40 Days for Life

My Mom introduced me to this nationwide cause -
Today begins the first of 40 days of prayer for the end of abortion.
There are some incredible stories that have come to pass and many lives that have been saved...
I am constantly amazed at the power of prayer, and I think as believers, and especially as Catholics, we have a responsibility to join in a cause for the sanctity of life such as this one.

This is their website:
http://40daysforlife.com/splash.cfm

Here's the promotional video from 2007 when this started:

It's been one of those weeks...

This is one of my favorite Litanies by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val:

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved...
From the desire of being extolled ...
From the desire of being honored ...
From the desire of being praised ...
From the desire of being preferred to others...
From the desire of being consulted ...
From the desire of being approved ...
From the fear of being humiliated ...
From the fear of being despised...
From the fear of suffering rebukes ...
From the fear of being calumniated ...
From the fear of being forgotten ...
From the fear of being ridiculed ...
From the fear of being wronged ...
From the fear of being suspected ...

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I ...
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease ...
That others may be chosen and I set aside ...
That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...
That others may be preferred to me in everything...
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…

The best is yet to come...

Today I have officially been home for two weeks. WOW, that's hard to believe. I feel like I've been home for much longer, actually. Adjusting to being back in the States has had it's ups and downs, but for the most part, I thank God for how easy it's been. Everyday I miss Romania, and the children, and all of the friends that Katie and I made, but we are connected through our prayers for each other - I can feel it.

Probably the hardest thing I've encountered is when people ask me, "How was it?". Katie and I discussed this a little bit before we came home, because we experienced it last year as well. Those have to be some of the most frustrating words someone can ask. They are so well-meaning, and yet so vague and broad. How can I possibly sum up how "it" was in a few passing sentences? And at the same time, I don't want to sound like "it" wasn't life changing and just say "great!" Everything that I want to say falls so flat and sounds so shallow in my ears. I realize that I have a job here, now that I'm home, and my job is the second half of the story I started this summer. My job is to live according to what I learned, and to spread that knowledge to everyone I know. And so, I have spent the past few days trying to figure out how I can convey to people "how it was". I can only pray that God will give me the words to speak, and that maybe I can live in such a way that I don't even have to use words.

As "homesick" as I am now, I can't help but know that it was time to come home to the States. I believe that God was preparing me for something huge by what I lived and experienced in Romania; whether He chooses to take me back there or not. I have been changed - I still don't know why He chose me, but I cannot ignore Him, I can only respond,"Here I am, for you did call me." My Father has placed an indelible mark on my soul. I wait in anticipation for whatever He has in store.


You are the strength that keeps me walking
You are the hope that keeps me trusting
You are the light to my soul, You are my purpose
You're everything

And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you
Would you tell me, how could it be any better than this?

Home

I am home in Tennessee now. After two long days of travel, and next to no sleep, I have finally made it to my destination. I got in Friday night around 9:00, and finally got a decent amount of sleep last night. I think my jet lag is going to be next to nonexistent, which is a HUGE blessing. Today is Mary Faith's 16th birthday, so it has been lovely getting to spend so much time with my family.

Being back at mass this morning was like coming home all over again. I have missed it SO much. The gospel today was about the feeding of the 5000 from Matthew, and all of a sudden I was back in Romania. We taught that lesson at camp to our children! I was overjoyed to be able to hear it again. The whole mass was all about world hunger - God handed me a gift today - to be able to join my whole church in praying for the hungry around the world was absolutely beautiful.

I miss the children very much today, but they are in my heart and my prayers. Thank you to everyone reading this for your prayers and support while Katie and I were overseas this summer. Please continue to pray for the children, and all of the churches we were able to be a part of. As they say in Romania - "We are praying for you, and waiting you back." So please keep them in your prayers as well. Katie and I would love to be able to return next summer, but it all depends on what God has in store for us. Please know that I am humbled and immensely grateful for all of your support and prayers. We really could feel them while we were there, so thank you more than you know.

Day 56-58: Making the rounds

Katie and I are busily trying to wrap this trip up here in Reghin. We've been packing, doing laundry..LOTS of laundry:), and trying to spend as much time with our friends as possible. It is still a little surreal to think about going home in 6 days, but we really are!

Yesterday, we went fishing again - this time to a lake right outside of Reghin, and although the fish weren't nearly as active, we did still manage to catch quite a few to give to our gypsies. Speaking of gypsies, I fulfilled one of my unfulfilled ambitions today. I rode a gypsy horse!! The horse wasn't really used to being ridden, so the men stayed right beside me the entire time, because they were worried something might happen. So technically, I guess I didn't REALLY ride because I was well monitored. But for all intensive purposes - we're going to say I rode that horse, because I got on it's back and made it walk me around the field. :) Let's just say excited is an understatement. I was ecstatic.

The gypsies are excellent horsemen as well as business men. Most of the men in the village collect(because it isn't always honest buying in order to obtain the horses) horses and sell them to the highest bidder. The richest man in Apalina actually has connections in Hungary with people who buy his horses. As with most things these gypsies do, they are very passionate about their horses, and never turn down an opportunity to show one off. I was actually really surprised that they let me ride it(they actually let Katie,Tihamer,and Attila ride after me too) because I don't think they believed that I had ever been on the back of a horse(no matter what I said) and like I said before, this particular horse wasn't used to being ridden. But they love and trust Attila(and are beginning to do so with Katie and I, I think), so when he mentioned that I wanted to ride a couple of weeks ago, they offered and we finally had time today.

Katie and I went to our very last children's meeting in Apalina today. We will go to church there tomorrow to say goodbye, but this was probably our last time to see many of the children. I've been really proud of myself, because I haven't started crying yet - but I don't know how I will do tomorrow as we will go to all of our churches to say goodbye. I think honestly, it just hasn't hit me yet, and I'm still just kind of floating along, going through the motions without really letting it sink in. I'm sure at some point - maybe on the plane or after I get home, I'll realize it, and then God bless all those around me who have to deal with it. :)

I was reading through 2 Corinthians yesterday, looking for some verses to speak on tomorrow, and I came across these, which nearly jumped off of the page at me, because they so embodied the believers at Gornesti, Apalina and those who opened their homes to us in Reghin as well. I am humbled every time I think about the hospitality and generosity of so many people who didn't even know us before we came. People who have given so much of their love and time during our stay here in more ways than just feeding us. We have best friends here and we have a family here with our brothers and sisters in Christ from Gornesti, Apalina, Reghin, Filpisu Mic, and all over. So many people have gone out of their way to make sure that we were taken care of physically, emotionally, and even spiritually. To even begin to try to thank them is going to fall so short of what they've done for us, but I am praying( and I ask you to do so as well), that God will speak through me tomorrow as I try to convey in some small way, just how grateful I am.

"This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you." ~ 2 Corinthians 9:11-14

Day 48-55: Gypsy Camp

We arrived back from camp in Sibiu this afternoon. I think we are all exhausted and a little relieved that camp is over haha. It was so much more work than I expected. Obviously, I knew it wasn't going to be a walk in the park, but I thought after having done this once before, surely it wouldn't be that bad. :) Wow, was I in for a surprise.

The children were fantastic on the bus going and coming, and we were all shocked. Only three of them got sick on the way there, and no one did coming back, so that was a blessing. Unfortunately, the good behavior didn't last very long after we got there. The very next day was chaotic. The one thing I have learned with these children is that they can change at the drop of a dime. They can go from being absolutely angelic to giving me the impression that they're possessed.

