Italian Invasion

It’s pretty quiet around here.

That’s normally not that unusual¹, but for the past couple of weeks it has been. Some of our kids were in town (no, not those kids, the Italy ones), and the kids have kids, and that makes for a much more exciting household. Where by “exciting” I mean “chaotic”.²

Since we spent a week in Portland with their LG replacements a couple of months ago, it’s fitting that we were able to see the Davidson’s this summer as well. When last I wrote about them, they were in the process of going back on mission to Italy; they have now been there for two years and are home on furlough for the summer, and we were fortunate to have them spend several days with us.

Although we try to Skype with them semi-regularly, this is the first time we’ve physically seen them since they left for Italy. We were reminded of several things, and learned a few, too:

• Grandkids are really, really cute.
• Some grandkids eat a lot. Like, a LOT.
• Dunkirk was a great movie, and more so in IMAX. If Interstellar made you think Nolan had lost his mojo, you can put those thoughts to rest.
• Two weeks later, Paul doesn’t remember anything about Dunkirk except that it happened in WWII. And maybe not that.
• MacKenzie makes a great bolognese, even with American ingredients.
• Paul may appreciate fine Italian dining, but he doesn’t know good movies from nothing. His reaction to Charade, possibly the greatest romantic comedy ever³, was “meh,” and he refused to watch any black-and-white ones, which leaves out approximately eight of the ten best movies ever made, one of which we watched after he left to go be cool but sore in Colorado.
• He did like Dr. No, which is something.
• MacKenzie’s “grandma” driving reputation is well-earned.
• So is her Harry Potter devotion.
• Paul don’t know movies, but he knows BBQ.
• Torchy’s tacos are fantastic. Their tea’s pretty good, too.
• Grandkids are really, really cute.
• Especially ones that speak Italian. I wanted to break out Moonstruck every time they spoke it.⁴
• Serpentine!

We were also reminded of how much they love Jesus, how much they love Italians, how much they want Italians to love Jesus, and how hard they’re working to help make that happen. Italy is a great vacation spot, but as a mission field it’s really, really hard. Paul and MacKenzie and the rest of the team they’re on are doing some great work.

While we’re on that subject, one of the things missionaries hate doing is asking for money. Fortunately, I don’t mind doing it for them. We were having a discussion last night in life group about going out on mission and one of our group said, “I don’t want to go, I want to make enough money that I can help others go.” After warning her that every time we say “I don’t want to” it makes God’s ears perk up, I told her that supporting missionaries was actually a mission all its own, and that not enough of the people who have money understand that.

So, if you would like to be a part of what God is doing around the world, and whether you know the Davidson’s or not, you can go here and help them keep doing what they’re doing. And what they’re doing is awesome.

Lastly, we were reminded of how much we love our kids. As I mentioned above, we were very fortunate to see two sets of them this summer that we haven’t seen in a while. The Davidsons and Hoffmans are family in practice if not in fact, and we treasure every time we get to see them.

But it sure is quiet around here.