Travels......

What’s your favorite part about visiting a new place — the food? The architecture? The people watching?

The Colosseum.

The Ancient Ruins.  The Roman Circus.  Trevi Fountain.  The Spanish Steps. The Vatican and all her museums. The people - oh the people! Masses and masses of them, on every street.   The variety of clothing that those in service to the Catholic church wear, depending on their Order.  The ceremonial clothing of the Swiss Guards.   The food!  Stopping every block and sampling gelato, wine, pizza.  Those are my impressions of Rome.   Those are the images that come to mind when I think of visiting that great city. 

Then on to another ancient city - Florence! 

David in all his glory, both in the square and in the museum.  All the Renaissance art - every where you turned.  Walking through the Uffuzi, and being impressed with the fact that, yes, I DID remember some art history.  I was impressed by the arrangement of the museum; you could see the development of art throughout the centuries.  If I could go back and soak it all in for a long time, I would. 

Paris - Oh Paris.  Beautiful city.

Instead of gelato shops, there were crepe shops on every corner.  Of course, there is the most famous structure - the Eiffel Tower.  Then there are the Boulangerie -the French bakeries with all the wonderful pastries!   And of course the  beautiful cathedrals of Sacre Coeur and Notre Dame

The Louvre, with its incredible art; the Pompedieu Museum with its modern art.  So very much to see and absorb that four short days were not nearly enough. 

So, my answer to the question - yes, all of the above!  

Fly on the Wall

I would love to have been a fly on the wall in the Upper Room when Jesus was with his disciples.  Just to be able to sit at his feet, learning and hearing all that he had to share, and seeing and hearing the reactions of the disciples.  The thing is, I don’t have to wish for this.  I am blessed to sit at His feet every day absorbing the truths of Scripture, and He is present with me, but to be able to sit at his physical feet, what would I do?  There are so many questions I would (and do) ask him. 

·         Why is Dianna still so far away?  She knows you and knows the truth, yet seems so—indifferent. That terrifies me. 

·         How do I reach out to the lost and hurting in my family who are so very angry that they are denying Your existence?   The reality is that they know who you are, yet refuse to acknowledge you because of the depth of pain at the hands of those who claimed to be Christians.  Lord, please heal their hurts and draw them back to you.

·         How do you want me to serve you?  Am I serving in the ministries you want me to?

·         What does the future hold for Amanda?  For Matthew?  For Abby and Ian?

·         When are you going to return?

o    Yes, I know the answer to this one: 

He told them, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.”   (Acts 1:7-8  The Message) 

Lord, I need that power now to be a witness to you.  Please fill me with your power and strength for today.  

Traveling

I'm working through a journal prompt book on my Kindle,  365 Days of Writing Prompts, published by WordPress.com. Today's prompt is Tell us about the farthest you’ve ever traveled from home.  It did start me thinking....

Home. Where is home? Is it where I live now? Is it where I grew up?  

Home is where I am.  Right now, home is Tucson, Arizona.  This house has actually been home longer than any other place.  I've lived in Tucson for almost 14 years, 13 years in this house.  I've never lived any where else quite as long.  True, I lived in the Dayton area for a total of 17 years, with an 18 month interruption for our time in California, but not in the same house.   There are good and not-so-good memories of that time.  So, at times Dayton and Fairborn, Ohio are home.

Home when I was a child was Cleveland.  That's where I grew up and lived until I was 18 and joined the military. However, we lived in several different locations in Cleveland as well.  The first I remember was our house on Hall Avenue in Lakewood.  

From there we moved to Cleveland Heights, 

which was the last place I lived in Cleveland.  

Mom and Dad moved to Beechwood, but that was never home for me.

In reality, the answer is essentially the same for both. I've traveled to Hawaii - farthest away from Cleveland, and I've traveled to Italy, the farthest away from Tucson.  But when I think of my travels, I realize how much more I want to travel before the ability to do so is gone. I've been to Portugal, where we lived when Chuck was born. We went to England for a week, but just stayed in London.  On that trip, we also went to Germany, but because we were in transit, we didn't see much.

Since marrying Tom, we've gone to Italy and Hawaii together.  I went to Paris with Becky.  There are still so many places I want to go.  I want to go to Africa, and that chance may still be coming. I do envy Amanda her amazing experience last year in Sierra Leone. I want to go to Greece.  After seeing all the history and culture in Italy, this is the next historical place I really want to explore.  I want to go back to Italy - there is so much to see there and we barely touched the surface.  I want to see Pompeii, the Cinque de Terre, the Almafi Coast.  I want to explore the mountain villages in Switzerland. I want to see the castles in Germany.  I want to spend a lot of time in Great Britain. 

There is so much world out there to explore. Will I ever be able to see any of it, other than vicariously?  That question will have to wait for an answer.  

(I wanted to post some more pictures, but I'm having technical issues. Ugh. Sometimes technology is a bugger!)