We're Back

Bonjour and Buonjourno. If you couldn't tell from my previous post about our vacation, my wife and I went to the Mediteranean coastline of France and Italy. It was beautiful and sunny and quite tiring, but well worth it. We had time to read, play, reflect on our life and talk about what God is teaching us. And here are a few of my reflections:

People are different: The first thing we noticed was our differences from the French & Italians. They dressed nice, but different. They talk different, almost like another language. They work different hours (only 35 hours a week I hear). They have different priorities (like Italian shops would close down from 11-4 for a siesta). They travel differently. You just realize that life is different and you don't quite fit in.

People are the same: But in spite of our difference, people are the same. They love their families. They like to play. They laugh and joke and have misperceptions in about people in other countries. They hate and love and are friendly. People are people.

People matter: We noticed that after 24 hours in Italy, a time when we really struggled with the language difference we began to feel isolated and alone. Here we were walking around this beautiful beach town and we felt alone. We were longing for someone to talk to, or to hear a conversation that we understood. So Christine's reaction was to listen for English then run up to the people and ask them where they were from. One of my strongest memories from the trip were the people that we met and "befriended" on trains or in restaurants. There was Tom & Hannah the Australian university students. There was Simon & Judy the New Zealanders living in Scotland. There was the 52 year old Seattle doctor traveling Europe for 3 months with is 19 year old son Max. There was Darin and Krysa from Santa Monica celebrating the pregnancy of their first child. These becameour European friends...because people matter.

Some people matter more: But our hearts ached a bit because we left our two young boys behind. Caden, 3 1/2, and Griffin, just 2, were a regular topic of our conversation. We realized how much our lives had changed since they came along and we often wondered how they would react to certain situations in which we found ourselves. It was great to get away, but there is nothing like coming home, especially when you are showered with hugs and kisses from your boys.