It is hard to put into words semester after semester the feelings that I have as groups come and go. Once again another group has come and gone and once again I have had another opportunity to be-friend 40+ young men and women. Once again I have had the opportunity to share in times of worship, study and fun. I feel so blessed to be the director of HUF.

I would like to share the words of one of the HUF spring 2003 students. I thank this student for the ability he had to put into words the experience he had.

Harding University in Firenze. I came into this semester tired. The last one was exhausting and I remember sitting in my empty dorm room after all my things were packed away I my car looking forward to coming to Italy. It was still so far away it seemed. I didn’t know if I could have waited three weeks. I almost didn't get to come. I remember flying to Searcy from back home, glad to say hello to friends one more time before setting off, then one Wednesday morning waking up at too early of anhour to meet in fron to the Heritage and getting on the Harding bus bound for Little Rock. I remember that morning at breakfast gettng a chance to talk to Betty and Zearl for the first time, and laughing, smiling, looking forward to what waited after a half-day plan ride. I remember being picked up in Rome by a very Italian looking Kate in a long knit coat, then getting to the villa after what seemed like so many twists and turns through hills covered by either olive groves, frass or red/yellow/beige apartments. I remember walking up the hill that first time, seeing Robbie, and then Mona in her funny straw hat. I remember that first walk through Scandicci and Bar Mario, then on to Florence herself, looking up at old brown stone building jammed right nest to newer, yet still decaying buildings. I remember rediscovering a passion for art I knew I had: Seeing it all so real and so close. The cathedrals massive, towering, ornate, Donatello's Mary Magdalene, expressing penance, Joseph of Arimathea in Michelangelo's third Pietà witha a calm look. I remember floating on powder snow off the path in Abetone, feeling like I was walking on clouds. I remember the joy/frustration of learning something new, and meeting God on a fierce snowy mountaintop. I remember feeling disillusioned in Rome after the Sistine chapel, but eventuallyable to understand God's real presence with the help of a cold night, a warm campfire, and a group of people passionate for him. I remember seeing new faith being born in baptism and the joy ofrm that shared by the entire church. I remember being a part ot that joy. I remember long afternoons of soccer games, having fun playing with people I could barely speak to. I remember struggling with Italian, exploring the language, connecting it with my own experiences, learning touse it a little bit, wanting to know much more. I remember free travels, exploring, going, having freedom to just see the world without any direction except my own. I remember realizing sometimes I need to just let go of things and enjoye myself. I remember meeting 40 other people, learning to live with them and become friends. I remember making friends outside the villa, and spending long nights around a small dinner table having some of the best time of my life until I absolutely had to go before I missed the last bus back to Scandicci before curfew.

The world seems smaller now, so much more in reach, and I realize now that truly only people matter, despite the sparkle and majesty of what we build and the exotic locations we can travel to.

I have fallen in love with this place, these people, this language, and I sit here on a late Monday night a few days before I have to leave and desperately not wanting to. I have rediscovered old passions for creativity and life and God and love that I hadn't realized I had lost, and have found new direction I didin't expect expect to gain. There's still so much I don't know about where I'm going or what God has in store for my life, but here I am, ready as I can be.

I can't wait to walk up the hill again.

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