a few weeks ago with another friend when we stopped by. Anna recieved a calendar each year when Arthur still went on his rounds around Italy (i continually am amazed at the scope of his ministry). her husband is a cruel man and i think still beats her, even after thirty years of marriage. she was prohibited from going to church by him as long as the ministry here has been in contact with her. in spite of all this, God uses her and has provided for her every need: she's kind of like a second mom to a lot of the young guys who stop in to her shop for some of the best pizza in the city, many of the guys greeting her by her first name as she greets them by name every time. there's a joy and a grace in her presence that come from a life of prayer and relying on the Lord's strength, and it's obvious that even her husband can't touch her now.

i'm thinking about a verse, i think it's in Isaiah, where the WORD says "those who make the Lord their refuge are like tries planted along a river bank; even in the dryest times they produce fruit." i can't think of a dryer and more adverse time than this woman has experienced, as for years she has relied on the Lord to be her refuge and in this she has remained strong. the fruit of her ministry is clear in the love she shows all who come into her store. Christ is her strength.

i want to rely on that same strength more and more. the last two days i have read in 1 Corinthians 10 and James 2 and i've been really encouraged to stand firm and resist temptation. it's so easy to get discouraged when you feel you are alone or isolated, but God is giving me the strength and the power to stand firm in Him. we wait patiently for the Lord's salvation and deliverence, not so that we are healed for just this moment, but so that we are eternally restored and delivered in Jesus Christ. it's in eternal tranformation that we can begin to walk in the high calling God has placed on our lives; it's here that we walk in the ministry He created us for. i guess that's where i'm at, seeking the Lord and asking for the truest and purest freedom, to walk in His strength, power, freedom, and Spirit, and be in a position to here His voice and be a "doer of the WORD." laying down my burdens, taking on this cross, and following Him: that's where victory begins. i want to walk in its entirety, in knowing Christ in His fullness. by His grace, He's showing me how.

brian