The Journey

Ok, it's that time of year again! It's Country Christmas time! If you live in Ohio and have never been to a Marmon Valley Country Christmas, all I can say is: "WHY NOT?!" I mean, seriously! If there was ever ANY activity that can get you in the holiday spirit, then this is it. Do me a favor- close your eyes. No, wait. Hmm. That won't work. Ok then, just imagine this- it's a dark, star-filled night. You are outside, wrapped in blankets, sitting close to the people you care about, and watching Christ's story unfold- LIVE- before your very eyes. Afterward you find your way to a toasty room where you can warm up and enjoy chili, hot dogs, and free hot chocolate, cookies and more live entertainment. Then, if you have young children or enjoy real Christmas trees, you can brave the cold once more to visit the tiny critter petting zoo/pony rides/tree sale. Doesn't that sound like fun? Roman soldiers riding draft horses, Mary riding a donkey, ange...

Hey, guys! Ok, so Thanksgiving is officially over. Whew. And by officially, I mean that OUR Thanksgiving is done. Here in Romania they don't have Thanksgiving (if you don't know why, then think back to your middle school days and read this ). Village churches usually set aside a service for thanking God for the harvest, but they don't have an official day, nor is it a national holiday. Anyway, moving on. My family celebrated on Saturday instead of Thursday because, again, Thanksgiving isn't a Romanian holiday, so they don't have the day off. It was interesting trying to explain about how we choose the day to celebrate (third Thursday of the month) and what are the essential foods. Honestly, I think they think we're kind of weird for not setting a specific day, like the 25th or something, but they thought the food was pretty amazing. And it was. In years past we have made dishes that require American ingredients, which we import. But this year we managed to...

All we could do was look around us in awe as the elegant streetlamps escorted us past tall, beautiful high risers on the right and the ocean on our left. A giant ferris wheel brought Alyssa's camera out (which, if you know Alyssa, is a regular occurrence). The rest of that trip was fairly uneventful. Close to 1:00 AM, we were dropped off, ready to enjoy our beds. For the next three days, I was bookin' it. I still had things to put in storage, three hours of work, plates to renew, power of attorney form to get notarized, and vote in a city 15 minutes away before we packed our bags for the plane and went to Singles' meeting at church. But, somehow, I made it. On the third day, we didn't sleep because we would be leaving the next morning at 3:30. Our ride picked us up and we arrived at the airport a mere 30 minutes before our flight. And guess what- lucky ducks, our line was the longest we had ever seen at the little Columbus airport! We fidgeted. And waited. And fid...

"Life is a journey, not a destination." -Ralph Waldo Emerson The first leg of our journey is finally over. Life is settling down, and we are trying to adjust to all the strange, yet familiar things around us. Romania is a land of contrasts: the old mixed with the new, the liberal with conservative. A cold wind sweeps across our little city, bringing with it dark clouds and an increase in activity. Everyone must get something done before winter sets in. For the men outside our house, it is to finish replacing the road they started too long ago. For others, it is to gather the last of their crops or gardens. Me? I'm just hoping the boxes come. Which encourages me to recount our little journey, starting with the boxes. Boxes, bags, containers, oh my! They were everywhere. We took over the living room. Boxes and bags of Alyssa's things, bags of mine, boxes of our parents'. We took those little containers and relocated their contents to four larger boxes. Ye...

Currently on my "to buy" list: a new laptop! And I had my eye on a sweet one- an Alienware. It had everything I could possibly want- durability, processing power, awesome graphics, style, and attitude. I was so wanting to buy it... really badly. But then, after weeks of research, a thought entered my mind: yes, it was my dream computer, but did I really need all that power? I had told myself, "I need a better graphics card so I can play my Global Agenda." "I need more space for more programs." "I need, I need, I need...." But did I really? It was something that bore some thought. Finally, I came to the conclusion that even if I got a computer that was barely better than the one I have now, it would be what I need. Which bears the question: How much that I buy on a regular basis do I actually need? Why am I willing to spend $700 dollars on a computer and $75 on my health? How about replacing those socks with holes in them instead of gett...

Backwards Friendship by Nikitah Luse on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 9:30pm Has anyone ever wondered what is wrong with our friendships today? Why is being friends with even a Christian so difficult? I've been thinking about this a lot lately through conversations with friends and all that. I finally sat down and wrote out some stuff that I had observed in friendships in the Bible. Really, there is only one friendship that I found that seems to reveal what is missing in our relationships- that of David and Jonathan. What was so special about them? Well, it's really amazing what we find. 1. Their friendship wasn't based on common likes or dislikes, but on one thing only- God! 2. God (or LORD) was a common word in their everyday conversations! Wow. Think about it. How often do we discuss God when we meet up with our friends for a casual chit chat? How often is even HIS NAME inserted in ANY of our conversations? The above begs the question: do we ...

Hi, y'all! Nikitah here. Why am I starting a blog? Well, why not! :) But seriously, since I'm off to Romania soon to live with my family again, a blog seemed like the best way to keep people up to speed, but also to use as a platform for personal expression. So keep checking back here for adventures, struggles, and news!