I don’t write very often, but I want to share a few things with you that I hope will amuse you and show you God’s goodness—as they have done both for me.

The Bathroom

When you have two potty-trained toddlers, much of life revolves around bathrooms and laundry, so I will begin with those topics. My first trip to take a child to the bathroom reminded me that in Italy, light switches do not have “code” locations as they do in the States. In other words, in America when you walk into a dark room, you automatically brush your hand against the wall at “the right” height, and a light is instantly illuminated. No so in Italy. Our first task was to figure out where the switch was. After finding the light, the child was immediately intrigued with the “2 potties” (one is a bidet). Upon completion of the task at hand in the bathroom, the child asked me to flush the potty.

Um…*dumb stare* Um…

I knew we had just spent more than 24 hours in travel, but I ought to be able to figure this one out. Somewhere in the back of my memory was this notation about toilets flushing differently in Italy, but I had no other brain activity of value.

I had to sheepishly report that I didn’t know how and that I needed a minute to look around. The child looked around and said with a satisfied tone, “Potties don’t flush in Italy.”

“No, no—I know that they do…” Good thing we figured it out before someone had to come looking for us (they flush up above–where the tank is).

Laundry

God gave us a very beautiful, completely comfortable temporary apartment. Thank you so much, Frank and Sherry DiBagno and Bobby and Sarah Wales, for doing all the leg work and negotiating for us. It is perfect and has charm.

When I saw the size of our washer, I knew that I would probably need to do laundry every day. That is no problem. I also knew I would be hang-drying and ironing laundry. That is no problem. However, I wasn’t prepared for the issues with the washer itself. First of all, I felt like a fool looking at the control panel on the machine and having no clue how to get it to do what I wanted. And which spot was I to put the laundry soap in? We have figured

beside the washer is child car seats–for size comparison.

out what all the settings are supposed to do (thanks again to the DiBagnos and Wales). However, the machine generally works to get the clothes wet (sometimes not even completely) and smelling a little better (like laundry soap). I then finish the job in the sink, wring everything out, and hang it.

The kids really enjoy “helping” me wash clothes in the sink and hanging them to dry. The other day, I found drying socks standing up on the posts of the bed frame.

Thank you, God, for entertainment—even in laundry.

Pampered Chef

The pampered cook would be me. Yes, we discovered that the oven can’t be used with the heater turned on (power overload—results in no power at all), but God really has given me some special treatment in our kitchen. When we were packing to move to Italy, we kept cleaning out and downsizing. I felt like I had no idea which things were more important than others to pack, and we prayed a lot for wisdom. I’m not a hugely sentimental person, but there were a few things that I wanted to hang on to—like my glass storage containers. However, as we got into the packing and weighing mode, I realized that the glass containers were simply too heavy. They were not worth their weight in our suitcases, so I gave them to some good friends.

On my first trip to the store in Italy, I knew I needed to get storage containers for leftover food, and I found some glass ones. I bought a just a few and intend to slowly accumulate the rest I need.

Then, we found this:

It’s a glass jar (about 1 cup) with a reusable plastic lid…AND it’s filled with yummy chocolate hazelnut spread (off-brand nutella). It costs about $1. So, God gave me glass containers at a great price—and they come with free chocolate! 🙂

What? If I had packed my glass containers, they would have only been filled with socks!

Yes, God is good. Thank you for praying for us as we adjust.

“I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of Your wonderful deeds.” Psalm 9:1