YAY! COMPUTER!

So, many of you didn't know, my computer died. But, my little sister sent me a lap top she was no longer using. I am happily typing away at it. For about a month now my computer has died, then come back to life for 1 day...only to die again.
Thankfully though, this computer has worked straight for a couple of hours now. Yay!
God really provided for me with this lap top. I didn't have the money for a new computer.
The funny thing is, one of my team members wants our computer guy to fix up my dead computer for her. I'm happy to give her the old computer and let her try whatever she wishes. The thing is that our computer guy tried saving my computer about 4 or 5 times now since September so...not sure what would change that situation now!

Let's see...what has been going on for the past couple of weeks. Warm weather. It's about time. Or, not really seeing as it is February. The thing is, I'm a hot weather girl. Cold weather and I don't really get along - ever. Just not a fan of it. So having weather that means I can be outside without a coat on in FEBRUARY pretty much rocks my face off.
It's cold again though, as of tonight.
Everyone was going crazy in their gardens this week. Most Romanians have a pretty fair sized garden plot with their homes. It's what keeps them going through the winter since salaries are so low here. I think they were so excited to get a headstart on hoeing.
I kept meaning to everyday as well...I have a small little fenced in spot at the volunteer house that I call 'my garden.' Just too busy though - there's no time for any garden stuff right now.
: (

Child Protection visited my home! I should hear from Bucuresti within the next week or so on whether on not I got residency!

We have the Swedish construction people here now. They are continuing to work on our new volunteer house. They bring cooking ladies with them who cook for us and their team everyday. It makes me a *little* sad that I can't eat most of the food they make....Swedes are crazy about pork! Only 1 lunch out of the hundreds of lunches I have eaten over the years by these cooking ladies was made with Chicken. 90 percent of the time it's pork and the other 10 % is venison or moose. Which, is cool with me...they make really nice stews with it. They bring the meat frozen from Sweden. But the pork days are vegetarian days for Kels.

Let's see, let's see...2 weeks of no blogging....aaghghg, can't think right now. And, my back hurts from sitting at the computer since I really haven't had to sit in this chair at all for so long.
Need to get to bed.

Oh, speaking of bed - Caleb has a big boy bed now! Some friends donated the money and I went off to Oradea to buy the bunk bed I had seen there for such a good deal...200 RON. Only to find out they had raised the price to 500 RON. Grrrrreat. Caleb was so excited though about getting his big boy bed and saying goodbye to the crib that I couldn't tell him that we didn't have enough money for the bunkbed. So then, I saw a non-bunk bed bed for 156 Lei. That was the 20% off price because it was the floor model and it had a small mistake with the wood on the outside.
They took the bed apart and loaded it up into my car where I saw a lot more mistakes on the bed. That turned into a pretty nice sized argument between me and the furniture manager of the store. I showed her the new mistakes and asked her for a further discount. I mean, that's how it works...right? No, not in Romania apparently. She thought I was ridiculous for wanting a further discount. I told her that there were much more mistakes with the bed than the one that I was shown and from what the discount sign explained. She said "What, am I supposed to list everything wrong with the bed on that discount form?"
Ummm...yes, especially when you say that the discount was for a mistake made during transport. Which, was the one on the outside of the bed that I was shown before purchase. The further mistakes were from the guy who put the bed together for the show room model. There was no way the manager could have known about them. So, I was letting her know about them. These mistakes did not happen during transport - and the sign said the 20% discount was for mishandling during transport. Which, as I was explained to by the sales guy, was that scuffed up wood on the head board. To tell you all of her excuses of why I was wrong would take too long to type. I would say that 98% of the time the way of life and thinking here are things that I don't even notice anymore. But there's that 2% of the time where you just want to yell "AAAAGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGH!" It doesn't happen very often though...

What's Caleb's favorite part of the big boy bed? The 2 drawers underneath it that fit all of his books and cars inside! He's constantly opening, closing, opening, closing. Fine with me!
And, it's great because now he doesn't have to try and neatly fit his bed time books neatly on the shelf of our nightstand. He can just throw them into the drawer and shut it. Much easier, and a much happier Caleb : )

The lady that I told you about from Ciutelec...the one whose leg we prayed for. I finally saw her again yesterday. DO YOU KNOW WHAT SHE TOLD ME? THAT HER LEG WAS FEELING SO MUCH BETTER. She started crying and crying as she told me how much better her leg felt since we prayed for God to heal it.
God rocks.

