This is my heart, these are my thoughts, this is my prayer.

I want to make the reason I am here, in Romania, very clear. It's not because I am a good person (Romans 3:12 "All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.") because I'm not. I am a sinner just like everyone else. The reason I came to Romania is because I felt the Lord leading me here. I knew that this is where I was suppose to go. The Lord gave me such a peace about this adventure I knew that if I were to not go I would be sinning in complete disobedience!

Why Romania? I still don't know exactly... but I do know that these past 4 1/2 months have been amazing. I have gained so much insight from the Lord, I have seen His answers to my prayers and the sovereignty of Him laid out. I have met people who have changed my life. I have met people who I hope I have helped to change their lives through Christ. My gifts and talents have been used... and I have been stretched as a person and I definitely have had my faith tested.

What I want you to know, christian, is that I am no better than you. If you are feeling stuck and confused about how you are to serve our awesome and mighty Creator then get on your knees and seek His will. I knew where God wanted me and I followed. I did and do not want to compromise His plan for my desires. I want to follow His commands and live my life in complete submission to Him and His will for me (Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.")

What I want you to know, unbeliever, is that Christ has abundantly shown His character to me while being here. He is a God of love, yes we all know that. But He is a God of hate too. He loves all that is beautiful and hates all that is terrible.(Psalm 5:5 "The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.") That is good and bad news. WE are sinners. WE are terrible. WE deserve death and hell. Thankfully He is a just God and has to carry out that justice. I don't want to serve a God who is changing and unstable. The Lord desires you to worship, adore and serve Him... and Him alone. Please consider that what I am saying is THE truth. Please realize that Jesus Christ says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) It's so important! It's the most important thought to ever ponder.

I believe it so much that I came half way around the world to love on the children here and share the love of Christ with them. I want them to grow into adults and remember the love that was given to them and to remember that differently... I don't care if they remember my name... I don't care if they even remember me. I do care that somehow the Lord makes it evident in their hearts that the love of Christ Jesus was given to them back in September of 2009 till March of 2010.

This is my heart, these are my thoughts, this is my prayer. Much Love.

Shots, Coloring, and Snow!

Last week I went with the kids to get their shots. Oh man, that was difficult. Little Delia was pretty brave but still got teary eyed and her little bottom lip quivered. Mario cried... a lot! David saw Mario cry and started screaming, "NU VREAU!" which means "I DON'T WANT!" oh boy. Tina looked terrified and Rares and Sebi were tough guys. :) I do not look forward to taking my own children to get shots one day.




Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised when Alina (13) came up to me and asked me how I was doing. Usually I approach her and she is shy and quiet. We ended up drawing together and she asked me to do the whole bubble letter drawing with her name... something I use to do when I was her age, heck I still do it! So we were coloring and then Andrada (15) decided she would join in on the fun too! Usually she is too cool for most things. :)I'm glad we got to hang out, I've been hoping that they would open up to me which is difficult with the whole language barrier.

Speaking of the language barriers, I can tell a major difference in last couple of weeks with how much I've learned. I'm so thankful I'm understanding some things. Robert has been so kind to help me, I even helped him with typing up a paper! I read to him in Romanian as he typed it! I didn't understand a lot of what I read but at least I'm pronouncing words correctly! :)

Finally... winter is back. Definitely back. We had a mild December but things are now back to being very cold and snowy. Snow is exciting for me, maybe because I'm a Floridian, but really it's gorgeous! Ice on the other hand I could live without! I haven't fallen YET but I'm sure I will. Last night I just decided to slide my way home, it was more fun and slightly scarier. That's all for now, much love from this side of the globe!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

These are just a few little things I'd like to share:



1.) On Sunday afternoon in Petrosani my friend Robert and I had just finished eating lunch under a pavilion when 3 boys came up and asked for money. This is a very common occurrence in Romania. Many children are sent out by their own parents to beg for money and sometimes if they don't meet their quota they will be beaten. It's a big problem... and I'm not sure why something is not being done about it. Anyway these 3 boys discovered quickly that I'm American. They began to many ask questions and it provoked conversation. Robert took the opportunity to share Christ with them, hopefully it's a seed planted in good soil. (Matt. 13:8)

2.) Yesterday, upon the kids request Robert visited Casa de Copii. (They love him... I'm no longer the coolest.) There was a woman and her grandson visiting. The woman is having a hard time feeding the child and keeping him clothed and was seeking help. Seeing as the orphanage has little to no money they can not take on another child but have agreed to feed him and give extra clothes to the family. So Robert and I sat at a table with all the little children and the woman. The kids and I colored as Robert presented the gospel to her. I would have loved to be a part of the conversation but... I couldn't keep up, so instead I prayed. I ended up having a copy of the New Testament in Romanian in my purse (a total God thing) which we were able to give to her. She has invited us over to her home on Friday! :)

