Pesaro and His Presence

Well the past couple days have been an adventure let me tell you! First two days at the hotel and I’ve crashed every night from exhaustion. (That or the three course dinners served every night at the hotel) Friday was filled with touring Urbino with one of my instructors. We got the lay of the land and learned how to ride the bus, which is a bit complicated if you’re wondering. I’ve now spotted three bookstores within walking distance of my music school and I want to get my hands on every single book. The coffee and gelato is of course incredible! I’m trying to venture from my dark chocolate flavor into pomegranate and stracciatella. All are 12/10 will recommend to a friend!

             This morning we woke up and took shifts working in the practice rooms in the music building. Now this building isn’t like your typical practice rooms, but just an actual stone building with 4 rooms and a piano in each room. It’s ancient and has been used as Urbino’s music building for years by many singers. Makes for an inspiring place to focus on my pieces. I got to work with my duet partner, a mezzo who teaches voice at a college. I felt so much more confidence in my role after singing with her and I can’t wait to start singing on Monday!! Tomorrow we will work through our choral pieces for the first time. The school is gorgeous and walking through the halls with the live acoustics of the old building, combined with that enchanting smell, was delightful.

            After a quick sip of caffe, we jumped on a bus out of town to Pesaro and the beach! Pesaro is the birthplace of Rossini which was kind of exciting! Of course we were those tourists who took pictures outside of everything that even remotely hinted Rossini. (I even took a selfie with the life size portrait mounted on his house. No shame.) My duet with Rebecca is Rossini so I owe him all my love for all of those runs. Bless that man. The beach was stunning, of course! On the public beach, rocks wrapped around the shallow swimming area in a semi-circle, it looked like a scene from a book. (Minus the Italians in speedos and bikinis)

            After an awkward bus ride where I got told I was beautiful in five languages by a 70-year-old man AND the pizzeria down the street, Rachel and I are now watching Friends in the hotel. (Wow what a run on, forgive me!) So yeah I guess you could say I am loving my time here! The Lord has been so faithful to watch over us and protect us everywhere we’ve been and I know He will continue to do so. Thank you all for your prayers and I will continue to be posting updates as we enter this first week!

            A brief word on prayer for Italy. I’ve done some more research on evangelism in Italy, which I plan to write about in a later post. Coram Deo is a mission in Italy whose goal is to reach the hearts of Italians for the gospel. Coram Deo is a Latin phrase meaning “in the presence of God.” R.C. Sproul writes, “Coram Deo” captures the essence of the Christian life… It literally refers to something that takes place in the presence of, or before the face of, God. To live coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God” (Ligonier Blog, January 11, 2013 http://www.heartcrymissionary.com/italy)

What a beautiful reminder that we are constantly in His sight, and are in His presence even when we may not feel held or watched over. Italians live in the presence of all of these historic cathedrals and buildings which have housed believer after believer for centuries. They live amongst building designed for worship but are blind to the truth of who He is. They have in them a desire to worship something, but are at a loss of who or what should be the object of their worship. This reminds me of the Aeropagus Sermon in Acts 17 when Paul is preaching to the Athenians. He walks into a city full of pagan traditions and instead of running out and screaming at them in their debauchery and idolatry he instead says, “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way.” He affirms them in their diligence in worship. He then goes on to tell them that the “Unknown god” is the One True God. The Creator of all things and the only one worthy of our worship.

Back to coram Deo, the Christian life must be saturated in the presence of God and our worship of Him in all things. Nothing is sacred or secular. We are always on Holy ground when we are in His presence. We are always under the authority of Christ. (Matthew 28:18, Ephesians 1:21-23) And everything we do should glorify the Father, whether it be our words or actions, how we break and He makes us whole, or in our shortcomings He gives us strength. Even our sins which 1 John 2:12 says, “our sins are forgiven for His name sale.” He still gets the glory.