Let's see....2 week update what else...
Oh yeah, back pain like crazy. Where the heck did that come from? I didn't notice any today so that was a really good sign. It was so bad - advil didn't touch it.
Well, actually there is back pain now : ) but that is because I'm hunched over answering weeks worth of e-mails.

Uhhhh, I think that's it for now.

Lydia Prince

I borrowed some books from a missionary friend a few months back. One of them was a book by Lydia and Derek Prince called "Appointment in Jerusalem." So last night I have a dead computer and still trying to keep up with no TV or movies so I started scouring my bookshelf. Found this one I just mentioned and read it straight from 8:30pm until midnight. I was so overwhelmed and ministered to by this woman's story that I had to stop reading at points and just pour my heart out to the Lord. This book only covers a 2 year period in her life...wish that it would cover her entire life, dang it. Although it's a short read it really confirmed a lot of what I have been learning about God and the Holy Spirit while here in Romania. It rocked, really. Maybe you'll read it and think "oh, that was a nice story." If you do that means you have probably grown up with, or are in, a church cultural background as I had for most of my life...which, didn't really include much teaching, embracing or desiring after of the Holy Spirit. That wasn't to say that the Pastor was like that (this is not criticism on you, Dad) but that "Holy Spirit" was saved for "those charismatics" (interesting blog of a Catholic charismatic!) in "those weird churches where people start barking like dogs." And, to be clear, my Dad never said those things : ) Those were the comments I heard from others. Even in Bloomington these issues weren't really touched on. That is, until a Bible Study with Chris and Anne the year before I came to Romania. We were studying 1 and 2 Corinthians together. So of course discussions came up around Chapter 12 of 1 Cor.
I would say our group was about 50/50. Some felt that the introduction of these specific spiritual gifts were not needed in the Evangelical church. Others felt that we have skipped over this chapter and wondered why they weren't a regular inclusion along with the other aspects of the Christian life. I was in this latter group. Before I knew God was saying Romania to me, I asked Him to lead me to a place where I could learn about these 'missing' aspects of the Holy Spirit in a healthy way. I just remembered this last night and began looking over the past year or so here in Romania...and most definitely He is bringing a huge response to this request!
But this month especially it has been a lot. I think reading this book brought all of the events and questioning to kind of a point of sorts. Bring it on Jesus! But, not before my heart is so overflowing with love that God deems it time to pour out other giftings on me. That's what the Spirit shoved in my face last night.
That love is the greatest, Paul spends more time talking about it than the other gifts and clearly states that love is the ultimate. So I told Jesus that He can give me the gift of tongues, or speak more prophecy through prayer with me....but first I want more love. I have a looooong way to go, that's for sure. When was the last time you actually read the description of what love is in 1 Cor? Check it out for yourself. We're supposed to want this love in us...very challenging. All I can say is this, my prayers have taken a turn (for the better : )) since last night. Still though, Lydia Price's story was extremely impactful. I believe every word, story, Holy Spirit experience re-told in that book. Why? Because I see God doing the same things here in Romania...and trust me, there have been no dogs barking yet. And, it has never once been "weird" : )

On a totally random note - HUGE PRAISES from today. Ministry at Casa Alba orphanage has been, well horrific at best, over the past week. Heading there this evening for the "before supper" devotions...I had no idea what to expect. God proved Himself the God of the impossible tonight with all 19 children WELL BEHAVED and LISTENING. I could not believe it, not 1 behavioral problem the entire night. NOT ONE. And, their hearts were open to the story I told about Daniel in the Lions Den. They PRAYED and LISTENED to each other PRAY tonight. We are talking progress in leaps and bounds after what has been going on there the past week. I walked home with a massive smile on my face...not due to any surprise roses or whatever Valentine's Day present you could think of...nope, all due to my Jesus who is battling over these kids' lives for me!

AND, this was really cool. At the old people's home today...Ciutelec. I got to share about Christ with a resident and then pray for her leg to be healed with two of the others on our team who go on Thursdays. She was crying out in pain when I passed her room...I didn't even think, just turned around and went straight to her. Thankfully one of the team members with me speaks Hungarian and was able to translate for me. This woman couldn't speak more than a few words in Romanian. She said the pain is so bad in her leg that she can't get out of bed and can't move in the night - much less sleep because the pain is so awful. This generation in Romania has had such difficult lives that I'm sure her millions of wrinkles are making her look much older than what she really is. Please pray for her.

