Some fun pictures...

The things you see going through the McDonald's Drive Through after church....

This morning Dani and Caleb called me from cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast

to come and see their hiding spot.

I grabbed my camera and was able to catch them as they popped out. It was hilarious!

Thursday Info

No residency today - or at least for the next 6 months. Stuff got seriously jacked at the police station here in Oradea and last December they never sent my file to Bucuresti, like they were supposed to. If you want the full story then contact me and I'll send you the e-mail with the long version!

Under my links area to the right of this page you'll see a link for "Alisha and Gyula."
Click on it and you'll be taken to Alisha's blogspot page (she's a missionary here who's currently in Canada for awhile with her son, Gyula.)
The reason why you should go to her blogspot is because she has a video posting there that I think you would find really interesting. Sad, but interesting. The people on the video are speaking of the state orphanage in the village of Popesti, where we have a team of missionaries working. Those speaking are from a summer team that comes from Colorado to do camp for those kids each summer. I know it's short but it gives you a peek into what life at a state orphanage is like. Please take a minute to watch it!

Pentru Mami (Helena)

Dear Helena,

Just so you know your little boy is doing great and fine and he slept all throught the night!
Caleb waited about 15 minutes after he woke up before "Roaring" Dani awake. He didn't give me any of that "I'm too tired, I want to sleep more" business that he pulls on you!
And, the bed was dry this morning! Two bonuses in a row!
He was sad that he couldn't sleep with us tonight - he didn't want to sleep up in your apartment actually. "But WHY Kelsey, WHY can't I sleep here?" And, he told me, "Am dormit foarte bine aici Kelsey!"
At Herculane today, Kari and I cooked, and the only time he mentioned you was when I made him and Caleb play outside. He didn't want to stay outside and gave me a little look and along with that look said "Vreau cu Mami!" I immediately told him that "Mami" would be making him stay outside as well so it didn't matter. It was hilarious though that he was just trying to work a little deal there!
He told Caleb how excited he was to be with Eta tonight because they would buy candy together. Caleb asked "for me?" and Dani quickly corrected him! More smiles...
He was really excited to be with Martin in the depot some this afternoon, especially after having to 'stay outside' all morning : )
Well, that's the update for today!

Love,
Kelsey

Patience

Fruit of the Spirit is Patience or the Fruit of Romania is Patience? Not sure which one God really meant in that Galatians 5 passage!
FCE's social worker was supposed to go and check up on my residency situation last week. She didn't go so sent another FCE worker to check up on it. He was so sick that when he got to the appropriate building he was only able to finish half of his to-do list before coming home. My residency issues were on the other half of that list. So, I called the social worker today and said "Listen, I really need to have this resolved soon. Because, if I don't, then I will have to apply for a new Visa and spend 100 Euro on that. If I find out, after getting the new Visa, that I in fact was granted residency then I will have wasted 100 Euro. I don't have 100 Euro to waste!"
She tells me that she is planning on going to Oradea to check up on it either tomorrow or Wednesday. That is, unless if she decides to be hospitalized for a serious sinus infection which, is what the doctor recommended her to do this morning. They do this type of procedure on her nose while she is there - it's really awful. Not so sure how current that procedure is actually but that's another story. Anyway, so we finally decided that if she doesn't go to Oradea tomorrow (opting for the hospital) that she will leave the documents on the desk and I can go this week on my own to figure it out.
Ay yai yai....the patience required is out of control sometimes!
It's not her fault she's sick, not the fault of the guy last week being sick...it's just that I have now been waiting 8 1/2 months to hear if I got residency or not. My letters are not being responded to and they are 2 months overdue on this whole deal anyway.
(aaaarrrghghghg!!)

I was so bummed, yesterday in church the worship leader announced that a worship conference was being held in Timisoara (a large city about 3-4 hrs. south of Oradea) this Tuesday through Thursday. I can't go. This is the week that I promised to watch my friend's son so that she could go to Sweden for a week. I'm not upset about watching him - Caleb and I love having him here - it's just frustrating that these 2 weeks had to collide. I asked the worship leader why he didn't announce it sooner and he said he had only just found out about it on Saturday himself. Somehow e-mails got lost and so it was last minute for him as well. It's been so long since I've been able to go to a worship conference - and this would be one for worship stuff in this country - so awesome! But, God knew that these weeks would collide long ago so I trust Him that there's a good reason why He doesn't want me at that conference!

