Updates

So I have been hounded like crazy for not posting anything on here in over two months. SO here you go.  This is absolutely nothing serious.. just a funny story, then some updates about me.

Have you ever been sitting in your house, heard a loud thump against one of the windows and realize that it was a bird? I have and it always scares me, at least momentarily. After I realize what happened, I always find it funny that a bird flew into a window. I don't really know why but I find it funny. Sometimes I like to think about why the bird wanted to fly inside? Was it because it was pretty inside? Warmer? Why did that bird decide to try to fly inside? Or was the bird blind? I have yet to figure out the answer to that question.

I was walking back from class yesterday just minding my own business, listening to music, and just in my own little world. AsI got closer to my apartment, I was looking at the lake off to the left and thought to myself, "I should probably watch were I am going." So I turned to look at where I was going, took a few steps, and SPLAT. I had a bee fly directly into the left lens of my glasses. This bee died and fell straight to the ground leaving a bit of bee residue on my glasses. It scared me more so than the bird flying into the window. However, I have been asking myself many of the same questions.

SO updates on Kevin. I am glad to be back in the states. I have been going back to the foster home since I got here and I LOVE it. I am in the process of talking to the nursing home here to go hang out and talk with old people and I cannot wait to see what happens there. School is going well. Classes are going well. I have been reading Philippians and I LOVE it. That's really about all that is going on in the wonderfully, magnificently, boring life of Kevin.

Dance

Dancing. It is something that we all do. Good or bad, we all dance. I love driving down the road listening to loud music and dancing. Playing drums on my steering wheel is on of my favorite things to do.

Dancing is something that we go do for fun. It is a from of entertainment. There are different types of dances for different types of people. TV even has a show about dancing with famous people. I want to tell you about dancing with a famous person.

This past week I was in Odessa, Ukraine working with four students to develop the arts of clowning as a use for children's ministry.  They learned every thing from magic tricks to skits to juggling in the mornings. And in the afternoons, we would go to different orphanages, hospitals, or parks to practice. (I was not a clown for most of the week because  I was taking pictures for everyone.) There were two places that we went that really got my mind rolling. The first was a hospital for physically handicapped children. As I took pictures and watched these kids smile I found myself in awe of them. I wasn't staring awkwardly. I wasn't turning my back ashamedly. I was smiling because of the joy they possessed despite the difficult times they face.

The second place that will be embedded in my mind forever was the Down Syndrome Orphanage that we visited on Monday. This time, I was talking to Kate (a Ukranian) about her experience there. Tearing up she told me this story.

"I was playing with one little girl who has never been able to walk. She has been in a wheel chair her entire life. As the puppet team was singing its last song, she asked me to dance with her."

So they danced.

I can only hope that through all the adversities I face in my life that I can dance. I pray that we can be filled with the same joy that David had when he was able to bring the ark into the city of David.  He danced before the Lord because he knew that he could not bring the ark into the city with out the Lord.

These children understand that there isn't much they can do without the help of others, and when this girl had the opportunity, she chose to dance.

I hope that we choose to dance with joy for the Lord because we know we are incapable of doing anything without Him.

Follower

Well, it has been a while since I have posted. We had camp this past week and it was absolutely incredible! There is nothing better than spending an entire week with kids and just loving on them and having a GREAT time! I have a couple of stories I want to share with you all from camp.

For those who don't know me, I love to give high fives and fist pounds. One of my favorite things to do with all the kids is to come up with a handshake with them. So throughout the week, different kids and I come up with new handshakes. Well, I met this one little 11 year old girl who is absolutely adorable. Her name is Stefania (pictured below), and we came up with a very simple hand shake and did it all the time.

On Thursday we went on a hike, like we always do. I was carrying a bunch of water and walking at a pretty fast pace. Stefania stayed right by my side the entire way up. If I stopped to fill up someone's water bottle, she stopped and waited with me. When I started walking again, she started along right by my side. If she got in front of me, she would look back just to make sure I was there and then wait for me to catch up. On Friday night, we had the invitation as we normally do, and she was on of the people who made decisions to follow Christ. There is just something about seeing someone you know, especially a child, come to know the Lord. I am so very proud of her.

The team from Florida had to leave on Friday night to get to the airport on Saturday morning. So Ade and I went with the team on Friday night. The kids don't go home until Saturday morning so we missed out a little bit with the kids but Friday night is probably my favorite memory of all. After worship, I had to go up to my cabin to pick up my bags so I could leave.  (The boys pictured to the left were in my cabin along with two others.) As I got up to my cabin, all 5 of them were waiting there crying . They all ran up to me and hugged my legs and gave me different crafts that they had done throughout the week. As I finish giving all of them hugs, I hear some people outside calling my name. I thought it was time to go. So I pick up my bag and one of the boys takes it for me. I walked out and there were 15 to 20 children waiting at the bottom of the stairs to give me a hug.

I don't understand it. I never will. I simply come to love on kids, and they end up teaching me much more then I can imagine.

For those who are praying for me, we are traveling to Ukraine tomorrow morning and I am very excited about that. Health has also been an issue this past week. Ade wasn't feeling good on Thursday morning, I was throwing up and had a bit of a fever on Thursday night, and so health and energy are ways we need prayer the most right now. I thank all of you very, very much!

Whats my name?

Yesterday, I decided to push back some funny stories to blog about my Dad. Well here goes some funny stories from Sunday.

After church, we drove to Cluj, which is about a two hour drive, to see Becky's mom. The ride was pretty uneventful except for some gorgeous views and some crazy Romanian drivers. Once we saw Becky's mom, Ade wanted to go to the mall in Cluj to go shop. So off to the mall we go. None of us really knew where the mall was, but we had signs to follow that got us there easily.

