The Wonder of Rivarotta

We arrived in Rivarotta after dark. That wasn’t a good thing. This place was a bit scary. Definitely like a ghost town. We checked into what is best described as a bed-and-breakfast, which was the best the town had to offer. The hostess was less than friendly. The accommodations were less than comfortable. But it reminded us of the word we had received from the Lord on Christmas day. So, we were up to the challenge.

Later, we arrived at the church. As we waited in the cold room, next to the door to the outside where the restroom was, we considered what the Lord had said and determined that we would give Him a sacrifice that cost something. Soon, the concert organizer came in and asked if he could have our seats because the place was completely full and they needed more chairs. We obliged. Later, he came in again and asked if it would be all right if people sat on the sides of the stage because the place was overflowing. Of course, we obliged.

When we exited our room and entered the sanctuary, this small church that seats probably 200 people was jam packed with about 300-325 people, standing against the walls, three rows standing in the rear of the building, and about 16-20 people on the stage at our sides. It was huge for their town.

Now, we met God mightily in Potenza. We saw God show his face in Sassari. But, this night was another dimension. The worship was intense. The crowd was right there with us. Again, the Holy Spirit was the translator and these Italians were worshipping God with us! It was just amazing. This was a rocking, ready, rowdy crowd that didn’t mind getting into the music and engaging in the worship.

After the concert, we were asked to join some of the locals at a local eatery across the street from the church. So, at 11:15 PM, with our stomachs growling, we detoured from our planned immediate sprint to the restaurant so that we could make an appearance at the local eatery. Yeah, there would be food there… but it wasn’t going to be a meal. And we weren’t in the mood for snacks or appetizers. We wanted a meal. But… we obliged. After eating quiche’, we were headed out the door to the van so that we could go to the restaurant. Then we were intercepted and asked to come in and eat some of the local rice dish. This was a dish we had obligingly tried last week in another town. We weren’t ready for this. We had some attitudes. But we obliged. As we were sitting there eating the rice, which none of us really enjoyed, I remembered that in most cases your greatest victory is followed by your greatest test. I shared this with our group. We all quickly got ourselves in check and adjusted our attitudes. We were not about to come out of that incredible worship experience and fail an attitude test. We ate the rice, then left for the restaurant.

Oh my God… the wait was worth it!! The food at the restaurant was just indescribable. God knows how to reward us when we try our best to please Him.

We went back to the “bed & breakfast” and decided to leave extra early the next morning. We were all in the mood for an American breakfast. We had seen a few McDonalds on the road and decided to forego the aged croissants that the hostess at the B&B was offering us. We wanted McGriddle sandwiches: sausage, egg & cheese biscuits; hotcakes and sausage… something American. We were very disappointed to discover that Italians don’t patronize fast food breakfast so Burger King and McDonalds don’t open until lunchtime. Guess what we had for breakfast… croissants and strudels. But that’s okay… we went to McDonalds for lunch. And our stomachs paid for it!!