random happenings

a number of things have happened in the last week or so, that i'd like to write about. they don't have a particular theme or order, so here they are as they come to mind.

- i made pumpkin pie twice. two pies each time. from scratch. mmm... very tasty! got to eat some myself, as well as share with kids and staff at the office, teammates, and a friend.

- i washed a 'load of laundry' .. by hand. this is something many romanians as part of their regular routine. i had washed an article of clothing periodically by hand, but never a whole load. it takes lots of energy! the rinsing and wringing out at the end sure can make one's hands tired and sore. and arms too. i'm glad that i have friends with washers, but it's good to experience this a bit.

- it snowed! just enough to dust the ground in the early morning, disappearing by mid morning. but nice that there is some actual winter and cold weather.

- we started doing a bit of waltzing with our kids (because there was the possibility of a dance performance. we are forgoing this one, but still plan to do something in the future). some of them already knew a little bit, and one in particular knows what he's doing, in terms of the basic step. he's graceful and quite light on his feet. nice to get to do a bit of dancing too. tomorrow we'll watch some videos from youtube and practice some more. hopefully i can find some slower music!

- watched 'a christmas story' this past weekend for the first time all the way through. my roommate has quoted a few things to me from it periodically, so it was nice to finally see where the quotes come from. it's not my favorite movie, and it's a bit weird, but certainly has some funny parts in it. and glad that i've finally seen it (more than the bits and pieces as i looked at what was on tv during the christmas season in years past).

- led team prayer. and used music to do it. listened to and sang worship songs, with specific people and places and requests in mind. haven't done that in a while, but i was amazed at the way it was so easily and quickly prayer and concentrated focus on God and what He's doing. glad that there are so many ways to pray .. and that we have a God who really does hear and respond.

a bit of sunshine

i've been surprised lately at how important sunshine can be. i returned from my trip to a week of cloudly, chilly days, and by the end of it my spirits were rather down. and it took lots of energy to get of bed in the mornings. then one day there were blue skies. it was amazing! i got out of bed a bit more easily, i could breathe more easily, i looked up periodically .. i felt refreshed somehow. it's been alternating the past couple of weeks .. some days there's bright sunshine and blue skies, and other days it's cloudy without any sun to be seen. i've been enjoying the sunshine whenever it makes an appearance.

to add insult to injury (meant in a not mad way), when i talked with my sister on sunday, she commented that her legs hurt. i asked why .. because she and her husband participated in an ultimate frisbee game the day before and she got sunburned on her neck and shoulders and back of her legs. somehow.. i didn't feel sorry for her. it's gonna be a while before i get a sunburn again. many many moons. ah well. there are things to enjoy here too .. like warm blankets and hot tea in the evenings and radiators that work and fun hats and scarves and wool sweaters and squash soup.

3 weddings (but no funeral :)

so .. recently i had the great gift of being able to be at a friend's wedding. it happened to be in turkey :) .. which means i also got to be in a new place and meet some new people and see new things and taste yummy new foods. after knowing my friend in college, it was wonderful to meet her parents and some friends, to be at her home, to spend time with her there. and also to meet her fiance (now husband) and his family.

as for the three weddings .. there was a legal one, a turkish one, and one in english. which meant there were also quite a few jokes about them being 'two-thirds married' and 'the third time you get married' and that sort of thing. one part of being there which was so encouraging was that we were all Family. so with all the things to be done, preparations to be made, setting up on the last day, preparing food for all the people there .. it all got done. an hour before the last wedding (which was outside at their house) i went to ask my friend's mom if there was anything else to be done, and she turned to me and said she couldn't think of anything. she went to check on one thing but that was it. what a gift .. so after people worked hard to prepare, the last hour before the wedding was about enjoying people, having good conversations, actually sitting down and taking a few breaths. a good gift from Dad.

i went expecting to watch the wedding from the audience. thursday night i asked my friend if i needed to be there for the rehearsal, and she turned to me with a sorta grin and said, "i guess i forgot to ask you... would you help serve communion at the wedding?" i gladly agreed, but we laughed together about that. then at the rehearsal, there was a song with an echo, and i knew it so was singing along with the man at the mic with his nice voice and guitar. oddly -- there was another microphone set up, but nobody singing. the song stopped and the groom said he was hoping somebody would sing the echo, and everybody turned around to look at me. so .. i ended up singing that song. and also the other ones that we sang at the wedding. very much a time of worship and celebration. and i certainly was involved!

and, of course .. there was dancing! i got to dance quite a bit .. a few swing dances (two with a guy who has had lots of practice and knows what he's doing!), some other random varieties, and even a sort of improved modern dance with my friend the bride. the people at the celebration exhibited some of the most freedom that i've seen in a long time in a community. like a big family .. so everybody danced, uncles and little kids and the bride and the groom and the cooks. good to see such freedom and real rejoicing.

