bring it on? (be careful what you ask for)

from last year:
2008 – My life in review…So to 2009 I raise my glass… “Bring it on!”

2009 started out with my resolution to get out of the country. a month later I was laid off (along with two co-workers) from my 2nd job in the music industry. my second lay off in less than 12 months... at least they weren't in the same calendar year (there has to be a bright side). luckily i had run into a friend a couple of weeks before who gave me a lead on a job at her company. i applied there and some other places as well as contemplating what God was calling me to do next. i did the wise thing and prayed a LOT. mainly i prayed for an open door sooner than later, and that his direction might be the first door that opened. i accepted the job with blood:water mission a month later and the week i started the floodgates opened. i had an offer for a temp to hire position, another company that wanted to do an interview... and it seems there was something else... that i don't recall. because for the past 10 months i've been learning more than i ever thought i would know about africa, non-profits, and being an administrator in a fairly new organization. in may i walked 13.1 miles with my dad in the indy mini-marathon and beat him! (by .0001 seconds, :-) or something like that). at the end of may i bought myself the best birthday present ever! a plane ticket to roma... filling my new years resolution to get out of the country... and my heart's desire to go to rome. i did a little bit of traveling over the summer, visiting my sister in philly and getting to see the liberty bell. as well as DC and Estes Park for work (so I have this really cool job if i didn't mention it before). in september i moved to the east side of nashville to a place with a ton of character where i can walk or ride my bike to work (which i don't do as much as i should...2010 resolution? depends on if i want to keep it or not). between settling in and still learning about africa i did my research preparing for my trip to rome! i learned a bit of italian, which i couldn't recall much when i was there and didn't really need to. watched a ton of italian films on recommendation and read anything i could get my hands on. i was more prepared than the average tourist when i boarded my plane on my half birthday (11/26 which i never count but seemed appropriate since it was my birthday present) but not as much as i could have been. rome was amazing!!! anytime i say the word, even in my head, my heart smiles. it was exhausting and overwhelming and beautiful and awesome and moving and sometimes very wet... but also very sunny. unpredictable and confusing. i'll never forget getting lost and walk/running down circus maximus both ways, or waiting on a bus alone in the dark for over 40 minutes... on the same night! even though my bags are unpacked i'm still unpacking the memories, stories and experiences and how they have changed me, because you cannot go to rome and remain the same. (well i guess someone can, but i can't.) it was a struggle when i returned... being in the states still on italy time trying to catch up at work and aching to be back in rome (i'm fairly certain i could live there and be really happy. i'm not sure what i would do, and i'm not tempting fate... i don't actually believe in fate... i'm just saying i really loved it. i loved it more than paris *gasp*). then i headed home for the holidays. i had a rather peaceful time... which was somewhat odd for my family but i'll take it graciously. back home in nashville to ring in the new year with a friend, a 90ies cover band and a lot of strangers... ringing in 2010 with a recollection of ringing in 2000.


2009 gains & losses

losses
my job (again!)
music (this self proclaimed music junkie only bought one album this year! note to self must remedy that in 2010)
lots of happy tears and lots of sad tears

gains
seeing God's hand at work
another stamp in my passport (metaphorically not literally... it's a great story)
eyes that have seen beautiful parts of the eternal city
feet that have tread in the steps of cesars, persecuted christians and pilgrims
deeper knowledge of the need in africa
the privilege to see the generosity of others, even out of their own poverty
reconnecting with an old friends and making some new ones

here's to an even better twenty-ten

epifania

Why there is what appears to be a witch riding on a broomstick hanging from my Christmas Tree.

Many people believe that the name Befana is derived from the Italians' mispronunciation of the Greek word epifania or epiphaneia. La Befana is thought to have originated in Rome and then spread as a tradition to the rest of Italy.

It is believed (or at least the story goes...) that the Magi approached La Befana a few days before Christ's birth. They either asked her for directions or for a place to stay. She did not know where Jesus was. She either provided them with shelter for the night (she was considered the best housekeeper in the village with a very pleasant home) or she turned them away because she was too busy with her housework. In the first version they invite her to join them on the journey to find the baby Jesus, but she declines, stating she is too busy with her housework. In both stories she later has a change of heart, and tries to catch up. She notices a bright light in the sky; she thinks it is the way. With some baked goods and gifts for baby Jesus in her bag and her broom to help the new mother clean she begins her search. She is not able to find him, so to this day, La Befana is searching for Jesus. On the eve of Epiphany she visits the home of every child searching for Jesus. She leaves all the good children toys and candy, while the bad children get coal or bags of ashes, and she sweeps up the their home before she moves on to the next. It's also said that if anyone ever catches her she whacks them so hard on the head with her broomstick they forget they saw her... or that a thump from her broomstick makes you forget you saw her ;-).

hope you had a wonder filled Christmas with a few sweet surprises!
Happy Epiphany!