Flying a Kite for the First Time!

Mom and Dad brought Caleb a Spiderman Kite...he LOVED it.

Update before the Update

I thought I'd give you a little peek into what is going on this week - the first week back into 'ministry' schedule after taking 6 weeks off over the past 2 months.

So this week Caleb and I have headed up to Casa Alba every day for some hours. I need to get back into the lives of these kids, regain my authority with them, establish my presence there on a more regular basis again. The kids are going through a really rough period right now, everything that they can do with their words and wills to disrespect authority, they are doing.
I don't think I've ever seen all of Casa Alba like this before, more times than not it's just 1 room that's pushing the lines of authority. As I've been up there this week I found out that the entire bottem floor (a huge playroom, an art room and a TV room) are being taken away from Casa Alba so that FCE's handicapped school can expand their program. It's a win-lose situation. I understand the need that the school literally has no room for the 2 new classes that they'll have this year. At the same time, that leaves Casa Alba with only 1 upstairs playroom.
A hard situation - what is the school supposed to do, what is Casa Alba supposed to do?
We actually rent the Casa Alba building from the Mayor and now he said that he wants to take back the bottem level - leaving Casa Alba and the School without any options.
Everyday it seems there is a new story going around and someone's opinion has changed. Not sure at this point (Friday Morning) what will be the final outcome. What I do know is that the program I do with the kids at Casa Alba meets in that downstairs area. I am not sure how we will manage to do the program if that downstairs area is taken away from Casa Alba, or if the school is given the space. Please pray for a good solution!

The program at Casa Alba will be expanded this year - as I'm planning to go 4X/week. I'm also going to be spending some of that time doing 1 on 1 time with Aranka, the child I spoke about in my last update. Yesterday I took her and Alex to the park and then brought them back to the apartment for snacks and play time. They both played really well with Caleb, and he was really good at sharing his toys!

If Caleb were to give you an update on himself he would say that this week he is really into:
1. Being sneaky and climbing into Mom's bed after he is put to bed in his own bed.
2. Raffi's "Bananaphone" song - he wants it played over and over and over again!

I'm cooking for the team tomorrow, going to test out a new lemon pie recipe that I have. I think also that it's time for some fried chicken - haven't made that in awhile!
Sunday, we'll head to church and then that evening Dani comes over for a week stay. Dani is the son of one of the missionaries here, and he and Caleb are like brothers. He'll be staying with us while his mom heads to Sweden for a week of rest! Not sure how much sleeping will actually get done with the 2 of them having sleep-over each night : )

Read all of the directions before picking up your pencil...

That's what teachers say in school right? Well, I should have applied the same advice when it came to this Residency Letter that I wrote about the last time.
The deal is this...
That letter only came from the Oradea Authority for Foreigners. The people making the decision on my residency are from Bucuresti. I think what happened is that when I dropped off my letter "demanding a decision" to the Oradea Office (they send it on to the Bucuresti office) they didn't understand why I was asking for a decision on residency when I haven't lived here 5 years. (5 years is the requirement to apply for Residency.) So, they just sent me a letter saying "Hey, we checked your Visa 'file' and you haven't lived here for 5 years so no, you can't apply for Residency."
If they had looked closer they would have seen that it has been since last DECEMBER that I've been waiting for a decision, and that I applied with special permission to apply early (before the 5 year mark.)
I'm not sure they sent my letter demanding an answer to Bucuresti afterall since they didn't look closely enough as to why I was asking.
So the deal is that letter needs to get to Bucuresti - needs to move past this Oradea office.
That is the plan for this week - get that letter to Bucuresti!

Residency...orrrr No...

