Romania

If you haven’t heard, we are in Romania! It was a very last minute route change, but we’ve been here for about two weeks. We are living in Craiova and working with a man named Raul, who the World Race has partnered with for years. Last week we had debrief since we weren’t able to do that in Honduras, but our first week here we were able to go ahead and start working. In the mornings we gathered for prayer and then split off. A small group of people would help with the church’s online ministry while the rest of us packed bags with notebooks, food, soap, etc. for our afternoon ministry. In the afternoon, we would be split into multiple groups for various jobs. I’ve gotten to hand out the goody bags to people in different areas of the city, play soccer and basketball and go around and meet some of the youth with the youth workers.

It’s been great being back in Europe (before we knew we weren’t going to South Africa, I told Mom, Megan and Shelia that I hoped we ended up in Eastern Europe at some point during the race), but it has been hard.  I’m so thankful for my time in New Jersey, but I’m realizing that the week in the states is making it harder for me now. I’m craving comfortability and familiarity. I’ve been hopeful for various things lately, but it seems like I’m met most frequently with disappointments. But one thing I’ve learned/am still learning this year is how to just have a conversation with God. One day I was talking with Him about these disappointments and I’d like to share that with you.

I was listening to a song and in it it said “faith like a child.” In that moment I instantly thought of how much I believed in Santa when I was little. Even though I hadn’t been “good,” I still knew he would come visit me on Christmas morning. I would have presents I asked for. It wouldn’t be everything I asked for, but he would still bring lots of presents for me. God is the same. Obviously He is a lot better, but what I mean is that He gives us what we ask for even though we don’t always deserve it. It may not be everything we ask for, some we may never get, some it will be years later. But why is it so much harder to believe God is going to give us things than Santa?

And this is what God told me: Because I give gifts everyday, so they get taken for granted. They become expectations instead of blessings. Christmas presents from Santa come once a year- you get caught up in the moment. You feel as if you see more “disappointment” from me because there are more opportunities for me to say no or wait. But if you look at the whole year, who has given you more of the things you’ve asked for?

It’s definitely a question to think about. What HAS God given you over the past year that you’ve taken for granted?

I share all this to just ask for your prayers for me- that I trust God and His plans, that I find the rest and motivation I need, and prayers for my NEW TEAM!

At debrief we were given new teams again…so meet THE STRUDELS! Why The Strudels? It actually started as a joke of me saying we should have a family name, but then it came to have some deeper meaning. We are all different (like different flavored toaster strudels lol) similarly to people in families. And even when times get hard family chooses each other and that is the prayer for our team- that we fight for each other even in the hard times.