Two Wolves

An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life.

“A fight is going on inside me,” he told the young boy, “a terrible fight between two wolves.  One is evil, full of anger, sorrow, regret, greed, self-pity and false pride.  The other is good, full of joy, peace, love, humility, kindness and faith.”

“This same fight is going on inside of you, grandson…and inside of every other person on this earth.”

The grandson ponders this for a moment and then asks, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?”

The old man smiled and simply said,

“the one you feed.”

"But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desire of the flesh. for the desire of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desire of the spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do." 

Galatians 5:16

How can we walk by the Spirit? By living a life based on the word of God, knowing what he wants from us will help us have a renewed mind and so to live a transformed life, a life where we will be encouraged to live for God.

A colorful month!

October, such a colorful month! This year even if we are very busy, we decided to go to a pumpkin patch, it was our first time!

It was an hectic morning because I had a brunch with seminary wives and our Bible study leader. We had a great time there. It was so amazing to share our story and how God brought us all here at seminary, to hear of the many plans He uses into our lives.  There were not only Americans but also wives from other country and  we just learn how to bond in each other, even in our weaknesses. Some of us don't like to speak up, others are afraid to speak in English for fear to make mistakes and look ridiculous. It was good to practice compassion and grace as we listened to each other. Not to mentioned the food! everything was so delicious and our hostess very kind.

As soon as that was done my family and I headed to the pumpkin patch farm. We got to see many pumpkins and obviously the kids loved all the tractors, animals, aye pyramids. For the very first time my girls tried corn on the cob. I had tried it before but being that we have not lived in America for many years, my kids have never had it and amazingly they loved it, except for Ruhamah that kept on having a funny face every time she would take a bite.

It was a good family time, as I said our life have been pretty busy and we really miss being able to have one day or even half a day just to hang out as a family, do something fun or funny or just being together and relax and enjoy each other (even though if we are home the kids end up fighting most f the time!!!)

I just wanted to give you a glimpse into our lives. I feel blessed by those cute smiles that surround me. And I am sure God as blessed you too with many cute smiles around you. Can you think of some?

I am blessed too, by learning from other seminary wives, how we all face difficulties, how we handle them and how God gives us strength in different ways. God is good :)

Strange Fire

If you have time,
and you want to listen to something good,

 check the Strange Fire Conference at 

http://www.tmstrangefire.org

Italy

The other day I was at the Italian Bible Study here at Grace Community Church. It was good to hear songs in Italian, to fellowship with people that speak Italian or have something in common with Italy. We had a good time in listening to the message, had good conversations and AMAZING food!!!

I love talking about my homeland, and sharing how big is the need on the other side of the ocean. Today I want to do something that my husband usually does, I want to share some facts about this little country that has the shape of a boot.

• Italy has a population of 60 million inhabitants. 
• 95% of the population is Catholic.
• of that 95%, only 5% are practicing catholics.
• 0.6% of the population is evangelical;
• The rest are Jehovah witnesses, muslims and so on...

What does it mean to be a catholic? For many Italians being Catholic is like being Italian. It is part of who you are, it doesn't matter if you read the Scripture or not, if you know what the Catholic Church teaches or not, if you believe in it or not. Being Catholic is part of your ethnicity and if someone were to change that, it would be shameful.

"Aren't they Christian?" That is the question that gets asked very often.

This happened a few years ago in Acireale, right under our balcony. The carriage is carrying the statue of saint Sebastian, and has steal wheels. It may not look like it but the carriage is so heavy that leave indents in the asfalt. Saint Sebastian is the patron saint of the city and prior to this day, at every corner of the city, people were collecting money so that they could celebrate the saint with fireworks and adorn the city. Sebastian, we know from history, may have been a true believer who never would have imagined that people would elevate him so much!

People walk barefoot, hurt themselves for the saint in order that they may gain a greater GRACE!

When I was a kid I remember listening about stories of kids living in tribal areas. How they would kill their children for the gods they believed in, offer them sacrifices. I see so many correlations between those tribal rituals and the catholic church of today.

This is not christianity, it started like it but it went away from it a long time ago.

Italians are lost as much as other people in the world, but because they named themselves christian they think they are, and sometimes we, in america, think that too. 

When I look at my nation I see a great need. I see sheep lost without a shepherd. They are caught in a religion that will not teach them how to have peace with God, but that will encourage them to live by doing, to live in fear. They are caught by a religion that seems good and seems like it is bringing them to God but in reality it is making them sink even more into their own sins. On top of that it is telling them that they are ok! 

When you think about Italy, and you think about the food, the fun that the people have and the fellowship that they have, remember they that are lonely because they are missing the only person that can change their life and give true meaning. Remember to pray for them and pray for those who work there, that they may be a strong witness for the Almighty!