Tonight: Christian classical music concert at the Eminescu Library. If I can find the entrance, we're in business!
This week: 3-day trip to Budapest with Liz. Bring it on!
This month: wrap things up here in Iasi and arrive back in the good ol' US of A on July 22nd.
Exactly two months from today: (Lord willing) Begin ACTS discipleship training in Yakima, WA.
And four months later, it's home again, home again!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
I came across an inspiring article in No Greater Joy this morning. It has to do with a rather difficultish topic: what to do with your life as a single person. It's something I've wrestled with (a lot) and I know I'm not the only one. *grins*
I still have so much to learn!
What I want in a guy!
By: A Young Woman, June 2009 www.nogreaterjoy.org
"I am a 22-year-old girl who has met and seen my fair share of couples. I’ve traveled a good bit and lived with/helped out different families doing mission work.
These experiences have helped me figure out who I am today, and have been instrumental in showing me what I need in a husband.When I was 17, my cousins and friends, who are a few years older than I, all started getting married. So I naturally thought, “Well, I guess I should get married, too, because it seems to be the next step in life.” But the guy I would have married then and the guy I would marry now are two completely different types of men. I didn’t even know myself yet, much less what I should look for in a man.
I think, as homeschoolers, we are raised with the idea that marriage is the next important step in the school of life. I believe that attitude limits a person. I want to do something significant with my life, including learning all I have a capacity to comprehend, all for the purpose of making an eternal difference. I encourage girls to think: What are your dreams, what do you want to do, what do you want to know? Get out and do something, whether it’s starting a business, (which could include homemaking skills) or buying a piece of land. Go help out a missionary for six months. It will give you a whole new outlook on life and an appreciation for missionaries! It will grow you, give you more confidence, and help you figure out what you need in a husband. Every man is attracted to a woman who’s busy with abundant life, someone who is on the front side of making things happen.
Years ago I was chatting with a married couple who are good friends of mine, and who know me well. They helped me to figure out what I personally needed in a man. I wrote a list that day of five things I most need in a man!
1. I know that I need a Strong Leader who’s not going to let me shove him around. I want someone who is going to stand up and be the man!
2. Yet I need someone who is Open-minded, who will listen to all my crazy theories about life!
3. He needs to be Passionate, so that whatever he does, he does it with a fire under his boots!
4. I want him to be Spontaneous, full of zeal about life, and not afraid to jump into an adventure. I am a very enthusiastic person, and I love to do things on the spur of the moment. I want to marry someone I can jump on board with!
5. And I must have a man who Loves and Honors God and is already actively serving the Lord and has a deep-seated vision for life. "
We girls all have our lists, of course. I do! We should know what we want, for heaven's sake, otherwise how are we going to know it's Prince Charming or just another froggie when someone tall, dark and handsome pops in?
But I really wanted to share this article because I think she's right on. Come on, girls! Let's do something with this precious time! There's a big world out there; let's walk in the grace given to us by God. Let's be daughters of Sarah, the woman who wasn't afraid. Who can harm us, if we are followers of that which is good?
~Kirsten
I still have so much to learn!
What I want in a guy!
By: A Young Woman, June 2009 www.nogreaterjoy.org
"I am a 22-year-old girl who has met and seen my fair share of couples. I’ve traveled a good bit and lived with/helped out different families doing mission work.
These experiences have helped me figure out who I am today, and have been instrumental in showing me what I need in a husband.When I was 17, my cousins and friends, who are a few years older than I, all started getting married. So I naturally thought, “Well, I guess I should get married, too, because it seems to be the next step in life.” But the guy I would have married then and the guy I would marry now are two completely different types of men. I didn’t even know myself yet, much less what I should look for in a man.
I think, as homeschoolers, we are raised with the idea that marriage is the next important step in the school of life. I believe that attitude limits a person. I want to do something significant with my life, including learning all I have a capacity to comprehend, all for the purpose of making an eternal difference. I encourage girls to think: What are your dreams, what do you want to do, what do you want to know? Get out and do something, whether it’s starting a business, (which could include homemaking skills) or buying a piece of land. Go help out a missionary for six months. It will give you a whole new outlook on life and an appreciation for missionaries! It will grow you, give you more confidence, and help you figure out what you need in a husband. Every man is attracted to a woman who’s busy with abundant life, someone who is on the front side of making things happen.
Years ago I was chatting with a married couple who are good friends of mine, and who know me well. They helped me to figure out what I personally needed in a man. I wrote a list that day of five things I most need in a man!
1. I know that I need a Strong Leader who’s not going to let me shove him around. I want someone who is going to stand up and be the man!
2. Yet I need someone who is Open-minded, who will listen to all my crazy theories about life!
3. He needs to be Passionate, so that whatever he does, he does it with a fire under his boots!
4. I want him to be Spontaneous, full of zeal about life, and not afraid to jump into an adventure. I am a very enthusiastic person, and I love to do things on the spur of the moment. I want to marry someone I can jump on board with!