The most traumatic experience of my life happened the second full day of camp. I was in my small group of about 13 children and they were coloring a picture of David and Goliath. Everything seemed to be going fine, a few little aguments erupting here and there about the crayons and who had some one else's color etc., but other than that things were pretty calm. I turned around to help someone with a crayon and in the blink of an eye everyone was screaming and Florin literally leaped across the table and started strangling Mihaly. I mean he was choking the life out of him. Johanna tried to pull Florin off of Mihaly and by the time she did, Mihaly had passed out on the floor and his eyes had rolled back in his head. All of the children were suddenly flocking around Mihaly and I couldn't get to him. They were all trying to help and bring him to, but his head was just flopping back and forth and I couldn't push through to get to him. I thought he was dead. I really did. I was so shocked I couldn't speak because I was just sure a child had died right in front of me because I couldn't get to him fast enough. It was absolutely awful. Finally Sebi somehow got a jug of water and poured it on Mihaly and he came back to us. I am so incredibly thankful that God spared him because I honestly don't know if I could have handled it if he had died. I just sat down and cried with Zsuzsika because I was so relieved and shocked at the same time. Florin was sent home that day, and as far as I know, Mihaly is okay. He seemed to have a few mini seizures afterwards where he twitched a little, and I think it's because the oxygen was coming back to his brain, but other than that he appeared to be fine for the rest of the camp.

Here are a couple of pictures of our week:
On the second day that we were at camp, during our morning devotions, Katie prayed that God would reveal to us His purpose for us at camp, and I wrestled with that all week. I know that last year God brought me to camp so that I could learn how to serve, but this year was so different. Katie and I came to Romania specifically for camp last year, but this year it was almost just an addition at the end. I had so many times during the beginning of the week where I was so angry at the children for their disobedience and destructive behavior, and it really bothered me that I took it so personally sometimes. I honestly think that this camp and really the entire summer for me have been a lesson in love and how little I actually know about it. I think in my last post I wrote about God's unfathomable love for us, and it seems almost prophetic now as I read it, because I struggled so much with that during the week at camp. I love these children so much, even when they are at their most unloveable. It took me time to realize that, because I had moments where I couldn't speak because I was so upset with them. But the more I began to think about it, when the children would deliberately do the opposite of what they were told I no longer took it personally. I came to the realization that we live our lives in direct opposition to God's will every day. So this entire week was like a mini analogy of God's love for us. Even at their worst, I adore my children. Even at my worst, God adores me. There is nothing redeemable about me, and yet I have been redeemed! I was so humbled after this realization during the week that I couldn't possibly be in a bad mood. My heart was so light - even when the children misbehaved, I couldn't help laughing about it - (sometimes it really was just funny to watch their mischevous minds at work, other times it was infuriating haha).

I think Katie and I both feel like we've been here for 8 years instead of eight weeks. Sometimes I believe I've aged and learned more about myself than I ever wanted to know. :)
I think there will be quite a bit of an adjustment once I get home - however, I don't want to dwell on that. I wouldn't trade what I know now for anything, and I know that I'm not on this journey alone - and that's a comforting thought.

Day 45-47: How deep the Father's love for us

Aunt Bonnie is here!! She got in Sunday night, but unfortunately, all of her bags did not get into this country with her. Her suitcase with all of her clothes and a few camp supplies was stuck somewhere in Atlanta. It is supposed to come this morning(Wednesday), so please keep praying for that as we are all a little anxious about it for her. We are all so happy that she's finally here though. Katie and I have been anticipating her arrival for so long, and already we have just had so much more fun with her here.

We leave for the gypsy camp tomorrow morning! This week so far, we have been working very hard organizing all of the supplies and clothes, and talking through the schedule and responsibilities. I am really getting excited for this camp - I think it's going to be fantastic. We saw the children last night at church in Apalina, and the excitement there was so high that we could feel it even before we got into the village where tons of children were waiting to meet us. They were pretty hyper and high strung last night, which was a little intimidating and VERY reminiscent of a couple of days at camp last year haha, but I think they will calm down after a day or two there. At least, I think some of them will.

Last night after we arrived in the village, I was greeting several of the children, and who should come walking down the street but my little angel of a child, Gyorgy. I think I told you about him a few weeks ago, he's about four years old - I posted a picture of the two of us. Attila had never met him before that night either, so I wasn't sure that I would see Gyorgy again because he lives way up on the hill on the outskirts of Apalina and I had no idea who his parents were or anything. But there he was with his mother and he got so excited when he saw me and ran over right into my arms. I cannot tell you how thrilled I was that he remembered me! He's just so precious, and he stayed by my side the entire time we were outside in the street. I picked him up and took him into the prayer meeting where he promptly fell asleep in my lap and snored the whole time. :D

One of the things about all of these children that is so endearing, is the way that they just cuddle up to you immediately after you meet them - and Gyorgy is no exception. After I picked him up, he just put his head on my shoulder and every once in awhile would hold my hand or put his arm around me. I don't think that child has ever had a bath haha, but I wouldn't have traded holding him for anything. I can't stop saying how much I adore all of the children in Apalina - they are so bad sometimes, but even when they're bad I can't help loving them. Sometimes it just gives me a chance to see their personality haha, but when you think about it, we are so unloveable as humans. We really have no redeemable qualities, but God loves us regardless of ourselves. He loves us because He is love. So even as mad as I get sometimes with my children here, as much as it disappoints me when they are disobedient(which believe me is quite frequent), I have this beautiful picture of God's love for us in the way that I love them. And I will never be able to love them the way that He does, and that is so comforting.

I am reminded of Orual in C.S. Lewis' book Until We Have Faces, and the way that she believes no one can possibly love Psyche as much as she does, how vastly wrong she is, and the way she is humbled at the end when she finally understands. Isn't it incredible how our love for each other here is just a broken piece of what love really is? That our understanding of intense love, even sacrificial love, is shallow compared to the love of our Father? This is one of my favorite hymns of all time because I think the words are just beautiful:

How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure
That He would give His only Son, to make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss, the Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One, bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon the cross, my sin upon his shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice, call out almong the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there, until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life, I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, no wisdom,
But I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom

Day 43 and 44: The Fourth of July Romanian style

Yesterday was Independence day in America. I've been really homesick ever since we got back from Vienna. I think Katie put it well when she said, "Going to Vienna was like going to the West, and now we're back in the East here in Romania." I loved our trip so much, and I love it here in Romania - it is my second home, so I feel guilty saying I'm homesick, but really I just miss my family a LOT. Especially on days like July 4th because of the memories associated with it.

But enough sad talk. Katie and I were determined that we would celebrate regardless of where we were located, so we made a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese(brought from San Antonio,TX) cut up hotdogs and put them in our macaroni, had BBQ chips, and we even bought ice cream - although it was a little bit of a disappointment. Attila made us suffer through his version of American patriotic music - I'll give you one guess as to who the artists were...That's right the Gaithers. Haha, it was painful, and I'm afraid Katie and I gave him a hard time about itfor a little while. :D
But then we found out after dinner, that there was a huge celebration in the Reghin City center, so we walked up there to check it out. Apparently, every city has a three day celebration every year, and this weekend was Reghin's. There are going to be fireworks tonight!! So we'll only be one day off. Every one comes to the center - it's an all day thing, and they have TONS of food, and games, and live concerts. It was so much fun. There are even people selling jewelry and other handmade crafts and toys. Katie and I are so excited to go back tonight. The fireworks are at midnight, and we have heard that it's a very good show. So we're getting our 4th of July celebration after all. God takes care of us in such little ways, I think a lot of times, I don't even notice it, but this was so unexpected and I didn't realize how much it would mean to me. "How amazing is your love. How can I keep from singing your praise? I know I am loved by the King and it makes my heart want to sing."

Aunt Bonnie is coming in tonight!! I cannot WAIT to see her. I'm so ready for our camp with the children. I missed them a lot this week, and I am so excited about getting to spend so much time with my favorite children in the world. We leave on Thursday. I hope that God blesses our time at the camp in Sibiu, and we are able to build on the relationships that we aleady have with the children and form new ones with the new children coming. Please pray for a safe bus ride there - it's about four hours and many of the children have never been in a vehicle, so they get very carsick. I ask also for prayers that every word that we say and every action would be from God, and that these children would come to know His love through us, and that we wouldn't be seen at all, but that He alone would be visible.

