We have a saying in Italian. Non c’è niente di nuovo sotto il sole. (There is nothing new under the sun.) And yes, I know it’s from the Bible. But I also know that King Solomon, who wrote it, didn’t live in a foreign country. Otherwise, I wonder if he would have changed it to: “There is something […]
Tag: missionary life
I once read about a missionary family who were facing difficulties and had limited provisions. Worry, discouragement and unhappiness plagued them. Until one day when their young son prayed before lunch. “Thank you Lord,” he prayed. “Thank you for everything we have. Thank you for our family, for our house, for our clothes, for this […]
I can still see her, old and frail, limping up the steep hill with her homemade canes. “What do you have there, Zia (Auntie)?” my Hubby asked, pointing at the mesh bag on her kerchief-covered head. I just gaped, wondering how many nasty things had been on that seldom-washed, filthy headscarf! “Oh rabbit droppings for my […]
June is a busy month for us. Hubby is busy finishing up his English classes. While I am busy getting ready, as usual, for our summer visits to friends and churches. I wish you could join us! First stop: the hometown First stop, Hubby’s hometown in the beautiful Cilento National Park, near Salerno. Where we […]
Chestnuts, an open fire, and the importance of finding joy in simple things. The fire didn’t heat better out of the fireplace. All it really did was create more smoke! Although no one would ever convince the dear, stubborn, old man of that! Yet we fondly remember those simple evenings of reading by the fire […]
No taller than a 10-year-old, with a sly and suspicious gleam in her eye, she played the role of the proverbial evil landlady with me, but was as sweet as honey to my Hubby. The other residents, also hostile, seemed amiable by comparison. And the dark, damp apartment revealed a miserly streak as well. It rained […]