When in Rome...

Many exciting things took place here. Not only were we able to see things like the Collesseum, the Trevi fountain, the Spanish steps, Vatican city, the Sistene Chapel, St. Peter's Bascillica, but... we were able to do this with some familiar faces. Our second night of being there, Fleur and i were walking towards the pool area at our campgrounds when we heard our names being yelled. Believe it or not, it was two of our good friends from ywam Laura and Cheryl. None of us knew the other would be there! Then the very next day i was able to meet up with two others. One of which took me out for a nice dinner and gave me some american money she had left over. God, again, showed his faithfullness to me, his child... in the same city that Paul had such an interesting relationship with. I had to do a lot of trusting before leaving rome... for i traveled alone, and had no idea where i'd stay when i got there.

romance me.

Paris, yes, definately the most romantic city in the world. Paris had me at Bonjour! That was it, I fell head over flip-flops for the city of lights. There is no turning back, i'll never be the same. The city exceeded my expectations that i began creating in my mind since i was a little child. I guess i had always pictured myself there with my husband... i just hope one day i will return. Actually, i know i will. And if you've ever wanted to visit... if it's always been your dream, please go! Do whatever you have to. Save money... sell something... sacrifice, just get there. And when you do sit at the foot of the eiffel for hours and remember that there is still love in the world, that dreams do come true... and that you are living a life full of challenges, beauty, quests, temptations, victories, life and death... but most importantly love. As we sat there with our baguette, cheese, and wine... we just stared up at this beautiful creation. And i must admit, slightly overcome with emotion. I can't explain exactly why, but i'm sure it was a combination of many things. I just feel so blessed to have been able to travel the world and see so many of these things i've wanted to see me whole life. There was nothing superficial or faux about this place like there had been in so many other cities. Paris is the real deal. I felt a bit swept off my feet at times. I couldn't help but think of the love that I will once have. I look forward to knowing who this man is... i'm waiting for him to find me, i'm waiting for him to love me... i'm waiting for him to romance me.

Ciao bella

Italy, on the other hand, was anything but restful. This was only because we spend about a day in each place...Nonetheless, Italy as a whole might be one of my favorite countries in the world to visit. There is so much to see and do and EAT! I think i ate enough pizza and pasta to quench my craving for the next year... um, nah. The food in Italy was delicious, the people were friendly, and the scenery was ravishing! As i was saying before, our first night was spent with our new friend Elisa who practically gave us her keys to the apt. in city centre of milan! She even did our laundry for us and took us out for giant pizza and gelato. Seriously, God provided for us so much here. We decided we could not pass up a chance to see Venice, so we went for the day and God provided a hostel that night and 2 new friends! Next we trained it down to Cinque- terre, which may be my absolute favorite place in the world. I'd recommend this place to honeymooners/ backpackers/ dreamers... anyone who appreciates beauty really. After one night in paradise we continued our journey on down to Florence where we found this fabulous campground with an amazing view of the city. I think the highlight of this destination was Michealangelo's David. We were able to see many other familiar works of art which continued on in Rome. I think it deserves its very own blog....

rest

After successfully completing my ywam dts and outreach... our adventure continued on. For me, rest and relaxation was much needed after the hustling and bustling around southeast asia for 3 months. Apparently a greek isle was just the location to do this. My friend Fleur and i spend a few days in athens before taking a ferry to Naxos island. Thus, the miracles and crazy stories begin. I arrived in Greece about 10 hours before Fleur so i had some time to prepare and contemplate our next step.... While thinking and praying, i had no assurance of anything but what i felt God had promised me during intercession. One of those things was that on the flight someone would come to know Him, and that another person would offer us a place to stay. Well, on the flight i was able to open my heart completely to a woman and as she spoke to me of her fears and loneliness she began to cry. I was able to speak truth into her life that i pray she holds on to and really seeks further. Secondly, i met a girl named Elisa. She was an incredible help to us... and now a good friend. Not only did she help us get a ride and room at a hostel, but offered her home in milan for us to stay. Wow! God really knows how to bless his children hey? After spending a few days in the athens heat traipsing around gawking at the many many ancient ruins, we helped ourselves to a big helping of greek island life. Now, i could give you the shortened x rated version of our experience, but i don't think that wrinkly, ugly naked people would suit your fancy. I have to say, we were a bit surprised to find our beach so bare. Ha ha! Even though we were a bit bored at times... i did leave the island with a better self- image. My body was obliged at the restful time spent doing... well.. nothing.

