What A Beautiful Mess

I really found it hard to write this blog today. It’s been difficult to decide what to go into with everyone. I never want anyone to feel sorry for us or the situation, because we chose this path. I also didn’t want to bore anyone or alarm anyone with what we were going thru behind the scenes the last two weeks. And it was a lot.

Not only were we stressed about passing our Italian language exams, we were stressed about having to leave Italy. Our three month tourist visa was up. And our test results were not back yet. So that meant we had to go out to the EU. Our choices to travel to were the UK, Albania, Montenegro, etc. And even though the UK sounded good, honestly, nothing sounded good except staying here. At our home. At Brickle’s home. And we were pretty upset. Scared. And stressed about funds, the narrowboat in the cold, and leaving our home to deal with the rainy season alone.

We prayed. We prayed a lot. We specifically asked for help to stay. That if we were missing something, anything, to be able to stay, to help us see that. And the next morning, we got a call from our Italian teacher. Saying her and the owner of our favorite bakery here had done some legwork and found a lawyer…a legit lawyer to file paperwork and an extension. But that we had to act quickly. We had to go to the police station and a notary and offices and offices and post offices and more. And after two days of constant running, (20 miles on foot to be exact) we made it in the last hour. The last half hour. Unbelievable.

Some things that happen in life are once in a lifetime. This was one of those times. I’m still finding it hard to believe we don’t have to go right now. What a beautiful mess we have gotten ourselves into. A home forgotten on the top of a mountain in Italy. A home our beautiful Brickle got us to. A home that is saving us more than we are saving it.

I know without a doubt that we are meant to be here. That we are to serve a purpose here for animals. And that this is just the start of a new chapter for us.

Rachael

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