The Journey

Happy 2015! May your year grow increasingly better and may the love of God shine in your life. The last several months have been busy and challenging- hence the lack of updates here. But if you’ll take a look at my Twitter feed you’ll find that there is not much more recent written there, either. What’s been going on? Well, I’m so glad you asked! ;) In the quickest, most succinct way possible, I will tell you: flights from Romania to Ohio, summer camp counseling, new job, move, then move to a new state, apartment remodel, problems with the remodel, more problems with the remodel, Christmas, then moving in and trying to organize my whole life into said apartment. Like I said, busy. The remodel was pretty challenging considering that we were turning an old pool room in a 130 year-old barn into an efficiency apartment. I nearly gave up on the whole project several times, and wallowing in despair was tempting. But the Lord’s Will prevailed (and my parents’ visiting three o...

So I have people wanting to hear in detail how my trip from Romania to Ohio went. Here's the shortened version: The drive from Hunedoara to Timisoara consisted of Ioana (my Romanian bestie) and I sitting next to each other while giggling over old memories, private jokes, and emoting to Frozen songs. (Our other three friends, Alyssa, and my parents thought we were nuts, I think.) The picture above is our second selfie attempt because the first one had me sporting a lovely double chin, which made us both giggle some more. (And yes, it was really dark.) After leaving the house at around two AM, we arrived at the airport with over an hour to spare before my 6:25 flight. I'm afraid we did procrastinate a little with the goodbyes, so many photos were taken and hugs given. (I'm totally fine with the hugs, but pictures at that hour?! And with my messy hair? Goodness!) Just before going through security, Ioana asked, "Are you ready to admit that you are a cyborg?...

Whew! It's been a long time since I've written anything on here other than that little advertisement for the Living On The Edge sermon. And I think by now I owe you guys an update. So here it goes! The first camp we took part in this summer was the camp for people with disabilities. It was so  much fun seeing some old friends and getting to know new ones. All of the people who came as participants- or campers- were Romanian, but out of the leaders and volunteers we had a little bit of diversity. There were three girls from Ukraine who all spoke Romanian, several people from Britain (most of whom were Scottish and only spoke a little Romanian), and the Luse family minus Rebecca (from America, in case you didn't know, and all speaking Romanian fairly well). Since there were so many people who didn't speak Romanian, Kenneth and I did more translating than I think we have ever done in our lives. Alyssa, mom, and dad would be able to say the same thing except they were ...

"Happy Holidays y'all!" Ok, I know, I know- I didn't write anything letting y'all know what was going on for the holidays! But, my dear friends, it wasn't my fault! It was the church. No, really. Romanians are kind of mildly obsessed about going to church all the time- especially around the holidays. I'm not saying that's bad... but when Romanians hear the word "holiday", they take off like a rocket. There is no such thing as a calm, restful v acation -like holiday. Instead they are running around until well after midnight with friends.  Basically, this is what our Christmas/New Years looked like: cookie baking, David Center party, Rebecca's cantata, more cantata, even more cantata, caroling until after midnight, more caroling, party, gingerbread house building, more cookie baking, Christmas, Christmas night church service, Christmas service/visit at a little village all day, friends over, last minute New Year party prep, New Y...

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...

"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...