5. And I must have a man who Loves and Honors God and is already actively serving the Lord and has a deep-seated vision for life. "
We girls all have our lists, of course. I do! We should know what we want, for heaven's sake, otherwise how are we going to know it's Prince Charming or just another froggie when someone tall, dark and handsome pops in?
But I really wanted to share this article because I think she's right on. Come on, girls! Let's do something with this precious time! There's a big world out there; let's walk in the grace given to us by God. Let's be daughters of Sarah, the woman who wasn't afraid. Who can harm us, if we are followers of that which is good?
~Kirsten
Friday, June 12, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Warning: She Waxeth Wordy
I kind of prefer pictures to words. Maybe you've noticed. But my camera is currently on loan to a dear friend, so words will have to suffice for now.
May.
My sister arrived in Iasi (Thea, in case you were wondering which sister) on May 5th and we spent some 2 to 2.5 weeks together. I actually have no idea how long it was. She left way too soon, yet it seemed like she was here forever because there is no way that all of the things we did could possibly have fit into 17 days. Highlights of her visit included laughing so hard we cried at Little Texas with Lilian, singing all of our old songs together in Spanish and Swahili and English, roaming the streets of Iasi every day, all day.
In her earnest endeavor to get Romanians to smile at her, we encountered one rather creepy gentleman who tried to get us to go for a ride to a museum (???) with him at something like 11:00 p.m. Nah...let's play the old "I don't speak Romanian" trick and whip out the old cell phone. Magic.
The first couple of days of her visit we spent largely with an extremely friendly feller called Iulian. They're a dime a dozen in these parts, but this one is special. He's a real estate dude and I was scouting out some apartments for no good reason. He speaks Romanian ridiculously fast, and the first day I couldn't catch where he said we were to meet him. So Thea and I showed up at the office at the appointed time and asked the guy there where the dude we were supposed to meet was.
"You have an appointment with an agent? What's his name?"
Thea and I just stared at each other. We had no idea. But then Mr. Remax himself called my phone...so I put his boss on the line and Mr. Boss explained where Mr. Remax was and we lived happily ever after. I think at every apartment we looked at he introduced us to the owner as "the tall, beautiful, athletic American girls." Nothing like letting people form their own first opinions. :P Once, when the four of us (realtor, owner, Thea, and I) were crammed into a tiny elevator that was most definitely meant for maximum of 3 people, the owner, a man of some 65 years of age somehow decided that Thea definitely spoke Romanian quite fluently and began excitedly narrating his sportive background (volleyball coach, I think) some four inches from her face (personal space means something different in an over-crowded "lift") in his slightly accented Romanian. Poor Thea just smiled and nodded and he never knew that she wasn't just as excited about his monologue as he was.
May was a month of firsts, as well. First time my parents visited me away from home. First time my Dad and my sister celebrated their respective birthdays on this side of the ocean. First time I've ridden a metro in a foreign country. First time on a train by myself. I daresay it was the first time most of my friends had met a girl taller than *gasp* 180 cm!
I am being sorely tempted right now to eat my last chocolate bar. But...then what will I do tomorrow when I'm tempted again?
The last couple of days (yes, I do know that it's June now. Well into June.) we've opened the house to studiers who have no place to study. It's been fun watching the green gate creak open and waiting to see which hardworking medical students will pop by today. I love making food for them--they're rather an exceptionally agreeable crowd, and it's a lovely opportunity to practice my basically nonexistent cooking skills. Tonight after dinner, Femi sat down at the piano and began playing worship songs. Within minutes, he was surrounded/joined by Issa on the shakers, Uche on the drum, Trevor on the guitar, Anita on the tambourine, and Christina on some other random instrument, and yours truly just filling in.
African worship songs + hyperactive, overstudied med students + random assortment of instruments = a truly memorable worship experience.
It's been a sweet time for ministry as well. The students are right in the thick of exam season, and we don't see them around as much, so Christina and I went to see some of them yesterday and we had a lovely time praying with them and delivering some goodies we found somewhere.
My tickets are booked! I'll be back in the good ol' US of A on July 22nd.
Prayer Requests:
*Wisdom in discerning God's will for the future/life post-July 22nd.
*That I would finish strongly here and be all here until I'm physically no longer here
*That the believers would set a good example during this high-stress exam season
Picnic at the Kosobuckis with Rovina and Kim
May.
My sister arrived in Iasi (Thea, in case you were wondering which sister) on May 5th and we spent some 2 to 2.5 weeks together. I actually have no idea how long it was. She left way too soon, yet it seemed like she was here forever because there is no way that all of the things we did could possibly have fit into 17 days. Highlights of her visit included laughing so hard we cried at Little Texas with Lilian, singing all of our old songs together in Spanish and Swahili and English, roaming the streets of Iasi every day, all day.
In her earnest endeavor to get Romanians to smile at her, we encountered one rather creepy gentleman who tried to get us to go for a ride to a museum (???) with him at something like 11:00 p.m. Nah...let's play the old "I don't speak Romanian" trick and whip out the old cell phone. Magic.
