Back to Being a Baby

Carolyn and I are two weeks into our four-week intercultural communication course; this is the course that meant to is prepare us to live in a brand new culture.   The further we get into this course the more we are learning how much we have yet to learn.  We are continually learning of precautions that I had never considered, and if you remember my blog post from last fall, you may know that I like to plan for everything.  So being told of many things that I did not plan for feels mildly alarming.
 
I have come to the realization that Carolyn and I are more or less going to start over and become babies again.  When we arrive in Romania we will not know how to buy food to eat, and when we do find food we may not know how to cook it.  We will need to learn how to find a place to live, and pay our bills – we won’t even know what bills we need to pay much less how to pay them.  We won’t know how to hail a taxi or pay for a bus ride. (We will still know how to walk, so that’s a bonus!) We will have to relearn everything. So much for planning again.

Our First Romanian Church Service

This last Sunday, Carolyn and I had the opportunity to attend a Romanian Baptist Church for Sunday worship.  First off, I must say that we had an absolutely wonderful experience.  We were so warmly welcomed by the entire congregation; both adults and youth greeted us with smiles and open arms.  We participated in Sunday school with the youth, attended the first service, were invited to lunch, and then came back for the evening service.  And I suppose it’s important to mention that the majority of these events happened in Romanian!

When we first arrived at church Carolyn and I were pretty nervous, not knowing what to expect. Upon walking into the front door we were greeted by several people, who all initially spoke to us in Romanian. They figured out quickly that we didn’t speak a bit of Romanian, I assume based on the blank stare on my face, and many switched to English to converse with us.  We shared who we were and why we were visiting.  After several minutes of meeting new friends, we were invited to attend Sunday school with the youth.

Selah

Recently we have seen God’s hand at work in our (former) cat, and it has been a reminder of His faithfulness to us. It has made a few parables become more real to us than ever before. 

Selah, was a cat that I got when Dan and I were still dating. “Selah” is the pause in a song (Psalm) when it’s time to stop and reflect. Our Selah, true to her name, has provided many opportunities for us to stop and reflect on God’s goodness and mercy. It broke our hearts when we needed to give away our cats as a result of preparing to move overseas, but through this God has once again given us reassurance of His love. 

Shortly after we gave Selah to her new wonderful owners, she disappeared and it was believed (because of a broken window screen) that she had gotten out. It amazed us how much effort her new owners (and all their friends and family) put into searching for Selah. It reminded me of the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15 when the shepherd leaves all 99 of his other sheep to search for the one that has wandered away. The search that went on for Selah amazed us. They put out posters, walked around the surrounding area for a few nights in a row, contacted all the vets and shelters in the area, went door to door asking neighbors if they’d seen her, set out cat traps, and used security cameras to try to track her down. Meanwhile, we were all heartbroken and praying that God would provide for her wherever she was. Selah’s new family was determined to never stop searching for Selah until she was found.