I'M ENGAGED!!!!!!

I'm Engaged!!!!


I cannot believe that I am ENGAGED!!! This past week has been so great!  Not just because I got to spend time with my FIANCE (ahh that is so much fun to say!!!), but I absolutely loved getting to spend time with my parents as well! It was so encouraging to have them here and was such a restful time for me. Rob and I finally got to show my parents around Salerno.  It was so great showing them why we love the city and the people so much.  After spending a few days in Salerno, we spent the rest of the week in Florence and Rome.  Getting to travel with them was so much fun!

At the Castle in Salerno

Mom and Dad at Dinner in Florence

As exciting as the trip was, I know most of you want to hear about the proposal! I honestly had NO CLUE! Rob and I had talked about getting married for a while and had even thrown around a few dates that might work, but I had no idea when he was going to propose.  Of course everyone was asking me, “Do you think it’s going to happen while he’s here in December?”  In the back of my head, I definitely knew it was a possibility (I even made sure my nails were painted!!!), but I tried not to dwell on it. Neither of my sisters seemed to have any idea, and this was definitely not due to a lack of investigative effort. 


Lauren, my older sister, even grilled my mom and dad on the way to the airport before she dropped them off for their flight over here. My dad reassured her that nothing was going to happen by saying things like “no, they don’t need to be talking about all that” and “she is in Italy, and he’s in America” and “well he hasn’t asked me yet.” For those of you who do not know my family really well, we are not the best at keeping secrets from each other.  Nevertheless, my dad was so convincing to my sister that it was NOT going to happen.   As soon as my parents went through security, Lauren called me and told me all about what my dad had said.  That pretty much convinced me that he was not going to propose anytime soon.  With that in mind, I had to block the thought of him proposing out of my mind completely.


Regardless, I was so excited that Rob and my parents were coming. I could not stop talking about it! The morning they were flying in, Valerye (my roommate of two years) and I were talking about all the fun plans we had while we were getting dressed.  She was definitely wearing nicer clothes, (and if you know Val, she likes to be comfy) but I never really thought twice about it.  She even asked me if my camera battery was charged…still I was not putting it all together! Finally, around 11:00 am, we met Rob and my parents as they pulled up in front of the hotel they were staying in! I was so excited!  After I got all of my mandatory excited squeals out of the way, we settled my parents into their hotel and took some “special orders” from America that they brought me up to my apartment. I was so excited to finally have Rob here with an entire suitcase of different odds and ends I had requested from home! My roommates and I went through the entire suitcase! Rob seemed so excited to see my apartment and could not wait to go see my terrace.


In the meantime, I just wanted to explore the treasure trove of American goodies I just got!  Did he not see how excited I was about the 300 packets of propel and the 15 jars of peanut butter?!?!  Finally, he convinced me to put down the peanut butter and take him to our terrace. The view is not so great, but I could tell how excited he was to see the view.  We spent a while up there just talking about how great it was to actually be in the same place and how unbelievably excited I was!  I probably said it a million times! At some point in time, I definitely hit his pocket and I heard something break…looking back it definitely sounded like a ring box, but I was so oblivious.  Scared I had broken his phone or something else important, I asked him if everything was ok? He non-chalantly told me not to worry about it.  The next thing I know he is down on one knee saying, “Will you marry me?” At this point I am shaking, screaming, and doing who knows what else!  He then got up and showed me exactly why I was so excited to marry him.


He was so sweet and affirmed me through Scripture about why he wanted to marry me and what kind of husband he promises to be.  He walked through verses like Proverbs 18:22, Proverbs 19:14, Proverbs 31:10-11, Ephesians 5:23-31, 1 Peter 3:7.  Through the past three months, Rob has continually pointed me back to Hosea 2:14, 19 -20 to reassure me of how not only the Lord loves me, but how he (Rob) strives to love me as well.  As great as it has been to hear that over Skype, it was incredible to hear him tell me in person.  After all of this, he pointed out that I never actually gave him an answer so I finally said yes!  I later learned that Rob had planned on walking me through all of the scripture before he proposed, but he told me that he went completely blank right before he dropped to one knee.  Rob is normally very very good with words, so it shows how wound up he was!  He claims it was nothing but excitement, but I definitely think there were some nerves mixed in!  


