Finally Glad

There are days when I wonder why in the world the Lord has brought me here. There are days when I when I feel like I've accomplished nothing...and worry that tomorrow will be the same. There are days when I question how I am EVER going to be able to understand what people are saying to me, let alone CONVERSE with them. And to be honest, there are days when I would like to lock myself in my apartment and forget that I'm in another country. Today, however, was NOT one of those days, and I'm praising the Lord!

I've felt THANKFUL to be here since I first landed. I'm thankful for God's direction, guidance and provision. I'm thankful for my financial supporter's sacrificial giving that allows me to be here. I'm thankful for so many of you who prayed faithfully to get me here, and continue to lift me up before the Father. And I'm thankful for a family and church family that love me enough to let me go while assuring me that they're 100% behind me. So I AM thankful to be here. I have BEEN thankful to be here. But today, maybe for the first time, I was GLAD to be here. Which is a totally different thing. (Stop and think about it for a moment!)

It might have something to do with the fact that today was a totally GORGEOUS day. The sun was shining, it wasn't too hot and people were just out enjoying the day. As I was standing outside with the sun on my face, watching people go by, I was overtaken by the realization of how blessed I am to be here. Despite frustrations and bouts of homesickness, there isn't ANYWHERE else I'd rather be. I'm content. I feel comfortable here. I still don't necessarily understand WHY I'm here, but I'm GLAD to be here!

And so those are my thoughts for the day. "Blessed be God, because He has not rejected my prayer or removed His steadfast love from me!" (Ps. 66:20)

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

I just wrote a new prayer letter, which I'll probably post on here, too, shortly. But in the prayer letter I said that you could see pictures of my adventures on here...so I better actually post some pictures! :-)

These are all the awesome MKs that I spent a week teaching in April up in the mountains. Romania really DOES have the best MKs! :-)


This is me teaching the kids while we were in the mountains. It really was more fun than it looks like in this picture!


I sent the kids on an alphabet photo scavenger hunt, which they loved! I was their picture for "K"!


Teaching my session on visual aides in The Republic of Moldova.


And these were my students!


As you can see I'm becoming quite Romanian!


And THIS little cutie is my new niece, Ella Rae Abernathy. She was born on May 3rd and is already so loved by her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and many other friends and family. Welcome to the world, Ella Rae!

Here, There, and Everywhere!

I'm writing something...because the longer I write nothing, the more overwhelming it becomes! :-)

The last month has been a busy one for me! I've had quite a few guests coming and going and I've done some traveling, too! It has been wonderful to see more of Romania. People kept telling me how beautiful it is (once you leave Bucharest) and I must say they were absolutely right! God has brought me to a country that has it all: mountains, woods, beaches, cities...what more could a girl want?!? :-)

The reason for my travels? I was helping with Sunday School Teacher Training in three different cities. What an honor to get to teach people who want to learn! For this round of training I was able to share a brief devotion at the beginning of the day and then observe the rest of the session. I really love what my teammates are doing! There is such a need for this, and the appreciation of the teachers is so humbling! Pray for me as I seek the Lord's will about how I can be involved in the future. I'm already scheduled to teach a session on using visual aids in Moldova on the 24th of this month! Scary!

As I write this, I'm surrounded by an assortment of bags. I'm leaving today for the mountains for a combined training conference with my team and the ABWE team in northern Romania. While the rest of the adults are sitting in sessions all day, I'll be in charge of nine kids! I have a fun (I hope!!) program planned for them and am looking forward to it...but please pray for me! I'll have the kids for 5-6 hours a day. I'm praying for good weather so we can be outside A LOT! :-)

The rest of April looks so busy, too! But more about that later...I need to finish packing the rest of the food, craft supplies, teaching materials...oh man...I'm going to look like a bag lady! :-)

Thanks for your continuing interest in God's work in Romania. Sometimes it is hard to see...but He IS working in the lives and hearts of people here. Once in a while He gives us glimpses of what He is doing.

(The video below is of me singing with a teammate in a small village church we went to on our way home from teacher training. Thought you might like to see me sing in Romanian! So cool!) :-)

Observations

I remember being amazed during my time in Germany how much I could pick up and learn about people just by watching. I didn't understand much of what they said, but by observing their body language, actions, and tone, I slowly started to learn about people. Of course, not ALL of my conclusions from my observations were correct, but many were and it was fascinating! I've always loved watching people!

I'm beginning to experience that here, too, as I adjust and settle into a routine. Yesterday, however, my observations were sad ones. I've been sitting in on (and doing crafts and such here and there) a Sunday School class for junior highers. They're fun kids and seem to like me, though I'm not sure why since we can barely communicate with each other! :-) I think I'm a novelty...the silent American girl who smiles a lot! Anyhow, as much as I genuinally like the kids, their attitudes upset me. My biggest observations? They seem to have very little respect for authority, and basically NO understanding that the Bible applies to THEM in their day to day lives. I know what you're thinking...how is that any different from kids in the US? :-) This isn't a new problem, and probably IS the case in many places back home, too, but it made my heart sad to see yesterday.

It ALSO made me even MORE eager learn the language. I want to be able to talk to them, to share a Savior with them who loves them and wants to guide them if only they'll listen and obey. I want them to see that the Bible isn't just stories, but REAL people with REAL lives who made choices just like us. I want them to own their faith and see what it means to have a RELATIONSHIP with the sovereign Creator of the universe!

