An unexpected break
We were supposed to be, at the moment, in the middle of four heavy days. But Stefania got a fever on Thursday night, which meant that we dropped out of a lot of our commitments, and life became a bit easier. On Saturday afternoon, I went to the Bible study in the Valsugana by myself, and on Saturday night we did not go to the annual dinner for the band. This morning there was an important event for the Sunday School, with a market to raise money for a school in India. So Pinuccia, after having down a lot of the preparation, had to miss it to stay home with Stefania, and got others to do what she had to do. But it went well, with the children singing a new song I had written and then saying what they were thankful for that they had receiving from God (instead of complaining about what they don’t have, when many have a lot less), with about €1100 being raised.
Today there was also a Christmas market at Lavis. We did go out for it, to get a bit of fresh air, but did not last very long before Stefania got tired and her temperature started going up, so we returned home early. Tuesday is a public holiday, and so many people – including the schools – take Monday off as well to get a long weekend. So Stefania and Pinuccia will both be at home. We were intending to make a trip to visit some of Pinuccia’s relatives, but that got put off as well due to Stefania’s illness. So we get a day at home (and maybe some shopping) instead. Then on Tuesday, there is an important event to pray for: an all day conference on the Evangelical Faith and the Reformation. It will be good to have such a conference on the holiday dedicated to the immaculate conception (of Mary, not Jesus), in a hall just a few meters from where the Council of Trent was held. Pray that we of the church would learn more about our doctrine, and that there will be many people not from the church that come as well. Then on Wednesday, there will be another talk on Calvin (for his 500th anniversary) in a Catholic study centre.
With these conferences being held, the cell groups on those days will not be held. This means that last Wednesday I gave my last Bible study for the year, with our departure for Australia being next Monday. I still however have one Sunday School lesson to prepare for next Sunday. I have also finished preparing all the Bible studies on 1Chronicles that I will be giving until summer (but there are still 6 studies on the Apostles’ Creed to prepare). This means that I will be able to dedicate all my work time this week to finishing the next version of my computer program, which I hope to release before we leave for Australia.