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

Day 37-42: No internet and a holiday in Europe

Wow. It has been a long time since I blogged. I apologize. We were without internet for a couple of days at the beginning of last week, and then we went to Budapest and Vienna, so I really had no chance to write.

I'll try to sum up our couple of days in those cities as best I can. We'll start with Budapest. Here is a picture of the city from the top of a hill near the Citadel:

We stayed in Buda( for those of you who might not know - like me before I went haha, the city is divided by the River Duna into two parts, Buda and Pest.) Anyway, we stayed in Buda with a friend of Attila's fiancee's mother. Yes, that's right we didn't know her from Adam. I no longer get surprised by anything outrageously random that happens anymore, because over here it's normal. Anyway, she was precious and it was free housing so we loved it. A couple of the big sights that we saw included Parliament, where the crown jewels are kept, the Citadel, which is a memorial to all of the soldiers in WWII(I think), and Castle Hill. We also went to City Market and ate Langos which is similar to a funnel cake, but WAY better, and they eat it with salty things like garlic butter,(Rick Steves told us we had to eat Langos on his website, so that was a big deal for me and Katie haha) and we went to Margaret Island and sat by the "singing" fountain, ate ice cream and read our books. I enjoyed Budapest very much, but I'm glad I had Katie and Attila with me, because I got confused a lot with which direction we were heading when we had to take all of the Buses. I knew which number to take, but it took me like a day and a half to figure out which direction we needed to go in. I've always been so directionally challenged; I should never travel alone. :)

Vienna. Friday, was the beginning of what I am sure will be a lifelong love affair with Vienna. As I walked up the stairs out of the subway station and looked up into the center of Stephensplatz, it was like coming alive for the for time. I can't even begin to tell you how it felt. We were only there for seven hours, and it was a whirlwind tour, but Katie did such a great job of showing me exactly what I would have wanted to see. We saw Stephensdom, the Hofburg, and ate Schnitzel in Karlsplatz(I think), we saw Parliament, the Opera House, ate ice cream at the second best place in Vienna, Zanoni and Zanoni(we didn't have time for Tichy Eis), we went to the Naschmarkt, and Katie, knowing me as she does, saved the best for last. Schonbrunn. I don't even know what to say. It's the most beautiful castle I've ever seen. I HAVE to go back at Christmas when they have a Christmas market in the front, but all of the gardens were incredible, and we were able to just sit for the longest time. I LOVED it.

Of course, there are thousands of things that we didn't do and didn't see, but I'm really not disappointed at all. Having Katie there to know exactly where to go, and what to see was such a blessing. It is an incredible city - I see now why some of the best musicians and artists were so inspired there. I hope I don't sound shallow if I say it was the best day of my life, but I can't express what it's like to dream of visiting somewhere all of your life, and then get the opportunity to do so. It was overwhelming.

Day 35 and 36: Wedding crashers

We went to a wedding yesterday!! Katie and I were wedding crashers. We had actually met the groom once before in the church at Reghin and we knew his brother from the Reghin church, but we had never met the bride. So we really didn't know the couple at all. But that didn't stop us from driving four hours with a bunch of the family members, performing in the wedding and taking part in all of the traditions. In fact, we were so successful in our crashing endeavor, that we actually got a picture of just the two of us with the bride and groom. Here is my proof:














I am very glad that we got to experience a wedding here in Romania. I am all about cultural experiences, and this was one of the most rewarding I've ever had. After a four hour in an extremely unreliable 30 year old minibus, we arrived at the church. From there, all of the family( including us of course) went to the bride's house. It is tradition for the groom, groomsmen, and the best man to ask her father if she can get married that day, and then they asked the bride. The groom picks out the bouquet beforehand, and takes it to her house to present to her. I'm guessing at one point that was probably used as some kind of bribery to get her to come. :) After some speaking they all came out of the house and got in the cars that had been decorated by the bridal party with balloons and tissue paper. They're much more considerate with their car decorating than we are. Then we drove our happy procession to a couple of places around the city, amidst much honking, to take pictures. After that, we went back to the church and had the ceremony. We sang some traditional hymns, and the choir sang a few of their own arrangements, and then there was a sermon. After that were some short vows, another kind of mini-sermon mainly directed towards the bride and groom( I'm guessing it was some kind of exhortation about the importance of what they were doing - unfortunately we didn't have a translator) and then we went downstairs for the reception to eat the first course of the meal. Did I mention that weddings are an ALL DAY ordeal? The eating goes on for six hours. Yes, that's right, six. Our appetizer alone was like a meal. That was followed by coffee, and while we were eating we sang a bunch of hymns.

After about an hour and a half, we went back upstairs and people gave the bride and groom their greetings, and sang a song or two, or put on a skit or read a Bible passage or something of that sort. The problem with being an amateur at wedding crashing, is that I didn't realize if people find out that you have a talent, especially a musical one, that comes in really handy for free entertainment. I ended up learning a song by ear in 15 mintues because the bridesmaids didn't bother to find an accompanist beforehand. After listening to it once, they informed me that they wanted to sing it...get ready, a fourth lower. For those of you who know anything about music, this is like the ultimate horror story. I also had to come up with an arrangement to a love song for the Reghin Youth group to sing, and oh yes, I had a mic thrust on me, and I had to play AND sing on that one. THEN, Katie and I had to sing and give our greetings. Like I said, I'm an amateur at this, so next wedding I crash, nobody is going to know I have any musical ability. I'm going to pretend to be tone deaf.

We ended up having four more courses of our meal, more hymns, and then the best part. The cake. Wedding cakes here are AMAZING. To bring in the cake, they turned off all of the lights, and brought in the cake which was covered in sparklers!!! It was so dramatic and AWESOME. in Romania, people give gifts at the reception, and Attila said it is tradition at most weddings that after you give the couple your gift, they give you a piece of cake. But he said it depends on the village, and at this wedding, everyone received a piece of cake, whether they gave a gift or not. Most people gave gifts of money, but some people did give household items.

At about 9:45 pm, we started home, and we got back to Reghin shortly after 2:30 am. I'm not going to lie, I'm thankful for American weddings after this experience because I'm EXHAUSTED, but I can't even begin to express how incredible it was to be able to share in the occasion of a wedding here. I crossed one more thing off of my life goals list today.

Day 33 and 34: Friends, barátok, prieteni

Attila is really interested in starting a ministry with some of the children from Peris, that came to our English classes in Gornesti, so we spent Thursday afternoon with them playing soccer and English games. We mainly are just establishing relationships with them right now because although we had them in class, Attila had never met any of them before, so he really wants to begin to work with them like he does with the children in Gornesti and Apalina. They really are sweet children - we taught them how to play "Wink 'Em" and they LOVED it.

We came home from Harghita this week to a problem in Apalina. The church members are undergoing quite a bit of difficulty right now. Apparently, there was a misunderstanding between one of the members and his wife(who is not a believer) and it turned into a huge ordeal that now involves many people. On Tuesday night, church was very emotional. Every member was crying, and there was a lot of arguing and accusations flying around the room. It was very tense. Please pray for this church. If this problem is not resolved, it could destroy the church. Nobody wants to take the blame for anything, and they are too proud to admit that they are wrong, or to apologuze to anyone. One of the big problems as well, is that because they all live so close together, there really isn't any way to avoid each other, so if one member sees another member talking with someone, they are automatically assuming it's about them etc... It is just not a good situation.

