Summer Recap (Part One): European Adventures

Apparently it's August already.  I am still waiting for a summer break that doesn't fly by, but that seems to be the way with Summer.  She's a breezy lady who waits around for no man, woman, or child.  The start of the next school year is only weeks away, despite how unprepared I feel for it, and I am frantically trying to decide which items on my "summer projects list" should be prioritized because most of them will fall to the wayside yet again.

One of the priorities has been organizing and editing my photos.  Sometimes it feels like a never-ending project, but it's highly important to me because it's how I best remember things.  Put a photo in front of me and I can recall a memory.  No photo?  Good luck getting me to remember any of it.

I'm pleased to say that I am officially caught up on all my photos from the summer!  Which is no small feat considering how many photos there were to weed through.  This summer has been FULL, starting with this...

Where on earth did I go to see a stunningly beautiful castle on the sea, you ask?  Why, I went to Scotland!  It's true.  This was my 40th birthday present from Eli!  To say that I was shocked would be an understatement.  He had arranged a whirlwind trip to Scotland for me and my dear friend Lauren.  I was both insanely excited and insanely hesitant at the idea.  Here's why: me going to Scotland meant Eli would be traveling internationally with our kids - alone - for the first time and I really wasn't sure that was a good idea.  (Keep reading below for context).  After my initial shock and awe, I literally said to Eli, "I'm not sure this is a good idea!"  He was totally confident he could travel alone with the boys and have no problems, and I could only remember the chaos of traveling back from Thailand with both of us tag-teaming the management of children with bloody noses and fevers and vomiting.  Traveling internationally with children is really a two-parent gig!  But Eli was undeterred.  This was happening and he somehow had complete faith that all would work out well in the end.

For the record, Eli was right!

Here's how it happened.  My dear friend Lauren (a fellow missionary here in Chogoria) has a birthday just a few days apart from mine, and their family was returning to the States at the exact time that our birthdays were coming around.  So she had to fly in that direction anyway.  Our own family was headed to a leadership conference in Albania right after my birthday, so we were headed to Europe anyway.  As it turns out, there is no easy way to get from Kenya to Albania, so one of our flight options was to go through London.  Guess what's just a quick hop and a skip away from London?  Edinburgh!  So the dads (God bless them!!!) sent the moms to Scotland for a whirlwind birthday extravaganza, then we met up with the dads and kids back in London where our families went our separate ways to continue with our summer plans.

Happy Birthday to me!!!!

Lauren and I rented a car and had a fabulous time exploring Scotland's beauty.  (Also, it was my first time driving a rental and I did pretty darn good.  It helps that we drive on the left side of the road in Kenya, so I was well prepared to drive in the UK.)  We visited Dunnotar Castle along the North Sea, explored some of Cairngorms National Park, and walked through the Scottish National Gallery and Edinburgh Castle.

Another highlight was meeting up with Alison, the last Scottish missionary in Chogoria.  Alison grew up as an MK in Chogoria, then became a doctor and moved back as an adult to live and serve there.  She is a treasure.  We've had the privilege of meeting her in Chogoria when she's come back to visit, but meeting up with her in Scotland was a special treat.  She is passionate about Chogoria's history and we talked for hours about this mission hospital we call home.  Icing on the cake!

The reunion with my boys in London was so sweet.  These precious sons literally ran through the airport when they saw me, all hugs and squeals and happiness.  Absence really does make the heart grow fonder!  Together we got on the next plane for Albania and began the next adventure.

We had been invited to attend a leadership conference with our mission organization.  The week was spent with other leaders from around the world, encouraging one another and worshipping together and praying for each other.  Hearing stories of how God is on the move all around the world was incredibly humbling and inspiring.  It's so easy to feel boxed in, to have a myopic vision, because sometimes all you can see is what's right in front of you.  So gathering together with fellow believers involved in ministries from other countries and continents served to broaden our perspective and refresh our enthusiasm for the bigger picture of God's Kingdom being built in all corners of the world.  God is on the move in so many ways!

The boys were just along for the ride, but they had a great time in the kids program while we sat in sessions.  We also had the privilege of hiking in the Albanian countryside, walking around Apollonia (where Augustus Caesar was educated), and running along the shore of the Adriatic Sea.

Did I mention there's no easy way to get from Albania to Kenya?  For the return journey, we opted for more flights but less distance overall, which put us going through Rome.  And as long as we had to go through Rome...

We signed up for a fabulous tour of the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica - seriously, our tour guide was amazing.  Our boys were also amazing.  One never knows, but hopes with all her might, that the kids are of an age to be ready to do things like a 4-hour art and architecture tour.  And they were!  Even the Bubba hung in there with us.  We were so proud.  It was so incredible to not only see some of the most famous art in the world, but to make connections between what we've learned in their history/art classes this year and the actual places the art was created.  To see the boys get excited about recognizing parts of the Sistine Chapel and wanna make sure I saw it too, and to need to go back and see La Pieta for a second time before leaving... it makes a homeschool mama's heart full indeed!