reservations

Before the "after travel" portion of Fleur and i's excursion into the wild frontier, we decided to be more spontaneous and live completely by faith instead of relying on our own resources (partly because we didn't have much to rely on at all). Not only was this going to stretch our faith, we thought very ignorantly, but it was also going to stretch our dollars... or shekels or euros or pounds. Ha, well... yes, our faith was stretched... so thin i might add that the threads were holding on for dear life at times. Nonetheless God has not failed to prove his love for us over and over by providing in ways we could never imagine... thus strengthening our trust in him. So... because we are such brave souls we had previously chosen to book nothing ahead of time. Although most people would call us foolish girls, this has actually been the coolest part of the whole trip... i've discovered more about myself during this time of faith than possibly my whole life put together (which is adding up quickly). Along with this theme... i'd have to say that i now have more reservations than ever. I now make my decisions based on a more mature level... i may have... wait, dare i say... become an adult??? no way!!! Is that possible? Lindsey Little?? Did the earth shift a little bit just then? Ok ok, i'll quit giving myself such a hard time... but really, i feel like i actually put some thought and wisdom into my actions and decisions these days. I see how every decision on this trip has directly effected another one... leading us to one place or the other. And i truly feel that if we do put thought and lots of prayer into a decision, it can not be wrong... because what we are doing is seeking God and that is all he wants. I have so much more freedom now in my decision making knowing that i am following his way.. instead of the highway of course. So, in fact, i have heaps to say of reservations... how holding back does in fact prove to be a good thing. We wait on Him... not us, or anyone else for that matter... Him.

Jerusalem

What can i say? Jerusalem is everything i thought it'd be and more. If buddhist can take a pilgrimage to northeastern india, or if catholics can journey to the vatican city to see the pope... then why don't we as christians visit the holy city?? Well, like i stated before... Israel is in a definite state of disarray. This does not mean Jerusalem is a frightening place however. Please take this expedition before it is too late and Israel is completely closed off to the rest of the world. I highly highly recommend. Several cool things about Jerusalem... one is the old city. If you have the opportunity to stay inside the walls please do! It is like no other. It is quite interesting to see the Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Arabic all living within the confines of four walls. Some people are gladly amazed that these four completely religions can live peacefully here, and some are a little disturbed that most people just don't care anymore about the true history of their country. Most of the historical sites are outside the city walls except for the wailing wall, tower of david and a few other sketchy sites... like the birthplace of mary. The tomb and garden of gethsemene really made the bible come alive though. That's what i loved most about traveling through the areas of israel, greece and italy. This are places the people i've read about all my life walked, talked, performed miracles and spoke of Jesus love. It's wonderful as i journey how i get to do a "modernized" version of the same thing. I feel blessed and honored to be walking in the steps those brave men and women who followed the Lord.. sure, making some mistakes along the way... but nonetheless, portraying love to the men and women of this world of all kinds, shapes and colors.

Israel and the media

There is not much on God's green earth that bothers me... but one thing i've discovered while visiting Israel is how distorted our media's portrayal of this country is. Sure there are places that are in shambles, but there is not one country in the world that is perfect and peaceful. I think most of you know that the media tends to focus on the negative... the "explosive" news if you will. What we don't realize is that this very negativity is instilling little deposits of fear in us and time after time that builds up. This fear paralyzes us. There is so much out there to see and do... so much beauty of this world to experience... but we tend to stay home because its safe. Something just as crazy could happen in our comfort zone. I would love to see more people stepping out of that fear of danger that entraps us, and stepping into a world of adventure! Trust me, we were not in danger once... what you see on tv is basically in one small area away from civilization, life elsewhere is normal. Tel Aviv was pretty much like any other beach town. While we were there we used our time wisely and debriefed the past 3 months of mission. Of course, there were occasional visits to the ocean front. Our time at the hostel was chaotic, but interaction with the backpackers proved to be compelling as our conversation always ended up landing on hope of some kind... truth, love. Our God is good. It was always so much fun to entertain strangers and engage in spiritual talk over dinner.