I got an official little letter today telling me that I will not be granted residency. Fun.
18 month process ends with a No. Their only reason was that the law states that you have to live here 5 years with an uninterrupted Visa before they'll grant it to me. Interesting how that law hasn't been an issue with the 4 other people I know who have received residency over the past year or so. But, you know what? I'm doing pretty okay - and actually really excited about how God is going to bring about this adoption in the end. I believe that is what He has called over my life and Caleb's so I have to continue to believe that it will work out. To say that there's no fear at all in my heart would be a lie but there is hardly any there - and that is the honest truth. It's awesome how a good chunk of prayer can take care of that...
So, the saga continues! I'll meet with the social worker this week and she and I will decide what our next step should be. I think a letter back arguing my case would help but we'll decide that on Monday/next week.

Grandpa and Grandma!

Are here! Pretty excited about having my parents here and, not to mention, the really fun stuff they packed their bags with. One of those items I have been waiting for since the middle of June, a battery charger for my digital camera! So, hopefully, I can start posting more pictures on here again.
On a side note, the hospital which has been empty of babies for months now, has 2 - expecting another one today. The 2 in there now are 'just sick' but it's still sad that the parents won't stay with them during treatment. The little one is 2 1/2 weeks old, just 3 pounds and wasn't gaining weight at home. So, they sent her back to make sure everything was okay. Still though, why doesn't the Mom stay with her? There are rooms and beds designed for them to stay...
There is a severely handicapped 2-3 year old girl as well who has just arrived. Apparently she had TB and Meningitis and now the entire left side of her body doesn't work properly. The story is that the Mom doesn't want her but the Dad and Grandma do. The Dad and Grandma were up visiting her actually the other day. Not sure right now what the outcome will be for this little one! And, there is a newborn that has been abandoned and was supposed to arrive in our abandoned ward 2 days ago so we are thinking he/she will come today.
Please pray for these little ones, especially that their time in the hospital will be SHORT!

Summer almost over...

This summer I took off and really rested. Today I felt myself getting to the end of my rope with not 'going to work.' I even refrained from writing down plans and ideas for this coming year in ministry at Casa Alba and with my team - that was the hardest to do. Then, this week, I really felt the Lord leading me to start writing and scheduling. Know what I started with? A list of goals. I listed goals for each ministry area as well as myself. I already feel more secure when looking towards what God is asking me to do knowing I have a focus point around everything that I'm planning. Pretty pumped about this!

And, I also heard the Lord ask me to do something pretty crazy - I'll share about that in my next update. When I asked him "How God?" He responded quite immediately with a lot of what I'll need to accomplish that. It was awesome! (And will continue to be too....)

Church has been, as usual, very adamantly and radically teaching us as a congregation about how our faith can be increased. I want that - I want a bigger faith, more trust in God.

And, I especially want that in what He desires to do through me this year through the kids and people I work with. I also want to begin sharing His light throughout the people that live in my apartment bloc. Normally I have no problem talking to strangers as God leads, or praying for people on the spot - no problem. But for some reason I have such fear when it comes to those who live in my building. Today I thought - man, I so feel the battle over me today...I figure that if there is this much resistance and Satan is giving me this much fear then God must want to do some amazing revival with the people who live in this building! Please pray that I overcome this...

Anyway, a little glimpse as to what has been going on with me over the past few days/summer etc...

One Last Car Thought...

Okay, so a little clarification. Those friends from Sweden will not be buying the car for me with their own funds, rather the funds I am raising for the car. I realized that could have been a little confusing after what I wrote last night. So, I'm still raising money for a car (as I mentioned in the update I sent out the other day) but will transfer the money to them once funds are raised and a car is found!
Almost "check, check, check" off the car list : )

Car Update

This morning :
"God, why can't someone just buy the car for me in their name and drive it to Romania for me? I am so frustrated with trying to find a car and having to register it here!"

(to register a car here in romania i would have to pay almost the same amount spent on it - if the car is older than 2 years - to register it here. are you kidding me? if someone buys the car for me and registers it in their name in their country, i don't have to register it in romania.)

This afternoon :

"Oh Kelsey (friends who I contacted months ago about looking for a car for me in Sweden but never heard anything back), we've been looking for cars for you for months now! We found some that we really like but we were just too busy these past couple of weeks to get it worked out so that we could DRIVE IT DOWN HERE for you on this trip. If you pay the gas money though, we'll drive the car down for you next trip we make!"

Prayers answered : Check, check and check!