perfect timing

i recently moved into a new neighborhood, and have been thinking and wondering about how to meet my neighbors. not an a loud american way, but in a more culturally sensitive (and personally appropriate) way. because romanians are fairly suspicious of strangers (a characteristic that was necessary for survival during communism), it's hard to meet people .. and to build relationship. especially with a foreigner who doesn't speak the language very well. but our Dad has a cool way of working things out .. in a way that does not bring honor to us but to Him. and that can help us trust Him more that He really does know what's best.

a few nights ago, i arrived home right before it got really dark. most of my thirty minute walk it was about 'dusk', and by the time i got home, it was getting past dusk to 'hard to see' and 'light in the sky but dark in the street. but when i got to the steps in front of the apartment block where i live, one of the kids that we work with was sitting there. he lives in the next building over (same building, different stairway, to be exact), and knows all the other kids and a fair number of the adults. he invited me to sit down, so i did .. and we had a nice 45 (or so) minute conversation. outside. so i got to meet a few of the other kids who came over to listen for a bit or to ask him a question or to just sit down and rest from a hard game of football (aka soccer). and some parents saw me sitting and talking to my friend. and i got to listen to some of his stories and how his day was and share what i think about imagination and hear some recipes. in fact, tomorrow he's coming over and we're going shopping and then he's going to teach me how to make bors. it's a sort of sour soup that romanians make. and it's very tasty. sounds like a nice way to spend a saturday afternoon to me!

house church .. and a cool image

this past thursday i went to house church for the first time in a long while. with the busy-ness of the summer and the traveling and activities, it just didn't happen (and there were a few weeks where it didn't happen because everybody was on vacation!). it was nice to be back. and surprisingly, it was only females (except for the leader and his son). the main topic for the evening was what questions we would ask Jesus if he came and pulled up a chair on our circle. i love that image. i know that when two or three are gathered together in His name, He is present .. but thinking of Him being present in such a tangible way can be helpful. we each wrote down some of our questions and then shared them. it was great to hear some of the things others wonder about. and it got me thinking .. so here are some of the questions i'd love to sit down and ask Jesus and get an answer for! (i know i can do that in prayer .. but sometimes i'm still learning to hear His answers well.)

what do you have me in romania to do?
how do you specifically want me to spend my time?
why do you give people and then take them away?
how can i love you better?
how can i speak truth to "lisa" in a way that she'll understand?
what are you doing in my neighborhood?
is it part of your plan for me to get married?

hmmm... as i am writing these, i'm realizing that i feel fairly vulnerable. questions reveal a lot about a person. and these aren't all of my questions. but some that i feel comfortable sharing. if you want to comment and add some of your own .. please do. maybe writing them and acknowledging them will allow us to hear better.

7 random things

long ago, amy over at experience imagination tagged me for a meme. and this particular one requires me to write seven random things about myself. and there are lots of random things to choose from, so ..

1. yesterday i played mafia with the jr high kids we work with, and i was the criminal three times in a row. and i don't even like mafia!
2. my ideal temperature is somewhere around 55 or 60 degrees .. cool enough to wear a sweater or long-sleeves and yet warm enough to be outside often
3. my inboxes collectively only have 24 emails at the moment
4. i could literally spend hours in a bookstore or library .. especially if the books are in english!
5. i have only ever dated one person
6. on average, i drink about 2 liters of water a day
7. for more than six years, i haven't lived in one place more than nine months

Rules: Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

as for those i am supposed to tag .. many people i know who blog don't do so very often .. so i'm gonna be lame and not tag anybody. sorry.

moving. again..

today is friday. wednesday and thursday my roommate and i packed all of our things and moved them into our new apartment. for a variety of reasons. the main one being that our previous landlady asked us to move even though we had the contract for another six months. so we have a new place. it's smaller and unfurnished, so we have a bit of work to do (like buying a stove and a couch and a few other things we don't already have; painting everything; and deciding what goes where and how to organize our space) .. but i'm glad to have moved.

last night my roommate and teammate was figuring out some details with our new landlord. he lives in italy 11 months out of the year, so it's pretty important that we get things figured out while he's still easily reachable. they went to the building facing ours to talk with the administrator and one of the kids we work with was outside and directed them to the right place. when he saw my roommate, he asked her what she was doing. she said 'moving' and his face lit up. he talked about us being able to visit each other and come over to ask for a cup of sugar or some eggs if we needed it .. that sort of thing. another kid came by and also got really excited. which is really good to hear and to see. we talk about this ministry we want to do being 'life-on-life' .. that as we live together and as neighbors we all grow together. and that somehow God is seen in who we are, not just what we do. and the fact that we are so much closer to our kids (almost next door to a couple) means that perhaps we'll get to have that much more impact. we might have less privacy and space than we'd like or than we think we need .. but boundaries are important, and God is good at giving each of us what we need -- even if it's not exactly what we want or think we need :)

as we adjust to the new apartment and discover new things about it and our neighborhood, i'll try to keep you updated. since it's unfurnished we actually get to make it our own. which we're looking forward to. when we looked at the place we just left the last day, not much had changed - because so much of the things there were the landlords and not ours. so having a place that is ours to paint and decorate and arrange and really make home .. certainly feels like a gift