The first couple of days of her visit we spent largely with an extremely friendly feller called Iulian. They're a dime a dozen in these parts, but this one is special. He's a real estate dude and I was scouting out some apartments for no good reason. He speaks Romanian ridiculously fast, and the first day I couldn't catch where he said we were to meet him. So Thea and I showed up at the office at the appointed time and asked the guy there where the dude we were supposed to meet was.
"You have an appointment with an agent? What's his name?"
Thea and I just stared at each other. We had no idea. But then Mr. Remax himself called my phone...so I put his boss on the line and Mr. Boss explained where Mr. Remax was and we lived happily ever after. I think at every apartment we looked at he introduced us to the owner as "the tall, beautiful, athletic American girls." Nothing like letting people form their own first opinions. :P Once, when the four of us (realtor, owner, Thea, and I) were crammed into a tiny elevator that was most definitely meant for maximum of 3 people, the owner, a man of some 65 years of age somehow decided that Thea definitely spoke Romanian quite fluently and began excitedly narrating his sportive background (volleyball coach, I think) some four inches from her face (personal space means something different in an over-crowded "lift") in his slightly accented Romanian. Poor Thea just smiled and nodded and he never knew that she wasn't just as excited about his monologue as he was.
May was a month of firsts, as well. First time my parents visited me away from home. First time my Dad and my sister celebrated their respective birthdays on this side of the ocean. First time I've ridden a metro in a foreign country. First time on a train by myself. I daresay it was the first time most of my friends had met a girl taller than *gasp* 180 cm!
The last couple of days (yes, I do know that it's June now. Well into June.) we've opened the house to studiers who have no place to study. It's been fun watching the green gate creak open and waiting to see which hardworking medical students will pop by today. I love making food for them--they're rather an exceptionally agreeable crowd, and it's a lovely opportunity to practice my basically nonexistent cooking skills. Tonight after dinner, Femi sat down at the piano and began playing worship songs. Within minutes, he was surrounded/joined by Issa on the shakers, Uche on the drum, Trevor on the guitar, Anita on the tambourine, and Christina on some other random instrument, and yours truly just filling in.
African worship songs + hyperactive, overstudied med students + random assortment of instruments = a truly memorable worship experience.
It's been a sweet time for ministry as well. The students are right in the thick of exam season, and we don't see them around as much, so Christina and I went to see some of them yesterday and we had a lovely time praying with them and delivering some goodies we found somewhere.
My tickets are booked! I'll be back in the good ol' US of A on July 22nd.
Prayer Requests:
*Wisdom in discerning God's will for the future/life post-July 22nd.
*That I would finish strongly here and be all here until I'm physically no longer here
*That the believers would set a good example during this high-stress exam season
Picnic at the Kosobuckis with Rovina and KimMonday, June 1, 2009
Brasov and Bucharest
..Actually, Brasov. My camera died the first day of the trip, and I'd inconveniently forgotten to bring my charger. Nevertheless, I managed to snap a few photos of Brasov, a large city (300,000) in the Carpathian mountains, built by the Germans and near the home of the legendary Vlad Tepes, known colloquially as Dracula. Quite a safe place most of the time, apparently, but as our tour guide repeatedly warned us, vampires come down from the mountains at night to prey on American tourists.
Dedicated tourist seeks to understand secret treasure map
Those of you who have seen Iasi will appreciate this a bit more--in Brasov the old men play chess in the park in the rain because they have a fancy-schmansy roof.
This one is for you, Trevor. It's not a castle. Not really sure what it is, actually, but it's a cool building. There are a lot of these. Reason #2 why you should come to Romania. Reason #1 being of course that I'm here.
Orthodox church--somehow cleaner/whiter/brighter looking than Iasi orthodox churches.
Brasov is a city with a wannabe ego--they think they're the best city in the world, but they're really not sure, so they're gonna say "probably." I thought these two umbrellas were a contradiction until our tourguide enlightened us as to the fact that Kronstadt (Crown City) is the German name for Brasov.
Street in the German section of town
The sidewalks, oh, the sidewalks! Look at how wide! How smooth! And particularly note that there are no cars parked on the sidewalks! Oh novelty.
Dedicated tourist seeks to understand secret treasure map
Those of you who have seen Iasi will appreciate this a bit more--in Brasov the old men play chess in the park in the rain because they have a fancy-schmansy roof.
This one is for you, Trevor. It's not a castle. Not really sure what it is, actually, but it's a cool building. There are a lot of these. Reason #2 why you should come to Romania. Reason #1 being of course that I'm here.
Orthodox church--somehow cleaner/whiter/brighter looking than Iasi orthodox churches.
Brasov is a city with a wannabe ego--they think they're the best city in the world, but they're really not sure, so they're gonna say "probably." I thought these two umbrellas were a contradiction until our tourguide enlightened us as to the fact that Kronstadt (Crown City) is the German name for Brasov.
Street in the German section of town
The sidewalks, oh, the sidewalks! Look at how wide! How smooth! And particularly note that there are no cars parked on the sidewalks! Oh novelty.
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