Empty Month, Jam-Packed Days

Sigh. I've already spent an unreasonable amount of time on the computer sending well overdue responses to many emails. And since there is only a half an hour left of elderly club, I guess I am just going to bite the bullet of guilt and continue on with my long overdue blog post. As you can tell, life here has been incredibly busy. It's funny how the months we believe to be "down-time" months, with no major event planned, become days filled top to bottom. Anything imaginable can happen on any given day. There are two things in particular that have come to dominate my thoughts over this past week.
Friday morning, after the boys had gone to school, Karen and I headed over to our friend's house (the Mailat's). Liana and Emil are two friends that we have had the honor of getting to know over the past few months. Although we have a "forced" relationship because they are the "landlords" of our house, our relationship is anything but forced. We love to spend time with them. Often we can be found eating together and talking in Romanglish, teaching each other our native language. It's just always fun to see them. And along with Liana and Emil, we have gotten to know their boys, Lian and Andrei, and Liana's parents, "Liana's Mama" and "Tati". All of which are such a blessing to us. They are simply wonderful people. Okay, enough gushing, on with the story. Karen and I went over to cook with Liana's Mama. Both of us have always wanted to learn to cook Romanian food and who better to learn from than a retired restaurant cook, who knows everything about Romanian cuisine? Including how to make the best salata de bouf we've ever had. So that is just the thing we went to make! After enjoying a cup of coffee and delicious selection of homemade prajitura, we got to work. Step by step she showed us how to make this fantastic creation and by one in the afternoon, we had made a masterpiece. It was so much fun, and so tasty. It's difficult to fully explain, but it's almost like potato salad...just 10 times better. We had so much fun and learned so much that this week, we'll go back to learn how to make cozagnac. A traditional Romanian bread-like sweet. It's also delicious and I can't wait to hang out with Liana's Mama again. What fun!
Saturday was a jam-packed day as well. We had open gym with the Baragan teens, went to visit a new friend, then I had a birthday party to attend. It was another great day, but the thing that "hit me" most was our new friend. When we had the canned food drive, Karen met an elderly woman who lives in Baragan. Since then, we've gone back to visit her several times. A lot of the time we just sit and listen to this woman's amazing story. And it is a tragic, difficult, amazing story. She is such a strong individual and seeing her faith through all that she has been through, has been a poignant lesson. I couldn't help but feel my heart break a little as she continues to reveal the hardships her life has held. Often I find myself thinking that it's not fair, but I really don't know what else to think. I have grown to love these visits and love the small amount of joy we can bring her each week. I love singing in her little apartment and hearing the happiness in her voice when we tell her the next time we'll see her. I love that God is doing visible work in her life and bringing restoration. I just love her. What an honor to have her in my life.
So this week, please pray for our friend if you think of it. Her name is Lenuta.
Also, continue to lift in prayer our other ministries as well. In particular, the Tsigmadru kids club and teenage club could use your prayer. I think that as the new semester students come in, there will be some changes in the way they run. Pray for Nelutu as he has a huge responsibility in both these groups and I know it must feel overbearing at times. And pray ultimately, that God would continue to guide each day spent here in Romania.
Thank you for all you do for me! Your support means so very much.