The Smallest Thing Can Do Major Things to Your Heart

One of my other teammates already wrote about the day that I'll treasure in my heart always. Thursday was another day of routine that we were used to. We did tract distribution in the morning, had lunch and riposo, devotions, and then went to Pordenone for Kids' Ministry and miming. We do Kids' Ministry in parks, but on our way to do mimes, there were a lot of kids in a piaza, so we decided to do Kids' Ministry there too. I held the cloth for the puppet show, so I wasn't out with the kids at the beginning. After the puppets were put away, I sat down on the edge of the group of kids. After a little while, an adorable little black boy wandered over. He was probably two years old, and he just randomly patted my arm. So I put my hand up and he patted my hand. He moved to other boys that were listening to the story and hit them, and I tried to show him not to do that. Then he wandered back to his mom for a bit. He came back to me, and I know he said "Mama." I don't know if he thought I was his mom, or what. Anyway, he wrapped his arms around my neck for a little hug. Then he let go, but still stayed by me and just touched and patted my face. It was so cute and I really wish I had a picture of him, but I'll have a picture of him in my heart always. Kids' Ministry is so refreshing anyway, but God gave me this little jewel to remember from the trip. I know that I will remember the people who we had conversations with after mimes, but this little boy stole my heart and he is probably what I will always think of when I think about Italy.

So that was my little experience, but yesterday was also an experience. It started out relaxed (breakfast was at 9:30 instead of 8). Then we started to finish Batman Begins, but moved on to play Phase 10. It wasn't finished before it was time for lunch. We left around 1:30 for the town of Acqualeia to see the oldest legally built church. We looked at some mosaics and the baptism and headed to look in the church, but it was closed because a wedding was going to take place there. And the clock tower wasn't open until 3:30. So we decided to wait a bit and got, of course, gelato. Then it was time for the clock tower to open, so we walked over and paid to climb the 127 winding, claustrophobic steps to see the view from the top. By the time we reached the top, my thighs were shaky, and I was slightly winded and dizzy. The view was amazing though. Then we walked around the graveyard as we waited for the church to open. We sat for a bit, and saw the bride and groom exit the church. It was interesting to see Italian fashion in a wedding. Finally we were able to enter the church. It was soooo beautiful. I loved the columns and arches.

When we were done there we traveled to Grado to relax more and see the ocean. The water was beautiful. It was kind of brownish close to the walkway, but was an amazing teal out further. I was pretty hungry, so Teleah, Caleb, and I went to find a snack. We found a cafe and bought pasteries. They were delicious. A little sweet and chocolatey, but they held us over until we got to Udine and had wonderful cheesy pizza :)

We waited until later to go out and do mimes because it was the weekend, so the people came out later and stayed out later. There were so many more people out at bars and walking around all dressed up. We drew large crowds for mimes, but the people left before we could approach them. It was interesting to see how a large crowd affected our acting. I wish the people would've stayed so we had a chance to talk about the Gospel with them. Teleah had a good conversation with two Italian girls who spoke really good English. Pray for them, and the other conversations that took place last night. We stayed out until around 11:30 and came back to the center. Even though there were some interesting things that happened last night, I really liked having more people around. We only have two days left and I pray that things continue to go as God plans and we all stay flexible.

With a blessed heart,
Katrina Garrard