Eight of our older children from Apalina also went to the Adventist camp this week. However, they were not few very well aparently, and several of them went climbing on the rocks near the camp to pick berries because they were hungry, and Bianca fell and hit her head and had to be taken to the Targu Mures hospital by helicopter. Last I heard, they think she is going to be just fine, but the parents in Apalina are VERY angry at the Adventist because of this incident. Attila said that unfortunately for us, Bianca probably will not come to our camp, and we may have some problems with other parents. Hopefully everything will be fine, and no one will be injured at our camp so that we can maintain the trust of the people.

We had our halfway party on Thursday instead of Friday because if worked better for some of the people coming, and we were able to play Phase 10, finally! Attila won and he was ecstatic. :) I didn't realize just how LONG of a card game that was until we played it with 6 people. It takes FOREVER. But we loved it. We made grilled cheese for dinner, and served that cake we bought with the rum flavor in it so we didn't have to eat it haha - it was a really fun night. It is so amazing to be able to call people up when we have free nights and invite them over to the apartment - just like we would do back home. We live here. We live in Romania.

Katie and I briefly talked today about how much it is going to hurt when we leave. Neither one of us is really ready to talk about it, I think. We are homesick sometimes, and we want to see our families, but this week, both of us experienced that first pain of the thought of leaving. We have friends here. Real friends that we know well and love. Not only have we been completely immersed in a culture vastly different from our own, we've been given the opportunity to live a new life here. To share in experiences with new people, and to grow with and be involved with lives that will soon be a world away from us. When we go home we will have best friends on the other side of the world. And that is why it hurt this week to think about leaving. But I know that if God wills for me to return, that my friends will be here waiting, because they tell me all the time, "I wait you. I wait you when you come back."

Day 31 and 32: Our halfway week

We are back in Reghin now. We returned to our apartment yesterday, and were greeted with the most horrible banging, drilling, and construction noises that one could possibly make into our wall. Apparently our neighbor is doing some "home repair" or destroying everything in his flat because the noise has been going on for a full day now. It's enough to drive us crazy, but I will admit, our washing machine is abnormally loud, so maybe this is payback and we're getting a taste of our own medicine. :)

This week is our halfway week. Katie and I couldn't remember exactly what day would be our halfway mark, so we decided that we would celebrate this whole week. We will fly home exactly a month from today, actually. A new market opened right beside our apartment building, so we went grocery shopping yesterday, and bought some Snickers and Peanut M&M's to celebrate. We also got some kind of cake thing that we thought would be good, but like everything here, it was flavored with Rum. I don't know what it is with this country, but they put Rum flavoring in EVERYTHING that has chocolate. It's sold alongside vanilla here, but I think they use it way more often than vanilla. Katie and I are sick of chocolate that isn't just chocolate, so we're going to serve our "rum cake thing" at our halfway party this weekend so we don't have to eat it haha. (We decided to invite some people over to play Phase 10 on Friday.)

I had goulash(is that really how you spell it?) finally yesterday! Apparently there's more than one kind, shows how much I know, but we had potato and sausage goulash. It was amazing. I definitely want to take that back home to America and have it again. There really haven't been THAT many things that I've eaten here that I am set on making once I get home; maybe two or three things, but goulash is now definitely one of them.

While Katie and I were at Harghita, we had the opportunity to talk to an amazing woman named Margaret. She is from England, and moved to Romania back in 1990, but she has been coming to Romania since 1973, I think. She's a full time nurse now at Harghita, but when she started coming to Romania, it was to smuggle Bibles and Christian literature in during the communist era. I cannot even begin to express how incredible it was to sit and listen to some of her stories. Katie and I were kicking ourselves for not bringing a recorder or something, but of course we didn't know beforehand. She is the epitome of someone who has lived a full life, and a life of service for the Lord. It is so different to read or learn stories in school about communism than it is to actually get stories from the mouth of someone who experienced it firsthand, and who knew people who were killed for their beliefs or suffered greatly at the hands of Ceausescu. Katie and I were so blessed by meeting her, and getting to hear about her life. As cliche as it sounds, she is probably one of the greatest people that I've ever met. I'm sure there are a lot of people like her in the world who have even more incredible stories; I'm just so extremely grateful that Katie and I had the opportunity to speak with her. I think she has made a lot of sacrifices in her life, but if you mentioned it, she would probably disagree that they were sacrifices. Margaret's life has been so fulfilling; one day I hope to say that my life has had a third of the servitude that hers has.

"He must become greater; I must become less." John 3:30

Day 29 and 30: Here I am, for you did call me

Today is Father's Day. I know my dad will read this, so I'd like to wish him a Happy Father's day. I love and am missing you very much today Papa. I wish I could be in two places at once...
If any other dads read this, the wishes for a great day extend to you too!

I promised pictures, so here are a few that I've taken this week:

They are such great students!
















This is Kati - She is one of my favorites.
She's so patient with my terrible attempts
at Hungarian. :)
















The Parachute was a big hit!!
















I've been thinking a lot lately about the responsibility involved in leadership. Katie and I have had some interesting conversations since we've been here about just that. We were discussing last night about how all of the children watch us very closely. I'm not sure if they are comparing us to the image that they have of Americans from television and movies etc... if it is because we are believers, and speak to them about it every day, or if it is simply because we are different from them. I was overwhelmed last night after realizing many times throughout the day that children were just staring at me - for seemingly no reason. What do they see? What are they thinking? Am I putting forth the person every day that I want them to see? I really think that I am; knowing that I am being watched so closely does put a different perspective on how I behave, even subconsciously sometimes. When I leave this camp, what do I want the children to remember about me? Namely, that I both told and showed them the love of Christ. I don't think that the little English that I've taught them this week really matters. But I want them to know in their hearts that they are loved. Will they remember that? Will they tell their families? Will they be impacted for the rest of their lives? My only desire is to say with the Psalmist, "You are loved. There is no reason to be afraid. In love God created your inmost self and knit you together in your mother's womb."(Psalm 139:13)
Responsibility. We have a responsibility not only as leaders of these children to proclaim this message, but also as children of God. This is the good news. There is a Love far greater than any love that I can offer - am I fulfilling my responsibility to share it with every one that I meet? It sounds so trite, "Love your neighbor", but do I really unconditionally love my neighbor? It seems easy to love these children, but after I go home, will it still be as easy to love those around me?

"Let me love you, my Lord and my God, and see myself as I really am: a pilgrim in this world, a Christian called to respect and love all whose lives I touch, those in authority over me, or those under my authority, my friends and my enemies."

Day 27 and 28: Hello, Goodbye

Today, Katie and I have officially been here a month. I know, I know, my blog says Day 28, but it really has been a month today since we flew into Romania. To celebrate, we took a nap, and bought some chocolate. This is pretty much the best day of our lives. :) Just kidding. But it has been a great day.

I think I am starting to get used to being cold here - being in the mountains is wonderful, but I'm still having to convince myself that it is the middle of June and not March. Also, as soon as I get home, I would like for someone with a scientific brain to please explain to me why it doesn't get dark until 10:00 pm here, but it is fully light out at 5:00 am? I would like a very simplified answer because I don't feel like thinking too hard about it. :) But I really do want to know.

Katie is teaching the English class today, and I will teach tomorrow, so I'm taking advantage of my limited free time to blog. On the first full day that we were here at camp, Katie taught the children how to say Hello and Goodbye. Unfortunately, the word they use most as a greeting, Szia, basically means Hi and Bye and of course they use it as both, so without fail, everytime we greet the children in the morning some of them say very energetically, "Goodbye!!" :)

Yesterday we went on a 7 mile trek to a mineral water spring, and I cannot believe how sore I am today! I would not have thought I was out of shape considering how much I ran before I came over here, but by the way that my legs feel today, I'm worried about myself haha. I think we wore all of the children out after the excursion. They were so quiet at dinner!! Like I've said before, they really are incredibly well behaved for the most part, but last night they were angels.

