Jenn's post for 1/1/07

We've made a little change. For blogging purposes - Emily & I are going to enter 2 entries a day - one mine and one hers - sometimes it is hard to write together because we both have different thoughts.

Here we are - still alive :). Isn't it beautiful?!

Ionica and Jenn - hehe Ionica does not know ANY english haha but we still communicate some how. its funny. he laughs with us :)

Diona and Emily - Diona is one of the girls we have gotten very close to. She is a sweetheart.

The two cutest, most in love couple that Emily & I adore. Mom Viorica & Dad Nikki.


Emily, Castansa, Jenn, Nikki - at church!


Emily & Toni -
pray for toni. he is precious. we love him. he often gets thigns stolen from the bigger guys at the orphanage. him and emily were talking and he said he didnt have a jacket - so we get to buy him one tomorrow. he works so hard and emily & i are so excited Jesus showed us this opportunity. pray no one would take it from him. pray that we would get to encourage him and love him. he is precious to us.

Jenn & Toni - we all went to McDonalds after church!


wow. Words cannot explain how i feel right now. I'm overwhelmed. I'm saddened. I'm so happy. I'm confused (with language barrier). I understand. I'm frustrated. I'm peaceful. I feel at home. I feel far away. Its strange.

God is so good. I feel as though now, day four ( i think), He translates in my heart the words that people are saying. I dont feel weird around Romanian anymore becuase i havent heard anything BUT that for four days. However, its weird - sometimes (often times today actually) I just "knew" what they were saying. Granted I have context and watch nonverbals - but its just so neat that God is bigger than language barriers.

I wanted to ask for prayer though.

Today we got to deliver our first stash of presents. Romanians do not show happiness on their face in the same way "americans" do - but as they were opening their presents; nikki said "ohh they are so happy." thank you to all who donated crayons, books, knitted items, money, and more. they LOVED it. its crazy to me that when asked what is the one thing you want if you can have anything - kids would say "underwear" "toothbrush" "shampoo." wow. we are so blessed in america.

Speaking of faces - its funny. Emily & I always ask the kids"can you tell we are american????" they always say "da! da!" (yes! yes!) haha. HOWEVER, i will say last night emily passed for a romanian!!! but - Constansa & Viorica both told us it is becasue of our countenance. we smile. we have a natural smile on our face even when we are 'plain faced.' people here (i am not making fun or saying this is bad - just factually saying) that they all look sort of sad - like you can stare right at the wall in their eyes. BUT. its neat because when i see brothers & sisters in Christ - i can tell. they smile and their eyes have light!

I feel like my favorite moment from yesterday was when we asked a kid "do you know starbucks" and the face i got back was hilarious. she said "starbucks - what means starbucks?" i told a guy to buy stock in starbucks if he ever hears about it :).


its incredible here. point being. its hard and time is running out. i never thought 2 weeks would seem so short. i cant imagine leaving. my eyes fill up with tears everytime i think about the plane ride home. i dont want to leave these kids. nor nikki & viorica.

pray. pray that we would be filled with purpose. pray as each day passes that God would utilize our individual abilities. pray Jesus would show Emily & I directly where we individually fit here. pray that the gospel would ring LOUD and these key orphans would be big players for years to come. that we could encourage them to take heart, be strong and remember God overcame the world! we tell them often of the many christians in college station and in "the states." pray that emily & i would get time in the Word too. that we would make time for it.

keep checking james' blog & picasaweb for photos!

thank you to everyone who comments. it encourages us so much! we really do look forward to checking our blog each morning. blaire - meg => I will introduce yall in the spring. You two need to know each other outside of the cyberspace community :).

oh one last prayer request. beeler here i go with the crazy requests ;) - pray for my camera. i use batteries but they die really quickly. like crazy quickly. its weird. pray they would last longer and my camera wouldnt go psycho on me :). thanks!