Sigh...it is hard to have so much to say and yet no way to say it! :-) But God knows, and I continue to pray that He'll show me why I'm here and how to use my time. I'm at the point now where I'm having to choose between different opportunities. My observations yesterday, though, helped me clearly identify again what my heart's desire truly is: to see young people really come to KNOW our Savior and follow Him with a radical, life changing faith.

Please, Lord, show me how I can best do this, even with my limited abilities. If you can use anything, Lord, You can use me.

FIRSTS!

I've officially been in Romania for four weeks now! I can't believe it! I'm really not homesick yet, but on several occasions I HAVE missed the convenience of living in the States. Especially when it comes to cooking. No brownie mixes here! Canned soups are just a memory now. And edible frozen food is no longer a part of my life. All of this is probably for the better, but I admit I have had to adapt. I've also had to sort through my recipes and find ones that I can actually get ingredients for. Hmmm...it is almost dinnertime, can you tell? I didn't intend to sit down and write about food. Moving on!

I thought I'd share with you a few of my "firsts" in the last week or so.

FIRST time on the Metro by myself! I went to a new friend's birthday party and managed to find my way there and back by myself! I also met an interesting man with a snowboard who told me I had a beautiful face (in Romanian), which I suppose counts as my FIRST time getting hit on here! Yessss! Actually, I was pleased that he said this in Romanian first, because the bigger compliment for me was that it meant he thought I looked Romanian. That's what I'm going for! :-)

FIRST time getting lost came the very next day. :-) I was headed to church, and though I've ridden with teammates every other week, the weather was nice so I thought it would be a good time for me to figure out how to take the tram. It should have been easy. Just go three stops, get off and walk. But for me...well...not so much. I got off at the right stop, but then thought it didn't look right, so I got back ON the tram and went two MORE stops. By that time I knew I'd been right the first time. I couldn't figure out how to get back on the tram going the opposite direction (the stops aren't always marked well), so I started walking...in my nice Sunday church shoes, of course! I knew I had to turn down a side street, but I couldn't tell which one because although I had a map, the streets don't always have signs (or at least signs that I can see!) and I'm directionally challenged anyway! :-) Eventually I saw a group of women wearing skirts and decided to follow them. And guess what? They went right to the church! I'm not sure if they knew I was following them or not. But God certainly heard my prayer for help and I was only five minutes late! It was actually an amusing experience, and I'm glad I've been lost once now so I don't have to be concerned when (not if!) it happens again.

FIRST time teaching a class here! I had nine kids on Sunday night for my "English" Jr. Church. What a fun group of kids! We talked about being examples with our words, and they especially enjoyed singing "Keep Your Tongue From Evil", by Steve Green. The hardest thing is keeping the wide variety of ages (pre-school to fifth grade) all interested and engaged. This week I should have twelve kids, so we're already talking about finding some help for me. That'd be good! :-)

FIRST time paying a bill (other than rent) by myself! My very kind doorman (who speaks a decent amount of English), volunteered to walk me to the office of the building administrator where I had to pay it. As it turns out, the building administrator is the man who had come to read my water meter last week (which is a whole OTHER story), so we'd met already and he was well aware that I couldn't speak much Romanian. I paid the bill, and he tried to set me up with his sons. Oh Romania! It sounds much more flattering than it actually is. Everyone wants a green card. Ha!

FIRST Romanian dinner! I've made a new friend, I think, and the dinner was just the icing on the cake for the evening! She took me to a traditional restaurant and ordered me a traditional meal. I enjoyed it and especially LOVED the dessert! It was like donut/funnel cake covered in cream cheese and jelly. YUM!!! Let's not talk about calories! :-) It was a fun night, full of good food and laughter! Thanks to those of you who are praying I'll find friends. It IS happening...slowly. Please keep praying.

So those are some of my firsts! If your life seems dull, book a ticket to come visit me! Cause I can promise you...it NEVER is here!! :-)

The Land of Randomness

This last weekend I had a couple of guests! It was a blast and I was sorry to see them go. Becky is part of the Romania North Team, and Jenny is part of the South Team with me, but is still raising support back in the States, so she was only here for a visit. (Hopefully she'll be here for good soon...I'm really excited to have her here. Her goal is next January. Please pray that she comes quickly...for my own sanity!) I'd met them both before and was excited to have them come. We laughed ALOT. Jenny has lived here before and calls Romania the "Land of Randomness", which really IS a great description. I'm starting to love this country but man, does it make me laugh! Just in case you don't believe me, this is a video we took the other night on our way home from the Graefs. Romanian elevators are notoriously sketchy. This one, however, should win a prize. Not only has the light been burned out since I got here, the "Push for Help" button isn't exactly helpful. Listen and find out!

NOTE: Before this video was taken, David had to run down to the bottom floor to send the elevator up because it was stuck. Which made us feel even better.



Don't you love it?? When you all come visit, I'll be sure to take you in the laughing elevator! :-)

The View From Here

I thought a few pictures might be nice...so here they are!

The view from my window






And my apartment building



Inside my apartment building



And the building's dog. The doorman lets him in and the women put food on their doorsteps for him. I speak nicely to him and pet him...but when I do he tries to follow me in the apartment! :-) I think I need to name him...suggestions??




And finally, this is for those of you in Columbus who have had all the snow. You're not alone. And at least in the US they shovel sidewalks! :-)