Walk by the Spirit

As I walked about in the city today, a specific scripture came to mind.  I studied it last week, but what brings me back to this scripture again this week is the amount of impatience I have with people. Here are a few examples; I am impatient when people walk too slow on the sidewalk or when they stop in the middle of the sidewalk and take up the whole walkway. These are moments that I do not show the fruit of the Spirit.  Then there are times when I am patient with others, and I expect a pat on the back.  As a Christ follower, I am continually trying to love God and live like Him, but daily I fall short.  Paul writes in Galatians 5:16, "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh."  That's when I realized that if I am walking by the Spirit then displaying the fruit of the Spirit is not something that I am striving to "show", but it is something that shows as a result of abiding in the Spirit. So if I am abiding in God, I am glorifying God by displaying his attributes. Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;"

So as this new week begins here in Italy, I pray that Justin and I both abide in God so that we can walk by the Spirit. Living abroad in another country and culture is challenging and frustrating every day, but the beauty is in how we handle these situations.  If we allow God to work through us and display the fruits of the Spirit we are starving the flesh inside of us that wants to come and show its ugly face.  That is what we are working towards here. We want to show the goodness and love of Christ to the strangers we pass on the sidewalk and to the people we meet and develop relationships with.

Specific Prayer Needs:
*Justin had his appointment last Monday with the immigration office and he has successfully submitted his paperwork. Now we wait. Please pray that the red tape of the government here would be removed so that I can be added on to his visa as quickly and smoothly as possible.
*Pray for our ministry opportunities.  We have a few options opening up and we need you to pray for discernment on ministry decisions.
*Last week I had an interview with a preschool and it went really well. If all of our paperwork can get processed in time then they want me to start in September as a Pre-K English teacher. This is a big and exciting opportunity for me. Please pray that my heart would be prepared for this job and the tasks that are involved.

As always we are thankful for your prayers and for taking time to read our blog. The transition here has been pretty smooth, and we know it is because God has his hand guiding our steps. Also because we have the support of so many friends and family.

We Love You!
Carli & Justin

An Easter Full of Joy

This sweet girl is the daughter of another family of missionaries serving here in Florence. We had the pleasure of spending Easter with them.

Dear Friends and Family,

As we start a new week after all of the celebrations of this past Holy week, we would like to share with you a couple of the amazing promises that our Lord has given us in the Scriptures. We hope that these promises encourage and solidify your already growing joy in the sovereignty of God. 

1. God gives us everlasting and eternal joy in His sustaining grace because we know that all He desires is to do good to us. 

"And they shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for the good of their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. And I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul." (Jeremiah 32:38-41)

2. We will never taste death but will forever taste the abundant life that only Christ gives us because of His resurrection. 

" When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:54-55)

"Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers." (1 John 3:14)

3. We all can live and work for the glory of Christ because all of the immutable promises we have forever through Jesus Christ. 

"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58)

"For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living." (Romans 14:8-9)

These promises are what fuels us daily to not care about our lives, but to live in this vapor of a life, for the glorious giver of eternal life. 

We love you all very much and are so thankful that you pray for us. 

Justin & Carli