I'm here!

These verses describe my prayers for this summer:

Psalm 115:1 "Not to us, O Lord, but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness."

Psalm 119:33-37 "Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all of my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word."

Well, the 7 other interns and I arrived in Romania on Sunday night after about 30 hours of traveling that included electrical difficulties, missed flights, extra flights, and long layovers. However, God is good and it was in the end a smooth trip. On our first day we had some more orientation with the staff here, went to clean and set up the land and buildings that we will be using on a lot of Fridays with the kids, and then went on a group trip with Alina to the grocery store. Picture it - 7 Americans, a British girl (the 8th intern!) walking with one buggy and shopping in a crowded grocery store :) When we got home, Heather and I made spaghetti for everyone and learned as it somewhat fell apart in our mouths that the type of pasta you buy here matters! ha. I am being reminded constantly of why I love this place, the kids (some of which we finally got to see today!), and the encouraging community that the intern “family” provides. There is a bird living in the attic directly above mine and Samantha’s room, he loves to dance at night apparently and we have affectionately named him Archibald. I got my suitcase today! I had never hugged a suitcase before today, but there is a first time for everything. Also, we got to spend time at the baby hospital loving on precious, precious babies and toddlers who are desperate for affection – a beautiful (yet sad) second day back in Romania. We also got to visit with the LOC kids! They have grown so much and it was so great to be able to catch up with them. I shouldn’t say that I’m tired yet, because camp has not even started… but the jet lag is making us all tired.

Seeing the babies, kids, and meeting with the students that will be our translators all summer made for an extremely busy day, yet so many opportunities to get more excited about all that God is going to do this summer in so many areas.