Italy Easter

Guys if you have the chance to study abroad, do it! There is so much to say I think, so I will give you the base trip and let the pictures say the rest. Of course when I get back we can talk face to face and we will share stories.

So Caleb and I skipped class Friday and took a train to Venice. We stayed there for 1.5 hours. Enough to see there was no such thing as cars and streets. There really are boats everywhere. They have garbage boats! But I do not care for the city even though it is worth experiencing.

We went on to Freedom traveler hostel in Rome, where I woke up with a massive infection on my face. I think it was a spider bite from 2 days before, but apparently that is unheard of here in Europe. I met a nice pediatrician lady who told me to go to the hospital after I ate breakfast. Man! But it was ok, because it’s a socialist system and the hospital was free. We went on to Allesandro downtown hostel and had another Caleb Daniel date. We walked all around Rome. Woke up early and Sterling (a friend from New Life Ranch) found me and we ran the marathon together. Rachel I met your tall friend! I was looking for tall and he was looking for dreads : ) I saw the nice pediatrician lady again and got a picture with her. Sterlings dad, Brother Steve invited me Caleb, Kashion Spencer, Sarah Yeargan, and Rachel to a Mosaic concert. I got lost trying to meet up with everyone else. After that night we ended up traveling with Sterling and Brother Steve the whole trip! So cool.

We all went on to Florence. It is a really beautiful city in the valley of some mountains. I hung out with Sterling and we got kicked out of places. One time we got kicked out of a place and then locked inside. If that makes any sense at all. There was a beautiful sunset and we ended up getting lost/ exploring by night. Caleb was so awesome that night. I have never seen him so joyful and crazy! It may have been the 3 Gelato’s he had : )
Sarah randomly ran into a girl she knew from OSU too.

Anyway we left Florence and our train stopped in Pisa for a little less than an hour. So we saw the leaning tower for 10 minutes and speed walked back to barley catch our train. Oh yah, sterling and I are still very sore at this point. We got to Cinca Terra that night. This is a place that means 5 cities. It is in a national forest, so the cities can not expand really, but there are within 18 Kilometers of each other (12 miles) and it has amazing trails right by the coast. The lord also blessed us with a beautiful day. We hiked them all, spent the next day there, went to Venice for 1.5 hours on the way back to Ljubljana, and spent the day with the girls and the end. The best thing about the trip was being reminded of what the true body of Christ feels like and learning from them. Trip of a lifetime.

Love

Like the measles, love is most dangerous when it comes late in life.
~Lord Byron~
A person finds joy in giving an apt reply-- and how good is a timely word!
~Proverbs 15:23~
I Love all who love me. Those who search will surely find me.
~Proverbs 8:17~

I have been forced to learn a little bit more about love. It has been a little difficult for me to love people lately. My reason for this is, I have not been feeling much love. I have been spoiled by Christ’s love and the way He shows it to me from my family, friends, and the cross.
I have not been feeling it and intern has been more difficult to show. From this experience it proves Love really is contagious. If a child grows up in a home of hate and disrespect, how can you help him? Show him love. If someone gives you something other than this virtue, swallow your pride, show Love, and pray.

Why Love?
“if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.”
~1 John 4:12-13~
When walking according to this Spirit we will see the fruit. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, and Self Control can not be helped.