Mama's Little Helper

Caleb wanted to help me do the cleaning a couple of weeks ago. Sorry, my computer is so ghetto and I haven't been able to download pictures in that long! Anyway, to your left you see him doing the mopping of the stairs outside of our apartment. We have to sweep and mop the landing and stairs 1X/week. I am standing in our doorway when taking the picture. Directly below is him vacuuming our entryway. Which, also serves as my office area. Because it's right there this area always is full of sand and dirt. We have to vacuum multiple times per week. Sweeping just doesn't do a good enough job!















Taking clean and folded laundry to the bedroom...














Insisting on putting our dryer rack away "all by myself Mom!!"

3 year olds and prayer...

So Caleb and Jesus have this special prayer connection. It leaves me speechless , literally. Or I start crying because I'm so amazed at the different ways God interacts with us.
I think Caleb sees answers to prayers - I don't know if they are visions while he is praying or if it's actually seeing things in front of him that most people don't see.
Maybe when he's older I'll be able to ask him more about it. I'm not sure he would be able to understand my questions about it at 3 1/2, so for now, I'll just keep praising Jesus for how cool He is! So, how does this work? I think giving an example is easier than explaining.
Two weeks ago a girl from my team went to court to continue the adoption process for her and her 3 kids she is trying to adopt. Her fiancee was also with her. Caleb and I were praying that morning that Jesus would bring peace to their hearts. All of a sudden Caleb starts, almost shouting, "He's giving it! He's putting peace in their hearts! Right now, He's coming down - I can see Him! He's coming down right now and putting peace in their hearts!"
That was the first time. Since then it's happened another 3 times.
Tuesday night at prayer at church he did the same things when we were praying for God's armor to be on all who prayed for healing that night. And, when a woman asked for prayer for her son who lived a life of violence (in her words) we prayed that God would put His love in this man's heart...Caleb, again, with shouts of joy proclaiming that He sees Jesus doing that exact thing at that very moment.
Yesterday, the same thing when we were praying for the healing of our neighbor.
It doesn't happen all the time, these 4 times have happened over the course of over 2 weeks so it's not an everyday thing.
It's incredible - Go God.

Sweden!

It's so crazy to me that traveling 1 hour and 45 minutes by plane can take you from Romania to Sweden! Or, from Hungary to Sweden. We live so close to the border that the 4-5 hour drive from Marghita to the Budapest airports is the best deal.
Two of my team members were married on Saturday so, I think, 13 of us ended up being able to go to their wedding. I had been asked to sing and the look in their eyes when they each heard the song they had dedicated to each other...whew, I was about ready to break down in tears during the songs!
They were married in the outskirts of Goteborg (Gothenburg for all of you) which, is really fun to say in Swedish. It has that nice Swedish accent to it that you would imagine the Swedish chef from the muppets saying! Super windy and temperatures ranging from "it's almost too warm to have a coat on" to "i've never had this many goosebumps on my body before."
Weddings in Sweden are really not at all like weddings in the States. This was my second one and I really like the way they do things. No bridesmaids, no groomsmen, no flowers in the church. Food is simple and the reception is all about skits, speeches, videos and fun things all planned ahead for months in advance for this day and for this couple. And, of course since they are like the #1 candy consumers in the world or something, the night always ends with a CANDY BUFFET. Yes, you heard me correctly, candy buffet.
The cool things was, that God was everywhere in the day. His presence was so strong during all happenings - ceremony and reception. It was incredible.
We bunked out in the bride's parents' home for the weekend and you would have thought that there wasn't even a wedding going on - that's how low stress there was. Note to self, when I get married - whenever that will be - I need to have this family plan the wedding!

On Sunday 2 cool things happened.
#1. I was able to go to church (click on church to see which one I went to!) and God really let me be vulnerable in that congregation. Sometimes it's hard here in Marghita to have a breakdown or ask people to pray for you about specific things, when you are the one supposed to be doing that for them. One of the pastors at this church prayed for me and it was...oh, i don't know how to put it. It broke me and brought healing to me and refreshed and encouraged me. And the worship was so intimate. I really am so grateful for what God provided and gave to me through that service Sunday afternoon.

#2. I got to eat KEBAB PIZZA (this link is one I found online - the one I ate was a little nicer looking : ) ) again. My last trip to Sweden was a couple of years ago and I tried Kebab Pizza for the first time then. We found this hole-in-a wall pizza place after church and I was able to order it. It's incredible. *Sigh* Kebab Pizza. It's a pizza with Gyro meat all over it and then you put Tzatziki sauce on top to finish it off.