3.) Delia can color in the lines now! I'm so proud of her. She also is gaining weight! :)


4.) Tomorrow I am spending time with a girl who is very lost. She is 16 or 17... please pray for me to be bold and unashamed of the truth. Also pray for me to not freeze seeing as we are going up on Parang... yes that is a picture of it. brrrrrrr! More pictures to come! :)

It is truly a blessing to be used by the Lord and I am so thankful for the opportunity. Much love-

What my obedience to God costs other people

This was my daily devotional today from Oswald Chamber's 'My Utmost For His Highest' and it really stuck out to me.

"They laid hold upon one Simon . . . and on him they laid the cross." Luke 23:26

If we obey God it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the sting comes in. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything, it is a delight, but it costs those who do not love Him a good deal. If we obey God it will mean that other people's plans are upset, and they will gibe us with it - "You call this Christianity?" We can prevent the suffering; but if we are going to obey God, we must not prevent it, we must let the cost be paid.

Our human pride entrenches itself on this point, and we say - I will never accept anything from anyone. We shall have to, or disobey God. We have no right to expect to be in any other relation than our Lord Himself was in (see Luke 8:2-3).

Stagnation in spiritual life comes when we say we will bear the whole thing ourselves. We cannot. We are so involved in the universal purposes of God that immediately we obey God, others are affected. Are we going to remain loyal in our obedience to God and go through the humiliation of refusing to be independent, or are we going to take the other line and say - I will not cost other people suffering? We can disobey God if we choose, and it will bring immediate relief to the situation, but we shall be a grief to our Lord. Whereas if we obey God, He will look after those who have been pressed into the consequences of our obedience. We have simply to obey and to leave all consequences with Him.

Beware of the inclination to dictate to God as to what you will allow to happen if you obey Him.

Catch All

I'm afraid I haven't written much lately... and now there are too many things that I'd love to share in one blog update. I will try my best to be concise!

1. MAJOR prayer answered. I came half way around the world without all of the money I needed to get back, but the Lord has provided for me yet again. It truly is an awesome blessing that Lord would take care of little old me. I have all the money I need, and will be coming back on March 4th. Thank you for all of your prayers and support! I don't have the words to adequately thank the Lord and everyone who has helped. Multumesc!

2. The kids are back to school and that means I have somewhat of a schedule again, which is nice! Poor Rares really struggles in school and cries just about every afternoon while trying to do his homework. Please pray for him, that he would gain perseverance and understanding towards his school work. I relate with him and wish I could communicate that better, but for now I just try to encourage him when he shows me his homework.

3. I really don't know how I am going to leave these precious children in less than two months! Back in October I really felt like there was no way that I'd live the rest of my life and never come back to this country again... that feeling has only become stronger. I'm interested to see what the future holds. :)

4. PRAISE- my language skills have really improved! I have made a new friend named Robert and he clearly has the gift of teaching. He is very patient with me and we read through the Bible in Romanian and then he helps me translate it and then compare with my Bible. I really love the challenge and I love learning on both levels. I've also enjoyed his friendship, which has been another blessing.

5. I start back teaching English Club next week and I am looking forward to it! I've actually decided when I go back to the States I will take a course at Florida State University at the Center for Intensive English Studies and become certified to teach English as a second language. I'm in the process of figuring out the logistics and details but, I'm excited about the opportunity!

6. A funny thing happened today, I was getting on the Maxi Taxi to go to Petrosani... and I shut the door behind me. The driver said something to me but I couldn't hear him too well so I said, "Poftim?" which is like "Excuse me?" and he said it again. I thought he told me I didn't slam the door hard enough... so I apologized and re-opened the door and slammed it harder. He laughed at me and the rest of the bus looked at me like I was crazy... and then I realized he had told me I slammed the door too hard. Oops... now I had done it twice! I flashed him a big smile and said "Scuze, nu vorbesc romaneste" which means "Sorry, I don't speak Romanian"! I always feel weird saying that in the language I claim not to know! OH how I do enjoy language barriers! :)

Well I think that's enough for now. The kids are great and life in Romania is good. I'm loving listening to sermons from John Piper, Francis Chan and Paul Washer... there is so much available on the Internet, I encourage you to take advantage of the tools the Lord has made available for us! Much Love-

Zapada!!! (snow)

Here are a few pictures from today after I picked the little ones up from school! It was super cold but the snow was the perfect consistency for snowballs!