And really, is there any better place to go on a field trip of Western civilization than Rome???  We'd been reading The Bronze Bow together and discussing the impact the Roman empire had on entire cultures and civilizations, and specifically on Judaism.  While walking around the Roman Forum and the Colosseum, we discussed the mindset and worldview of Roman authorities at the time.  Did you know that the Arch of Titus, which still stands intact in the Forum, was built and subsequently dedicated by the Senate as a monument to the defeat of Judea in AD 70?  Or that the building of the Colosseum was financed with the spoils of that same conquest of the Jews?  It was sobering, to say the least.  We talked about these parts of history and wrestled with the magnificent and ingenious architecture pitted against the backdrop of pride and greed and evil.  Similar discussions were held while touring St. Peter's Basilica.  What a magnificent structure!  And yet...indulgences, anyone?

Oh, to stand where Charlemagne himself stood, where Michelangelo and Raphael forever left their imprint on art history, where Martin Luther began seriously questioning the Church and gained momentum that eventually led to the Reformation...  Ahh!  So much history and so much fodder for meaningful discussion!

Suffice it to say, we loved our time in Rome!

One evening we crossed the Tiber River, into which Romulus and Remus were put in a basket and left to die until a she-wolf came to their rescue.  Our boys love this creative legend about the founding of Rome.

After we crossed the river, we stumbled upon a riverside open-air restaurant with a perfect view of Castel Sant'Angelo, built in the 100s by Hadrian.  I tell ya, those Romans really knew how to build buildings that would last.  The evening weather and ambiance couldn't have been more perfect, lending itself to the perfect opportunity to tackle one of our most important goals while in Rome: devouring a lot of pizza!

We then walked to Piazza Navona to admire the fountains and get gelato (another important goal while in Rome!)

We tackled the Roman Forum and Colosseum in one hot afternoon, gaining an understanding of why the wealthy and elite would abandon the city every summer in exchange for their villas in the cooler countryside.  The boys almost melted in the heat, but not quite.  The promise of more gelato kept them going...and maybe kept the mama going too...

Asa had declared early on that he really wanted a gladiator helmet from Rome.  Let's be honest, despite the savagery and brutality of the real gladiator fights, the fact remains that weapons and armor were involved which is all it takes to inspire a fascination in this boy.  Boys are boys, right?  And ours have always loved pretending to battle.  We have a decent armory of plastic weapons at our house, but alas, no warrior helmets of any kind.  (We have superhero masks in spades, but that's not quite the same.)  All that to say, Asa Bubba had his heart set on getting a gladiator helmet and he specifically wanted to wear it as we walked around the Colosseum.

He found a helmet he loved as soon as we exited the metro station at the Colosseum.  But we opted to to come back for it later while we found lunch and walked through the Forum and Palatine Hill.  Eli and I both knew who was actually gonna end up lugging that thing around all afternoon if we bought it then and there, and we were not interested in that.  True to our word, we went back to buy the helmet later, but they were all sold out.  Asa was devastated.  We promised we'd find another shop afterwards because surely there would be other places nearby with gladiator helmets.  He reluctantly agreed to our plan, remaining downcast with the knowledge that he wouldn't have his helmet as we went inside the Colosseum.  He did perk up as we explored the massive ancient icon, and then, by God's grace, at the very end was a gift shop with a gladiator helmet!  It was a smaller, cheaper version of the one he'd found earlier, but he was oh so happy with it.  Never mind that it barely fits his head.  It was the realization of Asa's Roman Dream!

And he wore that helmet the rest of the evening as we walked around the city.  His joy was contagious and that silly gladiator helmet quickly became a cherished memory of the whole trip!

The only thing that went awry during our Roman Holiday was that we arrived at the Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli literally as they were closing the doors.  Unbeknownst to me, the website where I had looked up the visiting hours had listed the wrong closing time.  We walked up the steps only to be harassed by an unkind security guard who refused to let us enter for even 5 minutes to see the Moses statue by Michelangelo.  We had studied this impeccable sculpture and I desperately wanted to see it in person.  Not only is it a true masterpiece, but it's also a lesson in the careful administration of Bible translation!

Why, you might ask?  Because Michelangelo sculpted Moses with horns on his head.  Why on earth would he do that?  Because of a mistranslation of Exodus 34:29 in the Latin Vulgate.  That's the passage when Moses comes down from Mt. Sinai and "his face was radiant."  As my Study Bible notes, "The Hebrew for 'was radiant' is related to the Hebrew noun for 'horn.'  The meaning of the phrase was therefore misunderstood by the Vulgate (the Latin translation), and thus European medieval art often showed horns sprouting from Moses' head."  Isn't that so incredibly fascinating???  It's also led to great conversations with our kids about the importance of accurate Bible translation, but also how hard it can be because of nuances in culture and language that don't translate well, etc.  We have friends who work in Bible translation and we highly admire the rigorous work they do!

So I desperately wanted to see that statue, but we were blatantly denied.  The super grumpy security guard left us no recourse.  We sat on the church steps and I wept.  My heart was so disappointed, knowing we were literally steps away from an artistic marvel and couldn't even lay eyes on it.  Two mercies helped me dry my tears: finding our annual Christmas tree ornament at the souvenir stand just across the plaza from the church, and my husband promising to find the nearest gelato to soothe my soul.  He's a good man, that Eli Horn.

The boys, God bless them, encouraged me by saying that we could come back to the church on our next trip to Rome.  Oh, how I love youthful naivete!  Although, if my sons ever wanted to bring their mama back to Rome someday...and pay for it themselves...I wouldn't begrudge them that!