A Simple Gesture

[Cindy] I walked into the small store and bought a bottle of water. On my way out I saw a young girl waiting for her coffee to exit the coffee machine. I reached out and patted her shoulder and smiled at her and went on my way. I climbed into the van and as I was shifting into gear the young lady passed by the van, turned, smiled and waved at me. I returned the wave and the smile. It warmed my heart. She said something that I couldn't hear, and then she turned around and walked over to the van. I rolled the window down and she began talking to me. I didn't get much of what she said. I told her that I only speak a little Romanian. She smiled. I touched her shoulder and wished her a good day. She wished me the same. As she walked away she turned once more and we exchanged smiles and waves again. I prayed for her as I drove home. Maybe I will see her again. U[ntil then I will continue to pray for her. God knows her name. He knows where she lives and what she needs. I close my eyes and I see her precious little face. "Be with her Abba, comfort her I pray."

Olivia's Spring Song in Romanian

Trash Day

About a week ago a car pulled up at the old abandoned house (in front of our house) and workers donned themselves with rubber boots, gloves, and masks. They then stepped into the old house and began to clean out all that was in the three story building. It took them 2 days and several dumpsters full of trash to clear out most of the contents that had accumulated. The trash is now gone and the open windows and doors are now covered with a wire mess that prevents any further dumping. OH you bet I am singing praise to my precious Lord!! It was exactly one week after our street was newly paved with asphalt that the car rolled up and the workers exited ready to do some serious cleaning. After seeing some little mice exit and enter the old house a few days before, I am thankful that He sent in a cleaning crew - You bet I am giving God the credit. He is listening...

He's listening...

About a month ago Scott began planning and plotting the removal of the concrete driveway (chipped and crumbling) in front of our house. He wanted to have the driveway resurfaced with asphalt. The cost of the project; expensive and labor intense. A few weeks later, a backhoe turns down our dead-end street and begins tearing out everyone's sidewalks and driveways. We parked ourselves in front of the window and wondered, "what in the world are they doing?" A few more days pass, and we curiously watch the work crew as they begin laying new curbstones, and packing in new dirt with the all-purpose whacker packer (dirt compactor) and prepping for the, you guessed it, resurfacing of our sidewalks and driveways with ASPHALT!

For me, this experience confirms in my heart and mind that God is listening - that He is watching and working in ways in which I am completely clueless. Let's think about the details:

1. The timing (a month after Scott's conversation).

2. The involvement of government employees (remember, we live in Romania)

3. The cost (self explanatory).

4. The labor(which included heavy machinery instead of the physical labor which moves the job along quicker and saves the backs of the laborers).

Are you getting the picture? I believe with all of my heart that this is a gift from my heavenly Father. God whispered into my spirit, "My precious baby girl, oh how I love you. I delight in caring for you. How I long to care for all of my children this way. But, many of my precious lambs aren't paying attention to my care. They overlook how I personally work to comfort them and to provide for them. As I long to care for you, I also long to care for all of my children in this way. Never, forget that, my precious lamb." Oh my Lord you listen, you hear, and you answer in ways beyond what is deserved or expected. I Praise your Holy Name!

Now, I am wondering what God is up to with the abandoned, trash-filled building in front of our house. I believe that He, the almighty, loving King is planning a wonderful surprise for His daughter who lives on Viilor street in house number 4 in Bucharest Romania. With anticipation and expectation, I watch and I wait.

$6.74
What we pay per gallon for diesel!

The Stamp

A Bank withdrawal is harder than you would think since we have to take along a special rubber stamp of our official logo, wrapped in paper and tied up with a rubber band for the ink sludge accumulated over fifteen years. The stamp requires a black ink pad, also wrapped and tied and the bottle of refill ink. Then there's the sheet of paper stamped a thousand times to test that the stamp is properly inked and positioned. All of this is carried in a jumbo zip lock bag inside a black carrying case. It just feels so 20^th century! Why do we do this? “Because the Bank requires the stamp” we were told “and that is the way it has always been done here.”

