I left Italy with…

I’m sure when most people go on vacation, especially to a foreign country, they take away all of the “treasures” and souvenirs they purchased during their time there. Of course I did the same thing…visiting countries like Italy, Germany and Austria I bought tangible items specific to those countries to give to friends and family and also to keep for myself as a reminder of my time there. Being that I only had limited space in my bags I had to be choosy about my selections and how much I bought. Thank goodness my memory and experience space is unlimited, though.  That’s where I was able to gather up the treasures that will stay with me forever….so today I’m going to do a little “haul”, as the YouTubers would say about their shopping trips, of the intangibles I took away from Italy.

If you know me then you know what took me Italy in the first place…if you’re new to my blog a short version is that my 18 year old daughter married the love of her life back in December and moved to Italy to be with him as he is stationed there with the United States Army.  She left in February of this year so, naturally, I went to visit her.  I took with me two dear family friends, Monica and Brooke.  Monica has been our neighbor for the past 14+ years.  During that time as our neighbor she and her husband spent three of those years living in Italy…specifically Vicenza, Italy which is where my daughter and her husband live.  Previously, a few years before I knew Monica, she and her family had lived in Aviano, Italy for about 4 years.  We have always loved hearing her stories and memories of the country she had grown so fond of during her time there.  I thought it only fitting to invite her to go along with me so she could reunite with her second love…Italia….and so she could help me navigate myself on a journey out of the country for the first time.  Brooke has been an “adopted” part of our family for about 15 years.  She babysat my children from the time they were babies until she left for college.  She has always remained as close as family.  When she found out I was going to Italy she quickly asked if she could go too…to see Bailee and to go on a much needed vacation!  So there is a little introduction to my travel companions…and they are KEY to what I took away from Italy.

MEMORIES…are the first thing I took away…I know obviously…but these memories are so special.  I think of when Josh picked us up from our shuttle bus in his tiny Mini Cooper and we had to hold our big suitcases in our laps.  It was so hilarious.  I will never forget driving up to their house for the first time and seeing my sweet Bailee in the yard with their dog Daisy waiting to greet us….getting out of the car and hearing my girl say “Hey Mama”!  The smell of confederate jasmine every morning when I walked outside to take Daisy to the bathroom…It just permeated the air all throughout the country.  Riding through the alps on the way to Germany and Austria and seeing them for the first time…we had worship music playing and honestly I was brought to tears and the sights I was viewing.  God made those massively, gorgeous mountains and if He wanted He could move those mountains.  Memories of the meals we all shared and how we just sat and talked and just enjoyed our time together over delicious plates of food.  The rides through the Italian countryside and the beautiful villas nestled into the greenery surrounding them are visions I will never forget.  The details of the cobblestone streets all the way up to the frescoes on the beautiful walls of various buildings through the cities to the balconies filled with flower boxes that will soon grow to trail all the way over the railing did not go unnoticed and are things I will reminisce about for many years to come.  When my trip came to an end and I once again and to say those hard goodbyes…not the greatest memory, yet one that will exist forever.  I could go on and on about the memories I took away from this experience, but none of us have time for that…just know they are so very dear to me.  Thank you Lord for the ability to remember!

FRIENDSHIPS…I mean of course I was friends with Monica and Brooke before we left, but traveling together in this manner and to visit  my daughter whom I’ve missed more than  words can say took our friendship to a whole new level.  They helped me more than they can even know…keeping me company on the travel over, advice on traveling out of the country since it was my first time, helping me do “mama” things for Bailee and Josh such as helping them organize and clean their house, and so many more things that have those “you just had to be there moments”.  My friendship with Bailee grew to a new level as well.  I am the kind of parent who has never tried to be my kids’ friend because my job is to be their mother.  I think if we become too “friendly” with our children we lose sight of our role as a parent and our children lose sight of where they stand.  Now, that Bailee is no longer under my roof and living on her own, we have found our place  as friends…which is appropriate timing.  I love our friendship and how close we are.  It has actually solidified to me that I did the right thing in my decision to be her parent before I could be her friend.  I’ve loved Josh ever since the second he walked through my door to take Bailee on their first date…I knew him before that actually and always thought he was great.  Being a guest in their home and getting to spend time with him as my son-in-law brought a whole new respect for him and deepened my love and friendship for him.  I am so thankful God put those two together.  Lastly, I made some new friends…Stephano and Roberta, Vanessa and Rafaelli, Anna and Marco…all good friends of Monica’s we were introduced to that made us feel like we had known them for years.  I don’t want to forget to mention Burgendi…who is an army wife like Bailee and her closest friend in Italy…such a sweet girl and I know God sent her there to be a friend to Bailee.

PEACE…yes I took peace away from Italy.  Peace that only comes from God.  You see…even though we gave our blessings for Bailee and Josh to marry despite their young age…and with it came her moving with him 5,000 miles away…peace of it all has come in parts.  God granted the peace about their marriage long before the actual wedding date.  Lots of people thought we had lost our minds allowing that and thought it was a big mistake.  I never had a doubt because this awesome God who is my God allowed me to shut the negativity out and focus on Him and His will…I still have a peace about their marriage and even more so after spending 10 days with them.  Those two love each other unconditionally and it is a blessing to see.  They are growing up together and learning together.  Their age doesn’t define their relationship…their love and relationship with the Lord and with one another does.  Where I have had trouble finding peace…has been putting my baby girl on that plane to live in a foreign country 5,000 miles away from me.  Well this trip was just what I needed to find peace about that because she is thriving.  She has adjusted to living far from home and us, being a wife…not just that, but an army wife, living in a different culture with a different language, learning to drive a manual shift car on roads where the drivers are very aggressive, doing college online, being a dog mama, finding a church home, and I could go on and on. 

You see…when you hear God has plans for you…it’s the truth….and there is nothing we can do to stop His plans.  He orchestrated all of this a long time ago….He gave us subtle signs although we didn’t know at the time….and that’s literally another whole blog…but this is God’s plan for Bailee and Josh…and peace about it is mine!  Do I miss them…YESSSS…I have cried my eyes out every day since I’ve been home…but do I want anything different for them…NOOO…this is God’s plan for their lives and His plans are greater than any I could ever create.  I’ll leave you with this quote from Beth Moore that inspired me to finally finish my blog this morning (I’ve literally been working on it for over a week and just couldn’t find motivation to finish because it makes me miss my girl)…but I saw this on Twitter this morning…

“Jesus is unstoppable.  He will do what He has a mind to do.  He will do it with us or without us.  He will do it thru us or go around us.  He may do it thru many.  He may do it thru few but let there be no mistaking.  He will do it.  No decision, no division, no derision can stop Him.”