My sweet friend and new sister in the Lord!

Lea Anne (one of my teammates), Palma, and I


"Thank you for giving me the gift of the opportunity to think and talk about these things."

"When I first heard about Christ it was like lightening in my life...I had to take time to reflect...now I believe. I can laugh about my first reaction now because now I believe."

"I began to read the Bible. I started in Genesis and immediately there were answers to questions I had always had."

"Now, I want to grow."

"I do not just want to read the Bible in the morning or at night, but all day."

"I now have peace."

This is a story about my friend named Palma and how the Lord changed her heart for him. My friend, Michelle, and I met this sweet little Italian gal exactly a year ago at her University. The Lord is funny in how he introduces you to people he is going to deeply touch. For us, it was through the question, "Dove il bagno? (Where is the bathroom?)" Palma told us and as we were leaving the bathroom we realized she was still looking at us with intrigue. Not many Americans wander around her university asking for the bathroom. We decided to initiate with her again, and we quickly found out that she loves to speak English. She had lived in Ireland for awhile as a nanny, so she was excited to be able to use what she had learned. In the first day, Michelle and I fell in love with this sweet girl. She was open, curious and allowed us to talk with her about issues that most Italians do not even talk about with their closest friends.

Over the months, we spent a lot of time with Palma. She was able to have many spiritual conversations with Michelle and began truly thinking about the meaning of her life. When Michelle left to return to America in July, she left Palma with a gift, the Bible. This was around the time that the gospel felt like "lightning" in Palma's life. She spent the next couple of months reflecting and thinking about the Lord. As she read the Word, questions were answered and her eyes were opened to the truth of Christ. The Lord had softened her heart and come in as her Savior!

I sat amazed that I got the awesome privilege to listen to Palma share these things. How unworthy was I to experience such love from the Lord that although her heart changing was all the Lord's doing, I got to experience the joy of hearing about it.

Not only is Palma a new believer, but she is excited to grow in the Lord. She is excited to read the Bible more. She is excited to meet more Christians. She is excited to live life with meaning!

In my last post I quoted verses that I had read often in the past couple of days. I am going to repeat some of them as I feel the Lord has shown His magnificent glory through displaying what they might truly mean by bringing Palma into His kingdom.

I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.
Psalm 27:13,14



Now this calls for a celebration of Diet Coke and Chocolate!