Katie and I were talking about the children the yesterday while we were walking back from the spring, and we came to a funny conclusion. I don't think a couple of the younger children have realized that we really don't understand about 90% of what they're saying. They know we speak another language, but many of them still come up to me and Katie and talk to us emphatically about something for about 10 minutes, and as many times as I try to explain in my very poor Hungarian that I don't understand, or ask them to speak slowly, they still keep going 90 miles an hour like we're natives haha. I've gotten to the point where I just nod, and smile and say "Ohhh...igen(yes)."

There is a tennis court here at camp, and I've started playing again. I didn't realize that it's been three years since I've been on the courts. Attila is pretty good, so we've been engaging in some hardcore playing - so far I'm losing, but I'm proud to say it's really only because I can't serve to save my life, and his serve is the only thing he's consistent with. :) (Attila if you read this don't be offended - you know it's true.) I also played Volleyball for the first time Wednesday and LOVED it! Katie and I are really enjoying being so active with the children. It's nice to be able to do something with them that doesn't require a whole lot of conversation, but at the same time, there is a bonding of sorts involved in playing with them. I love seeing the personalities come out in the children when we're playing games - some of them are SO competitive. I've taken quite a few pictures, but I haven't had the chance to upload any, so hopefully soon I'll be able to post some of the children. They are so PRECIOUS.

"I offer you, Lord, my thoughts: to be fixed on you;
my words: to have you for their theme;
my actions: to reflect my love for you;
my sufferings: to be endured for your greater glory."

Day 25 and 26: I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me.

Well, here we are on our second full day here. The children have warmed up to us so much, and that is a blessing. We played a lot of sports with them yesterday; well Katie played volleyball, and I played something comparable to tennis, haha, but we had a lot of fun. I had a breakthrough yesterday when a boy asked me if I wanted to play basketball in Hungarian, and I knew what he was asking! I still haven't learned as many verbs as I would like - but Orsi gave me homework on our last day in Reghin, so as soon as I get the chance, I will start to work on it. :)

Katie taught the English class yesterday, and I will teach today. It is a little more difficult than any of the other classes we've taught because these children learn very slowly. Although our children from Apalina have a terribly attention span, they do learn fairly quickly. Mirjam informed us that most of these children here quit going to school after fourth grade, so that causes difficulty in teaching them, but I think as long as there is a lot of interaction and they are having fun, they will learn something.

Yesterday I surprised myself. I haven't eaten a banana in at least 12 years. Anyone who knows me knows that I pick bananas out of banana pudding because I hate them so much. :) Well, yesterday at lunch, they had bananas, and Katie was going on and on about how good they were...I was curious. So I tried one, and it was actually pretty good haha. I don't think this is the start of a long-lasting relationship or anything, but at least my opinion has been improved of bananas. However, all of the fruit here is better than the fruit in the States, so I really doubt I'll be eating any when I come home.

I went on a walk with a couple of the older girls yesterday and had a somewhat decent conversation in Hungarian until the end of the walk, when they started asking me a question that I didn't know. They persisted for awhile, but then gave up, so I was a little discouraged, but I have to remind myself that I am learning. This is SUCH a learning process, and I'm finding so many things out about myself. For one thing, I have never felt so vulnerable for such a long period of time and it is taxing. :) But I think it is a good thing as well, because I am finding that some things are easier - like prayer, for example. And love. It is so easy to love these children when I feel that I have nothing else to offer them. And I think they are beginning to love us in return, which is comforting. God works in mysterious ways, and even when I feel that I will never learn this language, I am still able to establish relationships and see Him working through them.

'I trust in your faithfulness. Grant my heart joy in your help, that I may sing of the Lord, "How good our God has been to me!" '
Psalm 13:6

Day 23 and 24: Let me love you, my Lord and my God, and see myself as I really am

We are finally here in Harghita. It is REALLY cold here. I'm glad I brought a hoodie, because we are up in the mountains, and Katie and I were freezing already today. It is beautiful here; I hope to post some pictures soon. This campground is very nice. Much nicer than any camps I went to growing up.

Katie and I absolutely love all of the flowers in this country. I swear, I have never seen flowers like the ones here in Romania. It must be something in the soil, or the climate or something, because I'm not kidding, you have not lived until you see the lilies and the roses. They're HUGE. Gyula offered Katie and I some flowers from the chapel, and I don't care if Customs pulls me aside on the way home, I may try to sneak some back in my suitcase. :)

I cannot believe how well behaved these gypsy children are. It just doesn't seem right somehow. I really miss our children in Apalina a lot - these children are very quiet, and don't seem interested in getting to know us at all. I'm hoping maybe they are just shy, or intimidated, or something, and after a day or two will warm up to us. I had to work for a smile today from any of them - I mean WORK. I can count on one hand the amount of smiles I received in return. I'm sure that once we are able to be in classes with them and start playing games and doing crafts, it will be different. They are just unlike any of the other children that we have worked with so far. Please pray that we will be able to establish relationships with them, and that God will give us the wisdom to discern the individual needs of each child here. Katie and I want so badly to be able to love them the way that we are called to love them, so pray that we will be given the opportunity to form relationships with these children and show them God's love.

Day 21 and 22: Futbol!

I am way behind on my blogging! Hopefully this won't be too long of a post...
Yesterday was our last day of teaching in Reghin - we enjoyed it so much! Plus getting some one-on-one tutoring in our languages was such an unexpected blessing! We decided to invite our older students to come over to the apartment to play Ligretto, which might just be the greatest card game ever(save UNO of course). I thought it would be fun to make them some cookies, and I figured since I wasn't used to Attila's oven, maybe a fool-proof recipe would be the best. Katie and I decided on Fudgy No-Bakes, because you don't even have to cook them...how could anyone mess that up right? Well, I'm very sorry to say that they did not turn out as I hoped. However, it wasn't necessarily my fault. Apparently, the oats here are not quite like our oats at home - and they never actually cooked. They just stayed REALLY hard. So, if you ignored the consistency; it was similar to little rocks - the cookies were very good haha, but we threw them out. We bought some pretzels and cookies instead. It was a really fun night - but in order to prove to myself that I wasn't a failure at cooking, Katie and I bought some pasta and made it for our dinner. :D

Today, boys from Zolie and Zozo's villages(unfortunately, I cannot remember the village names to save my life), Gornesti, and Apalina got together to play a soccer tournament of sorts. Two teams played, and then the other two played, then the two teams that lost played each other, and the two winning teams played each other. I'm not sure if that sentence made sense or not, but I'll move on. Here is a picture of our boys from Apalina...aren't they precious? They're so serious. :)

The overall winners of the day were Zozo's boys - which Attila informed us, is usually the case in these tournaments. Katie and I were, as we should be, pulling for Apalina, but unfortunately we came in last. Our boys played very well. All of these boys can PLAY. WOW. I don't even want to talk about the comparison of American middle school soccer to the soccer over here. It was incredible. All of the boys were so serious about playing and they all played their hearts out. Some of course were much better than others, but they are all so passionate; it was a blast to watch them play. Because these boys know each other so well and play together all the time, it helps with their communication. More often than not, it was flawless, and I'm sure that comes with being able to practice together every day.

I started reading a book by Henri Nouwen called In the Name of Jesus, and one of the passages just jumped out at me yesterday. I was watching all of the boys during the soccer games, and noticing how the ones from Apalina were so much worse behaved than everyone else :). After the games we went to Apalina to take them home and have the children's Bible meeting, and I couldn't help thinking, as bad as they are, they're my favorite kids in the entire world. And I would rather spend an afternoon with them than anyone else. I came across this passage in my book: " I discover that I am learning many new things, not just about the pains and struggles of wounded people, but also about their unique gifts and graces. They teach me about joy and peace, love and care and prayer - what I could never have learned in any academy. They also teach me what nobody else could have taught me, about grief and violence, fear and indifference. Most of all, they give me a glimpse of God's first love."
I couldn't have put it better into words if I tried. These children are teaching me - I came here to teach, and I am being taught. I have learned more about prayer after listening to them pray, more about joy after playing with them for an hour, and more about peace every minute that I spend in their presence. Every day that I am with them, I love them all a little bit more.