A few minutes later, I heard Valerye and my other roommate Elizabeth scurrying up the stairs taking pictures! They definitely caught me in the moment right after I said “WE FINALLY CAN SET THE DATE!” Val had known for about a month that he was going to propose.  A Month!!!  Apparently everyone here knew but me!  I talked to them about it all the time! I still cannot believe that they kept such a good secret!  After we took some more pictures, we all went to tell my parents (who had known for 3 months!!!), and my mom’s reaction was great, of course!  We finally tried to relax and grabbed some pizza to celebrate with my parents and then went home to call Rob’s family and my sisters.  My team was so sweet.  They threw us a fun little party that night to celebrate with us! This past week has been so much fun and I just want to say “Thank You!” to everyone who has sent me messages!  I cannot tell you how excited I am to be marrying my best friend and how blessed I feel to have a man like Rob in my life.  For those of you that do not know him, I truly hope you get to meet Rob soon to see exactly why I cannot wait to marry him.  We could not be more excited to be getting married on August 11, 2012!!!

My Roommate Val! (a wonderful secret keeper!!!)

Telling my mom! She doesn't have to keep the secret ANYMORE!!!

After a week of talking about weddings!!!!

Rob and I in Florence

The STINT girls!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday Dad! I love you and miss and CANNOT wait to see You, Mom and Rob in 16 DAYS!!

2 Months In!!!

It's so crazy to me that it is already November! These past 2 months have gone by so fast and have been so rewarding. We have met many students and truly have been blessed by their friendships.  We have loved getting involved in their lives and their willingness to allow us to experience so many things with them has been incredible.  Their willingness to allow a bunch of strange Americans who talk about Jesus all the time hang out with them really is amazing.  We have had so many great opportunities to talk about the Gospel with so many people already.  (Unfortunately, I cannot use any names due to strict privacy rights in Italy, but I do have lots of pictures up on Facebook!)

Halloween at the Shoemaker's

Trick-or-Treat

Our schedule has definitely kept us on our toes so far.  We are in the middle of school right now, which consists of two weeks in school and two weeks free each month.  So normally, we will have class from 9am to 1pm and after that we normally go to the University to meet students.  Constantly being immersed in the language presents plenty of challenges.  Whether going to the store without knowing how to ask for what you are buying, to ordering at a restaurant, or meeting students who do not know very much English, the language barrier exists.  It has been great to see the Lord work through that though in our team’s lives, as well as in the people we interact with.



Our sweet friend Nunzia!!!


Cooking Poppyseed Chicken for our "American Dinner Party"

In the next couple of weeks on campus we are planning an English club for Italian students.  Our hope is to help them with their English (and maybe learn a little Italian of our own) and through that we can take the topic and point it back to the Gospel through our conversations. We are also having a big Thanksgiving dinner for all of our Italian friends. We are cooking turkeys, dressing, sweet potatoes (if we can find them), and more of the traditional Thanksgiving Day food! All of our friends are so excited about getting to see what American Holidays are like. Through that we will talk about what makes this holiday special for us as believers.  Please be in continued prayer for the Italian students that we have met already and will continue to meet that their hearts will be open to just hearing the gospel.  We have been so blessed to have had so many opportunities to share with Italians in just these first two months.  It is so encouraging to know people back home are in continued prayer for the Italians and us as a team.

 Our Italian friends at our "American Dinner Party"

These past two months have definitely had their challenges, but have been so great at the same time.  The Lord has really shown me a lot about trusting Him and letting Him be in control and not me. It is something that is so hard to let go of wanting to control. The Lord has been so gracious in teaching me about trust and showing me that his love for me is so great. As many times as I rely on myself, he continually forgives me over and over and over again. One verse that I have continually clung to since being here is Hosea 2:19-20, “I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.” It shows me that the Lord has promised to love me and all I have to do is trust Him.  Earlier in Hosea 2:14 it says, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.”  I have to let the Lord lead me into the wilderness where he can speak to me and where only He is my provision without distractions and simply allow the lord pour his love on me.



The Roomies!

The Rome team came to visit! We took a little boat trip to Positano!

Some things to continue praying for me:

·      Coping with the language barrier (and hopefully learning more of the language)

·      Continual initiation with students on campus

·      Resting in the Lord’s love for me

·      Trusting in the Lord in every area

·      Loving my team

·      Being bold with students

Happy Birthday Sister!!

Happy Birthday To My Sweet Sister! Wish I could be with you!

I hope that you have had a wonderful Birthday!

I love you and miss you!

Finally Settled In!

Ciao Tutti (Hey Everyone)! I hope all is well! Salerno is great so far! We finally got internet so now I am able to keep my blog updated! So far we have been settling in, taking language class, learning about the culture, meeting students, and hanging out with old friends!

A few weeks ago we went to the Agape Italia Fall conference in a town called Montesilvano. The main theme of the whole weekend was how important it is for us to be rooted in God's word. Our lives and ministry should be an over flow of our relationship with Christ. We learned different Biblical principles that will help us this upcoming year. It was a great time of fellowship and learning!

