Gioia

Today, Alex and I made the most wonderful discovery.  We’ve been so annoyed by how far our apartment is from school compared to others,  but decided today that we couldn’t have had a better location.  Here’s why:

The building with the columns on the right is the Uffizi, Florence’s huge and wonderful museum [home to Boticelli’s Birth of Venus, Titian’s Venus of Urbino, works by Giotto, Fra Angelico, Caravaggio, Masaccio….I could go on and on].  See the bridge there to the left? That’s Ponte Vecchio, Florence’s famous bridge.  I could tell you all about it, but this is probably going to get lengthy…here’s a better picture:

How beautiful is that?  If you walk across that bridge from the Uffizi to the other side and just go straight, you come to this place after a couple blocks…

This is the Palazzo Pitti.  It was once home to the Medici family and it has the most amazing garden I’ve ever seen.  The gardens are called the Boboli gardens.  I don’t think I’ve been to a more beautiful, peaceful place.  After a rough time adjusting to Italian life (not that I’ve really adjusted yet) and some emotional ups and downs along the way, this place made my whole spirit just feel….better. 

Honestly breathtaking, as cliche as that sounds. Now, I took this next picture standing in the same exact spot as the first picture (of the Uffizi)… 

See that coffee bar on the corner by the little red van?  My apartment is just past that.  Do you catch my drift? For the next few months, I live right around the corner from the most beautiful, wonderful places in Florence.  It didn’t really hit me until today.  I am so blessed.  What’s even better?  I have a little card from my school that gets me into the Uffizi, the Palazzo Pitti and it’s gardens, the Academia (where Michelangelo’s David is held), and other amazing places for free.  Alex and I have already decided that we will be in the Boboli gardens as many afternoons as we can.  We didn’t even see all of it today…they seem to go on forever.

I talked to my mom for a few minutes today and it was good to hear her voice! I love my momma and she has a way of making me cry and making me feel better at the same time.  Before I left, my mom gave me this book by Sarah Young that is a daily reflection of things that God has said to her in her meditations on scripture.  Yesterday’s message said this:

"Much, much stress results from your wanting to make things happen before their times have come.  One of the main ways I assert My sovereignty is in the timing of events. If you want to stay close to Me and do things My way, ask Me to show you the path forward moment by moment. Instead of dashing toward your goal, let Me set the pace.  Slow down, and enjoy the journey in My presence"

There were no more perfect words for me at the time (and even right now) and I’m so thankful for that message.  The first few sentences are hard.  We never want to admit that what we want might not be best for us.  Sometimes, it’s not even about what we want, but it's about when we want it.  As silly little humans, we have a rather imperfect sense of timing and even our best attempts at logic still fail sometimes.  Thankfully, our God has perfect timing and begs us to just live in that time, His time [If you don’t believe in God, come to the Boboli Gardens with me…I think He is there]. The easy part of the message is the last part.  “Slow down, and enjoy the journey in My presence.”  I believe that it’s God’s desire that we enjoy Him.  It’s funny that we often make something that sounds so wonderful and simple [Really? Just enjoy Him?] so difficult when we try to find joy in other places.  Instead of slowing down and letting our lives happen, we try to make things happen “before their times have come.”  I hope this maybe calmed someone's heart the way it calmed mine.  

Forget everyone, forget yourself, and be joyful.

Buona notte!

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