Day 19 and 20: Sunburn and Strawberries

Yesterday morning we were able to go swimming at a pool here in Reghin. Well, I didn't swim, but Katie did. You have to pay to swim, and they keep it VERY clean. I was really impressed with how sanitary everything was. It was much nicer than any of our public pools. I sat outside in the sun and read the only book I brought with me: C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces. I haven't had the opportunity to read yet at all, so I was excited to have some down time. I put sunscreen on twice, but as usual I got extremely sunburned. I think my skin is just a magnet for pain. And to make things worse, it is NOT an even burn at all haha. It's in weird splotches. I guess I should be happy that I got some color...

As I suspected, my class has been different sizes every day, because different children from Apalina are coming, and not all of them have the time(or want to come) every day. I have had about four consistently come to class, but yesterday I had about 14 students, and today I had 7, so I really just have to take my lesson planning one day at a time. I didn't want to teach just vocabulary today, but that's what ended up happening. I think because tomorrow is the last day, I'll try to focus a lot on writing and forming sentences in simple present using the vocab that they have learned, and hopefully everyone will be able to keep up. I'm glad that we will have most of these children at Attila's camp in July, because we can review some of this and make sure they all learn it.

This morning we went to an outdoor market. It was so much fun! This market was mostly vegetables and fruit, but there were people selling clothes, and men cooking sausages and whatever that meat is that sounds like "mitch" but I'm sure is probably spelled like "mics". Anyway, Katie and I bought some strawberries because we have both been craving them. There really is nothing in this world like the smell of fresh strawberries. It reminded me of being home actually - when we were young and Mom would get us up at 5:00 in the morning to go to the strawberry farm...but I digress. These were the best strawberries I have ever had, hands down. We bought two kilos of them(we paid about $3.50!), and they are already halfway gone. I don't know what it is about the produce here, but there is no comparison to the produce at home. I know everything is fresh and organic here, and that makes a huge difference, but wow. I didn't even think I liked certain vegetables until I had them here - like cabbage, for example. I have always hated cabbage, but I am now a fan. Shocking I know. It must be something in the air, because we can't drink the water. ;)

Our English classes are going so well, but let me just freak out a little about my Hungarian class. I cannot BELIEVE how much work Orsi is putting into teaching me. That girl is incredible. I feel a little guilty, but she promises that she had time, and it wasn't any extra work at all...I'm still not sure I believe her, but I think she really enjoys teaching, so maybe this good for her. I learned SO many verbs yesterday, and actually conjugated three correctly in front of her. She has also come up with more helpful vocabulary than I've learned all semester with my computer program. I'm really disappointed that we only have one day left teaching here in Reghin, because I am learning so much.

Day 18: Katie and Anna's Big Adventure.

As much as the title of this blog sounds like a kindergarten show, we actually had a real adventure today. We decided to walk from our apartment to the church in Reghin. We knew approximately where it was, and we were pretty sure we could find it. We actually ended up taking the long way, but we definitely made it in about 20 minutes. We were so excited!

About four more of our children from Apalina came to my class today. I was so happy because they are all so incredibly eager to learn, and I'm better with children than with adults any day. I have the feeling that my class will be different kids from the village every day, which might make it a little hard to plan lessons, but I think as long as I make them enjoyable and they actually learn something then that is really what matters the most.

Katie and I are taking classes too! A couple of her Advanced students offered to help her with Romanian, and me with Hungarian after our English classes. I'm so excited. I have learned more in two days than I learned in a month with my computer program at home. I think if I can learn to really start forming sentences, I could be on my way to becoming somewhat proficient by the end of these nine weeks. I know a ton of vocabulary, but I can't seem to conjugate verbs and put sentences together to save my life.

After class today we went to Apalina to spend some time with the children. We ended up playing on the hill, and for about an hour, engaged in the most intense game of Red Rover I have ever been a part of. I thought for sure someone's arm was going to get broken. The children were extremely energetic today; more than usual, and Katie and I were worn out after a couple of hours, but it was wonderful to get to spend so much time with them. :)

I fell in love with a new child today. His name is Gyorgy, and he can't be more than four years old. Attila had never met him before, and had to ask the other children who he was. They informed Attila that Gyorgy's family is very poor, which by Apalina's standards means his family is probably starving and possibly homeless. He stole my heart the minute I saw his little brown curls, and even though he didn't say a word the whole time we were there, when we finished playing on the hill, he took my hand and smiled at me, and I was a goner. Look how precious he is!

Day 16 and 17: Break my heart for what breaks Yours...everything I am for Your kingdom's cause

Yesterday was Sunday, and our first church service that we attended was also a 50th wedding anniversary celebration for a couple in the church. It was such an honor to get to be a part of that celebration, and even though I couldn't understand what people were saying, it was still beautiful to see the children of this couple get up and speak about their parents. I could only imagine their words, but I'm sure that the couples lives had been extremely influential, as everyone there was very emotional.

Later on that day we went to Targu Mures with some of our friends from Gornesti and Reghin to see a concert(Attila had to preach). The group was called The Messengers, and Attila was really sad that he didn't get to go because they're one of his favorites. Imagine a Romanian version of the Gaither Homecoming. :) But, it was actually really fun and Katie and I were excited because we realized that we actually have friends here - comparable to our friends at home. I know that sounds strange, and I guess it's really not the same, but it was just so exciting for us to have people call us here and invite us to do things with them. We both thrive off of what little independence that we have, and our free time is so limited that we get excited about doing small things that are unplanned or by ourselves.

I have a prayer request that I would like to bring to your attention. The Seventh-Day Adventist group here are constantly doing everything they can to start conflicts with Attila and the gypsies in Apalina - sometimes it is worse than others, but they hate Attila and the ministry that he is doing with the people. This past week when we were teaching in Gornesti, he wasn't able to spend as much time in Apalina with the gypsies, and the Adventists apparently took note of this and took advantage of his absence. They targeted about ten of our older children in the village, namely the ones who are within a year or two of being considered adults by the village standards(12 and 13 year olds). They told the children that if they would come to the Adventist church, and quit spending time with Attila, then they would pay for these ten to go to an Adventist camp. And if the children would be baptized into the Adventist church they would take them to camp every year. The problem here is that they are using the children to deliberately hurt Attila. If paying for these kids to go to camp was just a gift, then that would be one thing, but manipulating them into the church is completely different. These children don't know the difference between the two groups and don't understand anything about doctrine; they simply see an opportunity to go to a camp about Jesus every year and have fun. They don't understand what they're doing. I don't want it to sound like we just want the the children to come to our camp because it's ours so it's better; I know I am biased, obviously I would rather the children came to our camp. It is just the way that the Adventists are going about manipulating the children that is upsetting, but there really is nothing that any of us can do about it and like Katie said in her blog, "This battle isn't against flesh." I'm asking for your prayers on behalf of these children, because thankfully God is in charge of their salvation, regardless of the decisions that they make this summer, however, I ask you to join us praying that all will end well.

Today we started our teaching in Reghin. We only have two classes, Beginner/Intermediate and Advanced. Katie and I are so excited though. Both of are classes are wonderful - and my "son" Alex from Apalina is in my Beginner/Intermediate class. Attila was surprised that he came, because he didn't even tell Alex about the English classes. He's the only child there! All of my students are either in their late teens or twenties, and Alex is 9. :) He is so precious - he didn't have any paper yesterday, so I gave him some, and that boy took a page and a half of notes, front and back! I went to the Billa and bought him a notebook, so he can take notes in that from now on. I want so much for everyone to enjoy them, but especially Alex because Katie and I long to be able to speak with our children in Apalina more than just a few words here and there.

