It's Not About Me

This blog post isn't about me. It's not about my next trip to Romania. It's not about raising funds. It may look like those things but it's not.

Yes, I am going back to Romania. In fact, I'm going very soon. May 30th to be exact. That means I have a little over 30 days to raise the $3000+ needed to go. Daunting? A little bit. But then I remember, it's not about me.

It's about this kid:

And this letter from him:
Dear Melissa,
I love you a lot and I miss you and can't wait to see you and I want to play with you and we can play together. And I know Jesus will help you come back quickly to Romania and you will play with all the kids and they miss you and I love all the Americans.

It's about the faith of a 13 year old orphan half way around the world and God's fulfillment of a promise He gave to that orphan.

This is totally not about me.

To help me fulfill this promise you can donate through my charity at www.eerop.org or through Heart to Heart International (http://www.h2hint.org/index.php/h2h/give/). Feel free to share with friends and others through Facebook and Twitter. Thank you for your faithfulness!

Chill Out

I have to say that I was a little worried about the transition back to life in the States after nearly 2 weeks in Romania. There is always the threat of reverse culture shock when you go between such diverse communities. In all honesty, I was dreading going back to the daily grind of paperwork and authorizations and commuting to work. That's why I've been so surprised at what actually happened. It seems that Romania was the giant chill pill I've been needing.

My dear friend Ciara (left) with Toader (a transition graduate) and Florin (from the transition program) and myself on New Year's Eve.

I haven't laughed so much or so hard in the past 6 months as I have in the last 2 weeks.

Getting new gloves for Christmas!

The boys were tickled over some of the gifts they got.

I've also been reminded to keep things in perspective. There are so many bigger issues in the world than late paperwork, denied insurance claims, and traffic. Keeping that in mind has allowed me to be sane during an insurance audit and functional while jumping back into seeing a full load of clients.

My teammate Lexi and Costica.

I'm so thankful that the transition back has been smooth. Even though I miss the kids and my friends on staff terribly I've been able to daily identify things I'm learning that will help me down the road. While I may not always be able to do that I'm trying to treasure those moments now to help me through the times when I wonder what in the world I'm doing with my life.

Daniel being sneaky. Or getting into trouble. Or both.

So, yeah, it's good to be home. For now...

Holidays in Romania

What a busy week! I arrived in Romania on Thursday afternoon and have been enjoying seeing all the kids and staff members again.

We helped one of the transition graduates and one of the current transition boys celebrate their birthdays.

Happy birthday, Florin and Sunny!

 I've had so much fun just being here with the other half of my heart. I feel like all the relationships I have with everyone are growing deeper each time I come. There is nothing better than having a gaggle of children run up to you yelling your name, grabbing your hand, pulling you in 5 directions at once, climbing on you, laying on you, jumping in your lap, kissing you on the cheek, hiding in your scarf, playing with your hair, joking with you, "whining" to you, laughing with you...

I don't know what I'm going to do in a week when I have to leave.