I asked about a self inking stamp. “Oh, you can't do that” we were told “because in order to get a new stamp you need a document of some sort from some department of some government office ... and we don't have the document and probably can't get the document without causing the end of the world....”

But one of my spiritual gifts is hardheadedness, so I found a place where they make self inking rubber stamps, thinking they would be eager to make a sale and wouldn't care about the missing document. WRONG! They do care about the missing document.

Later the epiphany hit! - what if the man at the self inking stamp store would sell me a blank self inking stamp? I could make my own! So I went back. He studied me like he was thinking “if this American would buy a blank stamp, what else could we sell him!” I rushed home, used a razor blade to slice the old stamp off the wooden base and glued it onto my new self inking stamper. My hand trembled as I pushed down, gently to test the stamp – caaashuuunk. It worked! I couldn't wait for the moment to whip out my new stamp in front of our office administrator. He said “I didn't think I would live to see this day”:)

Six months later...

Ce Faceţi? Well, that's about as far as I can go after 4 months of language study – ha-ha. We have been studying for 4 months and we praise God that we are detecting small steps of progress. About a month ago we actually began hearing words that were familiar instead of just a bunch of unknown sounds. It has been interesting to discover the differences and similarities between Spanish and Romanian. The first few months Spanish always came out first, instead of "Buna Ziua" in response to someone's greeting we would automatically spit our "Buenos Dias" - a very weird experience. We have sat and looked at each other and said, "Why did we agree to go anywhere again?" BUT, God, our most perfect Father, has calmed us and confirmed for us that we are where He wants for us to be. We praise Him for the peace He gives us in the midst of our moments of frustration with the language. One of the most interesting things we have discovered about Romanian is how influential communism has been in the development of the language. Before the revolution (1989) there were no names for certain colors (mauve, purple, etc.). After the revolution color entered the country. Why you might ask - the clothing available was all made of basic colors. Bright colors didn't exist! They didn't wear bright cheery colors! WOW! That is just one example of how influential communism has been in the language. And of course the language is just one aspect of this most intriguing culture.

Driving in Bucharest is another cultural lesson – I (Cindy) am proud to say that I do drive now. It took me a few months to get it settled in my mind to do it. It is amazing the level of independence you lose when you go somewhere so foreign, so different. It is also an amazing opportunity to fortify your dependence on God and the faithfulness that He has to fulfill His plan for your life. We are doing our best to not begin "administering changes" right off the bat - why? Because we have so much to learn about what has happened in the past, what is currently happening, and dreaming and planning with an educated understanding for the future. The entire country of Romania is our assignment. We are praying constantly for God's guidance because we truly are walking in the dark. BUT thankfully we aren't in charge, God is, this is His gig. He is leading us one step at a time. We have had to implement some changes that began prior to our coming. Scott has already led his first district assembly as D.S. We have visited our three congregations (Bucharest - capitol city, Sighisoara & Tigmandru - located in central Romania). Through relationship building with our fellow laborers we are learning so much about their culture (attitudes, mind set, daily life, pressures of society, their theology, etc.). God is moving in our churches. He is reconciling souls. He is transforming families. He is building His church.

Olivia is attending a Romanian daycare. Overall she has done well. She has had her moments of adjustment, of course. She is learning Romanian. She has schooled us a few times on how to correctly say a word - funny hu?! We are guessing that in a few more months she will really get it and speak it well. She loves our church and she is settling in well. We are blessed.

We have had the opportunity to travel to Turkey (we were able to visit the ancient cities of Perga and Ephesus), Switzerland, and Bulgaria. We will be going to Macedonia and Hungry in the next few months, and I will be taking a course in Albania in August. God's blessings are rich and abundant, even in the midst of great trial and uncertainty. He is our loving Father, who is full of grace. May He receive all the glory.