Attila has informed Katie and I that we are to learn a new song every week to sing for the churces...we decided on Hosanna from Hillsong this week - I apologize for the length of this blog, but I'd like to share the lyrics with you because they I think they're so beautiful:

I see the King of Glory
Coming down the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes
The whole earth shakes

I see His love and mercy
Washing over all our sin
The people sing
The people sing

Hosanna Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith
With selfless faith

I see a near revival
Staring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees
We're on our knees

Hosanna Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you
Have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into
Eternity

Day 15: Fishing with gypsies

Today we had to wake up at 3:00 in the morning because we had to drive an hour to go fishing at a huge lake. It was amazing. The sun rises really early here; about 5:00 I would say and I was just in time to catch the tail end of it. Isn't that incredible? I am never up early enough to catch the sunrise here, so I was so excited to finally see it.



Katie and I sort of got to experience life as a gypsy today. I have only been fishing a couple of times before, and none of those trips were like this. These men are serious about fishing;they devote an entire day to it and they're really good! I mean, they kind of HAVE to be, because for some of them, that's what their family will be living off of for awhile. But even though they are intense about it, fishing today was actually incredibly relaxing. We started fishing at about 5:15 and were there until 4:30 in the afternoon, but we caught so many fish! I caught ten but three of them were too small so we had to throw them back, and Katie caught ten and we were able to keep 8 of hers. According to the gypsies, Katie and I are fishing champions. Haha yeah right, I think they were just surprised we caught anything at all. :)
Because Katie and I don't like to eat fish, Attila gave what the three of us caught to some poor families in Apalina, and I think it made catching the fish so much more meaningful for us.

I was really thankful that the rain was minimal today. It rained for about an hour, and then we pretty much had beautiful sunny weather for the rest of the time. I think I got some more freckles on my nose; I'm so excited!

At about 1:00 we had a picnic and all of the food was prepared over a little fire! It was SO good. I would definitely define it as "man food" haha considering it was mainly meat, but it really was incredible. I think the french fries were my favorite, but there really wasn't anything prepared that wasn't fantastic.

Katie and I are both more than a little sleep deprived and exhausted from our week of teaching, but we have been looking so forward to this trip; I can't begin to describe how happy we were to be able to do this. Plus we actually got home at around 6:30 tonight, so we might actually catch up on most of our sleep!

Day 13 and 14: Ice Cream and Sunshine

Yesterday Katie and I almost had a reenactment of the Office Space scene with the copy machine – except ours was with Attila’s computer. His printer has given us trouble from the start with at least three paper jams a night, but yesterday morning we woke up to find that his computer was refusing to cooperate and promptly froze as soon as I tried to open one of my documents. This was at about 8:40 and after spending a good twenty minutes trying to figure out what to do, Katie and I just had to go ahead and leave with absolutely no notes, and no idea what to do. I knew I wanted to teach prepositions in a new way because Wednesday I just didn’t feel like anything was getting through. So Katie and I improvised all four of our classes and I think it probably ended up being the best teaching day we’ve had so far.

I think God was trying to teach US a lesson in confidence, but apparently it didn’t take too well because this morning we were still without a printer and computer, but we saved a bunch of things on Katie’s computer. Unfortunately, Katie’s computer died as soon as we got to the church – so once again we were without any notes. And this time, I had absolutely NO IDEA what to try to teach. Katie and I both had spurts of genius for our classes and we ended up being just fine. I made up games today for my afternoon Intermediate class because it’s mostly children and I think this was the most fun that they have had in the entire two weeks. They begged us not to stop the games when it was time for class to end. It was really rewarding and such a good way to end our two week teaching period here.

We have fallen in love with the ice cream here. Attila informed us that he could live off of it haha. Yesterday during our break, we bought some at the store and ate it in a little park a couple of blocks from church. We were all three sitting in silence just enjoying the weather (it actually wasn’t raining!) when out of the blue, Attila turned to Katie and I and remarked, “If you ever don’t know something, just eat an ice cream!” Oh the wisdom of that man. I think that might have to be my new life credo. :D

Today Katie and I were able to take a nap outside during our break! It was incredible. As I'm sure I have mentioned more than once, I have been missing warm weather, and today really was the first day that we have had sunshine for a lengthy period of time. It was sunny for awhile yesterday, but then it rained later on. Today, however, was perfect. I think summer is finally on it's way.

We ate lunch at Lala and Ester’s (Zozo’s brother and sister-in-law) house today, and Ester made the most amazing cake I have ever had in my entire life. I am not exaggerating. The closest thing I can compare it to is an ice cream cake, but it wasn’t. The filling was some kind of chocolate and vanilla mousse, and I think the cake part was a yellow cake, but the mousse was frozen. I don’t know – I really can’t describe it much better than that. It was incredible. Katie and I both made Ester promise she would teach us how to make it. She is precious. We have really enjoyed having her in our class. She and Lala are having a baby in November, and they plan to name her Katie. We were both so excited to hear that haha.

Tomorrow we are going fishing!! I can’t wait. I really hope it doesn’t rain. The weather forecast has predicted it, but I’m hoping maybe it will be wrong. We have to wake up at 3:00 tomorrow morning! Aaaahhh. Oh well. I’m pretty sure it will be more than worth it; I’m just not looking forward to losing sleep. I am not sure at this point exactly who Attila has invited; I think some of the gypsy men from Apalina, and possibly Isti and his father. I’m sure tomorrow we’ll have a huge group because word gets around quickly here, and the men LOVE fishing.

I cannot believe that we have already been here for two weeks. It is going by so fast! I cannot even begin to express how much we have been blessed by this trip so far. Even when things have gone wrong, God has pulled us through in marvelous ways, and has sent us blessings we could never have imagined. Why is it so hard to just let go and trust Him sometimes? "I do believe, help my unbelief!" He is taking such incredible care of us here - every day I am being reminded of how His love is steadfast; it never wavers.

Day 12: Here Comes the Sun

Today we had sunshine. Real honest to goodness sunshine that lasted more than 20 minutes. In fact, Katie and I sat outside today for about an hour during our break. It was AMAZING. It's always really cold in the church, so getting to sit outside in the sun was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Attila and Katie have an UNO tournament going on - I don't really understand the rules but they are intense about it. All I know is that the loser has to buy the winner a small gift. I think they decided on ice cream. :) I'm pretty sure Attila is winning right now, but they play every break that they have - I'm sure Katie will give him a run for his money.

Today I taught the Intermediate class some Prepositions and was caught completely off guard at just how confusing they are. I'm trying to find a slightly easier way to teach them tomorrow - possibly some visual aids would be helpful. Throughout this teaching process, Katie and I both have been finding out things about our language that we never knew before - or realizing that the way we say things doesn't always have a rational answer. That is incredibly confusing to someone trying to learn our language. However, the Hungarians really can't complain that much about English. Speaking as a student of the Hungarian language, I can safely say that this statement once made by a native is more than true, " Do you know why Hungarian is the language of heaven? Because it takes an eternity to learn!"

Funny story: Attila came over last night to use our internet because apparently he lost a bet with his fiancee Adele, and he has to write her a love letter every day for a month! He claims that she picked this for him to do if he lost because he hates writing people, which I know is true, but I think he's kind of tickled about having to compose love letters. Maybe a little clueless(he tried to get Katie and I to help him, but we adamantly refused haha) but as much as he pretends not to want to, I think he is enjoying it.