Once inside, Randy and I had to use the little boys room and the signs to the restrooms were not so easy to follow.

We searched and searched for the signs to the restroom and finally found one that had an arrow pointing ahead (there was a hall leading across to some more places to shop), so straight it was. The next sign pointed left. Left it was. Next up was another sign telling us to turn left. we keep walking and come to another sign, just across the hall from the first one, that told us to go straight. So we walked around the block to get to the restrooms when we could have just cut across the hall.

On our way back from Cluj, we had a Romanian GPS. That should pretty much tell you everything you need to know. We got lost up on top of a mountain in Cluj trying to find our way back to Oradea. The GPS took us in a giant circle which was quite hilarious.

And finally, this story comes from the beginning of the day. The churches here almost always ask us if we have something to say to the congregation, so since I have already been here for a summer, I knew this. Randy and I had prepared our talks earlier Saturday and were ready to speak if they asked us to.

In church here, they have a time where members of the congregation can get up and sign or speak about whatever they have been learning. Well, we were supposed to end this time up. So, after a while, Randy gives me the nudge to get up and go speak.

I was nervous. (quite possibility an understatement)

I got up there, said pace (pache. it means peace. thats how members of the church greet each other) , and started into my talk.

There is one thing I forgot to do, and it is a pretty important part.

I forgot to introduce myself

I never told the congregation who I was or what I was doing in their church. In the states, that might not be such a big deal, but when some guy gets up and starts speaking English in a Romanian church, people want to know why he is there.

After I finished, I settled back into my seat and Randy walked up and introduced me for me. It was at that point that I realized what I had done and I just buried my head in my hands and laughed.

I forgot my name.

Father's Day

I have many funny stories to tell from today here in Romania, but they are going to have to wait. Today is a much more important day back in the States that I have missed for the last two years now.

Father's Day.

I could go on and on and on about how great of a Dad I have. Many of you know my dad in person and know that he is one the hardest working people around. My dad will do anything for anybody at seemingly anytime and I do not know how he does it.

He works night and day to provide for our family. He is tired almost all the time. But he does it because he loves his family more than anything in the world, including himself. My dad loves the Lord with all of his heart and has instilled within each one of us (Tim and Noelle) that same desire to have a growing relationship with our Heavenly Father.

As I think back to all the times I have had with my dad, I think about the times we have played catch in the yard or the times we have done the paper route together. I think about what an incredible example he has been for me.

Dad,
Thank you.  Thank you for all the times you have loved me when it wasn't easy. Thank you for teaching me that God is my Father. Thank you for all the late night paper route times. Thank you for you. I miss you, Dad. I love you.

Journey's in Romania

I have been troubled by the thought of going on yet another mission trip for the last few weeks. Every time I would talk to someone, I would talk about the mission trip I was going on. For whatever reason, unknown to me, the word trip bothered me.

As I have thought about it, I could not figure out why the word trip bothered me. Until I had a conversation with a friend from the states on facebook just yesterday.. err Thursday. I jokingly greeted this person by saying whats up slacker, because with the time change it was late morning when they woke up. This person replied, "slacker? who's the one on facebook while on a mission's trip?"

I responded with, "this is also where I am living for the next two months." After that, the conversation quickly turned into catching up and such. But that part of the conversation has been eating away at me for the last day or so.

I keep going back to the word trip. I have come to realize that I am not on a trip right now. I am living here. I am not on a vacation here. I am living here. Whether it's for two months or five days. I am living here.

I have come to see why the word trip bothers me. And it's because the word trip implies that I am doing something different that what my daily routine calls for. And in this case, that something different is serving the Lord with everything I have.

As Christians we are supposed to live out our faith. If I am living out my faith, should there be any difference, other than location, in my daily routine while on a mission "trip"?

Serving the Lord is our mission. Serving the Lord is what we live for no matter the location - Romania, Kenya, India, Japan, America. I no longer am on a mission trip, instead I simply see myself as on a journey living in Romania

My question to you is are you living out your faith on a day to day basis, or do you go on mission "trips" to serve God? And maybe, just maybe it's because we go on mission "trips" that we often revert to life as normal with in two weeks.

P.S. This is part of the reason I love Romania. This is what I go to sleep to every night.

Lion's pit.

I am reading a book together with Randy called In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day. The first chapter is about a passage of scripture in 2 Samuel 23:20-21. A man named Benaiah chased after a Lion.

How strange is that? If I were to see a lion face to face in the wild, I honestly would probably wet myself and run in terror. This man Benaiah however, had a desire to chase after the lion and seize it. Benaiah was not afraid. He knew that His God was watching over him.

I think too many times we, myself included, have the opportunity to see God move in a mighty way, but because we are afraid of what it requires we miss out. This book is going to be good I do believe. There is a question on the back that reads, "What if the life you really want, and the future God wants for you, is hiding right now in your biggest problem, your worst failure, your greatest fear?"

That was very uncomfortable to think about. So, I ask you all to think about it with me. What are your thoughts on that? Are you willing to chase a lion?

An update on camps and such, today went incredibly smooth. We were able to get all the reservations made until the first week of August so that was very nice. Now, we start getting all of the supplies for camp ready. Randy and I are leading games in the first so we need to come up with all of the games. We are also having to pack for Ukriane because a day and a half after this first camp ends, we fly to Ukraine for 8 days.

Randy, the whole Romanian team, and myself are very thankful for your daily prayers.