These past 2 weeks we have been on a break from school and have been on campus everyday. Our time on campus has been good. We have met a lot of students in a short amount of time. Tomorrow we start back school from 9-1 and head to campus in the afternoons.

Please continue to pray for our language learning, meeting students, and embracing the culture.

I'm here!!

Sorry I have not blogged before now! We are still with out internet, but hopefully we will have it soon! These past 2 weeks we have been getting settled in and today we started language class! We are in class from 9-1 every morning and in the afternoon we are going on campus and meeting students. We have also met up with some of our friends from when I was here in 2010. It was so great to just catch up!

I have so much I want to share with you all, but with limited internet a brief update is all I can do! Until then, here are some things you can pray for are: learning the language, embracing the Italian culture, and the boldness to meet and talk to students.

Thank you again for all your prayers and support!

2 Weeks!!

Exactly 2 weeks from today I will be headed to Salerno, Italy! I can not tell you how excited I am! The Lord is doing amazing things over there and we can not wait to see what He is going to do this next year! As we get ready to leave, would you continue to please pray for myself and the other members of our team as we prepare to serve the Lord in Italy?

(Me and my my friend Emily last summer on Campus in Salerno)

We just got back from our training in Chicago! At this conference there were about 400 STINTERS from all over America going to 35 different countries and into 67 different cities! We had the best time being together as a team, getting to know people that were going to be in Western Europe, and growing in the Lord together. We had lots of seminars on how to love your team more effectively, cultural differences that we will face, how to work through team conflict, how to be a good steward our money effectively and with wisdom, essential truths for new believers, effective ministry in guilt/fear/shame-based cultures, and so much more! The last night was my favorite thing we did. Each region (Western Europe, East Asia, Oceania, Eastern Europe and so on) went to the front of the ballroom and our regional director prayed for us. Then, whoever wanted to pray or lay hands came up to the front and prayed for the teams. Lastly, someone closed out in prayer for the region in the native tongue of that area. It was so neat to hear all the different languages being spoken and praying to our Lord! Here are some pictures from our week in Chicago!

(us and the STINT team from Roma)

(Me, Elizabeth, Missy, Valerye, and Christina)

(The team minus a few that were not able to make it)

Also, please continue to pray for Jim and Kevin (our team leaders) and their families. Their flight on the 28th (today) was pushed back as far as Tuesday, August 31st. Please pray that they will still be able to get over safely in spite of Hurricane Irene. This will put them back a couple of days on being able to get settled in and also on finding the rest of us apartments.

These next couple of weeks are going to be filled with

family and friends

Cole's 1st birthday

and of course

packing!

"Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!" Psalm 96:1-3

My Team!

During my 1 year internship I will be on a team with 8 single students and 6 families. We are very excited about getting to serve with these families as well as share the gospel with Italians. Last summer when I was in Italy, we got to experience that the Italians loved getting to interact with believing families. Most of the Italians have never seen families with more than two children, and many have never seen a family that love each other and whose foundation is faith in the gospel.

Single Girls

Me (Jeane Carroll Brookshire)

Missy Cargo

Valerye Windham

Lucy Baird

Single Guys

Hunter Cole

Jonathan Pruhdomme

Families

Justin and Gayle Gallo

(have 2 small children not pictured)

Ryan and Christina Burrage

Jim and Angela Davis & Family

Kevin and Missy Shoemaker & Family

Justin and Abbey Valiquette

(have 4 small children not pictured)

Dylan and Chevas Grace & Family

"May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Colossians 1:11-14

Why Italy?

Over the next year, I will have the chance to serve with Campus Crusade for Christ in Salerno, Italy at the University of Salerno. Campus Crusade is an interdenominational Christian missions organization whose target mission field is college students in the U.S. and all over the world. Campus Crusade focuses on reaching college students because there is a tremendous competition for their mind and their hearts. How they are influenced in college will most likely affect them for the rest of their lives.

Of all places in the world, why Italy? In Italy, the assumption is that everyone is a Christian, and it would be quite unusual to find someone who has not been to church. In fact, most Italians claim to be Catholic just out of tradition. A question that we asked a lot in Italy last summer was: “What does a person need to do to enter Heaven or be ‘right’ with God?” Most of their responses were: “by being a good person” and “going to church”.

Galatians 2:16 teaches that “a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” Sadly, the assumption that everyone is a Christian is not true, and that the students in Italy view religion as a moral checklist, and not a personal relationship with Jesus Christ our Savior by His grace.

During my one-year internship I will be serving with a team of 5 families and 8 students. We will take initiative to share Christ with lost students on campus, follow up and disciple those who trust Christ, build relationships with them, encourage their growth in the Word, and challenge them to share their faith with others. We are seeing the Lord move in a great way in Salerno and I am so excited that the Lord has led me to be a part of it!