At almost every church service that we have been to while we're here, everybody has asked us if we would sing a song, and Attila is making us prepare a new song every week. This has really been a struggle for me, because everywhere that we go if they have an organ I HAVE to play the organ, and Katie and I HAVE to sing. There have been times when I felt like a traveling performer, and I have really been wrestling with it. I have come to the conclusion that as much as I want to tend to feel guilty about seeing it as a performance and being afraid of showing off, it really is a blessing to these people. And if I can have my heart in the right place, and see that all I need to be doing is glorifying God and blessing the people around me, then it no longer becomes a performance but a ministry. Although I have thought about this many times while we've been here, tonight I finally felt okay because I could finally see that it really has nothing to do with me. My main goal here was for the people to see God, not me. And standing in front of people and singing is actually one of the best ways that I can do that. Katie and I both had a...well we're going to call it a "moment" tonight where we literally didn't see or look at anything but just sang for God, and I think that's when I finally felt a peace about standing in front of the church and singing. If God has given me a voice, then I should use it for His glory and not be ashamed of what I have been given.
"For to whom much has been given, much will be required."

Day 11: Milka...how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

I'm thinking of writing an Ode to Milka...seriously. What do you think? Katie and I were in a mood last night, and as only it can, Milka came to our rescue.

It has been raining here for what seems like FOREVER, and I think it's getting to everybody. I'm finally adjusting to it not getting dark until 9:30 pm, but it is JUNE. Where is my warm weather?? It's freezing here. They tell me it is because of the rain - I need sunshine. How am I going to get as brown as a gypsy if it rains the entire time I'm here??? Ok, we all know that will never happen, but I can at least hope.

I think it was just especially hard today because our classes were much smaller than usual; in fact, none of my beginners even showed up(I only have four - two in the morning, and two in the afternoon) and those who did show up were so quiet. It was unusual because most of the students are usually so upbeat...I think we are all just ready for some good weather.

Before we left for class yesterday morning, Katie read me the headline about the plane that disappeared over the Atlantic. It was extremely sobering news for both of us, and I think it was probably on our minds all day - I know it was on mine. Katie knows more about planes than I do, and informed me that it was the same kind of plane that we flew on to get here. My heart goes out to all of the people who were on board and to their families, and will be remembering them in prayer. I really cannot imagine the hopelessness of such an experience, or the terror of being on that plane.

Katie took some pictures of our apartment last night. I'll post one - this is the view from our balcony - I LOVE IT! I really wish you could all see how amazing this place is that we live in. This picture doesn't do it justice, but it is the best one we've taken so far. :)

Day 9 and 10: Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove, with all Thy quick’ning powers; kindle a flame of sacred love, in these cold hearts of ours."

Yesterday was Pentecost. We spent the entire day visiting and speaking at different churches, and today we are still celebrating, so we went to three more churches for a day of worship and adoration for the great gift we have in the Holy Spirit.

I finally bought a dry erase board at the Selgros today for my beginner class(we have one for the intermediate and advanced classes), so I'm excited about finally getting to use that! I think it will make teaching a lot easier, especially now that the beginner classes are starting to form sentences and learn simple grammar.

Last night, we had Zolie and Abigail over for dinner, and it was so much fun! Katie and I love having people over here every once in a while, and it was a great opportunity to get to just sit and speak without having any time constraints. We were able to find out a good deal about life during the rule of communism here, and the changes that have taken place in the last twenty something years. It is still incredible to me, just how much has happened in such a short time, and how terrible things were about the time I was born. I am humbled when I think of the difference in my and Katie's childhood versus Attila's and he is only a few years older than us.

This is our last week to teach in Gornesti, and as Katie and I were walking to lunch today, we spoke about how much we will miss this village. Everyone here has been so good to us, and we feel at home in pretty much every house we have visited. Plus the students are a joy to teach, so I think it will be a little bit hard for us to leave, but we must. I am going to try to take a lot of pictures this week, so hopefully I can post some of our classes soon.

Next week we will begin in Reghin, but we only have one week there before we start camp at Harghita. I'm looking very forward to that because I have heard great things from everyone who has been; and Katie and I are looking forward to seeing the Borzasi families again.

Katie and I didn't have to go to the third meeting at Peris tonight, so we stayed home and made our OWN dinner and started to work on our lesson plans for this week. We made grilled cheese sandwhiches and ate Pringles - such a typical college student dinner. It made me extraordinarily happy. :)

We actually went to the store by ourselves tonight before we made dinner because we needed some bread. We were pretty proud of ourselves because we didn't have to have Attila with us. Katie and I both crave independence and it is pretty much nonexistent lately, so the little things we do by ourselves make us really happy haha.

It's funny, Katie and I have mastered the art of nonverbal communication; we just realized this the other day though! It just cracks me up at how often we use it and we didn't even know we were for the longest time. Sometimes we don't even have to look at each other, we just know what the other is thinking. I am so thankful for her; I really don't know what I'd do without her to keep me laughing. God has blessed me with such a beautiful friendship, and I will forever be grateful for this experience with her.

"Come, O Holy Spirit, come. Come as the wind and cleanse; come as the fire and burn; convert and consecrate our lives to our great good and your great glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Day 7 and 8: We are so hardcore!

I feel really bad that I keep forgetting to blog, but I'll just try to catch up as much as I can.
Last night, Katie and I finally got to catch up a little bit on sleep and it was LOVELY. It has been raining for two days straight and this weather is NASTY. But as gross as the weather is, Romania is still the most beautiful country I've ever been in.

Yesterday ended our first week of teaching, and this weekend is Pentecost, so we don't have class on Monday. We had to help Attila find some clothes for his 10 year reunion, so we went to Targu Mures. We went to a mall first, but then ended up going to this outdoor market that had all kinds of clothes and shoes and accessories. It was pretty sweet. I liked it so much better than the mall, because the mall was too close to being back in the materialistic States. I just wasn't impressed at all. I'm definitely not missing that part of America AT ALL. In fact, really the only thing I miss is my family and easy macaroni.

While we were out shopping yesterday, Attila said the funniest thing. I can't really remember how it came up, but Katie and I were talking about cooking for him, and he said something about making a traditional Hungarian dish for us, but this is how it came out, "Oooohh! I will cook you!!"And I started laughing and said, "What will you eat us with?" And he said, "Mmmm, I will eat you with mushrooms." I thought I would die I was laughing so hard.

Last night we bought our plane tickets for Budapest!! I'm so excited that we're going!! I've always wanted to go to Budapest, and a little holiday will be nice for a couple of days. We still don't know where we're staying but we'll figure it out. And our tickets were so cheap it was amazing. I still can't believe we got such a good deal for the three of us.

I found out today from Abigail the name of those beautiful pink and white flowers that our children gave us on our first day here . She said they call them "The Rose of Pentecost" because they always bloom right around Pentecost. How beautiful is that?

On a more adventurous note: I tried raw pig today. Yes that's right, it was raw. Mom, maybe you shouldn't read this. I didn't know it was raw until it was in my mouth...and by that point I figured it was too late, so I just swallowed it. Zolie asked us if we would like to try ham, and I thought "Real homemade ham, heck yeah!" But then when it was in my mouth we were informed it wasn't cooked. I guess I should've known because it was a purplish-brown color but ohwell. I mean, I've eaten a lot of sushi in my day, but maybe raw pork is more dangerous than fish? It was really good actually, as far as raw meat goes. If I hadn't known it was raw I probably really would've liked it. It was really smoky and not too salty...ok it was really good haha.

We went to two different gypsy villages today. I will have to ask Zolie or Zozo what the names were because I forgot, but both of them are even poorer than Apalina. I am looking forward to getting to know some of the children from these villages at our second camp in July. I remember initially how slow our relationships with the Apalina children were until the camp, and then we just fell in love with them. Saturday is usually our day to go to Apalina, so I really missed my kids today, but I was glad for the opportunity to spend time with these new children. There is just so much hurt and hardship that I cannot even fathom in these little lives, and I know that there are villages like this all over Romania. My heart just breaks for these children, and I pray that God will continue to give hearts of ministry and servitude to people like He has done with Attila, Zolie and Zozo so that the people in the gypsy villages will come to know Him and His great love for us. These men and their families are so dedicated to bringing His word and spreading His love; it is incredible! "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!"