"Every time we make the decision to love someone, we open ourselves up to great suffering, because those we most love cause us not only great joy but also great pain. The greatest pain comes from leaving. When the child leaves home, when the husband or wife leaved for long periods of time or for good, when the beloved friend departs to another country… the pain of leaving can tear us apart.
Still if we want to avoid the suffering of leaving, we will never experience the joy of loving. And love is stronger than fear, life stronger than death, and hope stronger than despair. We have to trust that the risk of loving is always worth taking."
Henri J.M. Nouwen, Bread for the Journey
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Somewhere
Here's a little bit of an update. (honestly, i have no idea where to start.)
* We have started to volunteer at a boarding school/orphanage in Chisinau. The kids have free time in the afternoon, so we have been helping a specific 4th grade class with homework. After homework is gametime. Rachel taught the kids Chaos this week - a game that the kids and staff play in Galati, Romania (and Grimes, Iowa...). It was great. (As far as homework is concerned, "we" means the rest of the team. Fourth grade homework in another language is out of my league for now. :) )
* Language lessons with Adriana are going well...we just started again after a two week hiatus. Learning a new language at 31 is difficult. But worth it. Today I read the WMF lifestyle celebrations out loud...in Romanian...in the presence of two of my teammates. I seriously had to pause for a full 30 seconds after saying the first word and inwardly battle my feelings of embarrassment and the desire to give up. Outwardly, this is not a big deal. Inwardly, it is a battle of pride. Lots of people have been praying about language learning for me. Thank you. Seriously. Thank you.
* As you know, I am not really a cook. I mean, I like to bake things, but am not a pro in the kitchen. So yesterday no one else was home and i made this recipe for lemon potatoes that i found. I thought, "it looks easy enough, and it's a different way to prepare potatoes. Why not?" Friends, it was horrible. (That may also be due to the fact I didn't have every ingredient and therefore added a few spices on my own...) My suggestion: follow the recipe if you decide to make lemon potatoes. Today I made a first ever tomato-based sauce for pasta. That was fun and turned out so much better than the lemon potatoes. Yea! Victory!
* Yesterday while playing with the first grade class at the orphanage, a little boy made me lots of food (his kitchen was this great cardboard box - some things are no different in any culture! kids love to play with boxes!). Then he decided i was sick and needed an IV, some syrup, tea, and pills. He also listened to my heartbeat...through my forearm...but, it's the thought that counts. After taking my temperature (under both arms, please), he declared I was well. He also felt my forehead to see if I was sick. He must have learned doctoring from my mom, because i obviously did not have a fever...Anyway, it was really sweet to play with the first graders a bit. All the first grade girls were gone (they have different activities, or circles, in the afternoons), and we just played with the boys.
*Two staff members from the Galati field visited last week. It was really encouraging to just sit and talk with them. Here's a few more stories as detailed in April's blog here.
I realize his is kind of general, but I had to start somewhere. If you are looking for really deep thoughts and new observations and understandings about the Kingdom of God and Jesus and life, you will be disappointed. I will not be able to deliver that for you. There. It's out. You can check out the blogs of my teammates, on the WMF website, or other folks for some depth of insight. But honestly, I don't have it. I haven't read all the books or pray really well or have a lot of discernment and wisdom. I am new at this...I, I, I, blah blah blah. I know I know, whatever. But i will try to do a better job of just posting life as it's lived, and some stories for you to get to know how things are here and what i'm learning. I hope that you can discover this journey with me...even if it's made up of a lot of random stories without a, well, clear point.
Ok! Better go!
la revedere,
annie
* We have started to volunteer at a boarding school/orphanage in Chisinau. The kids have free time in the afternoon, so we have been helping a specific 4th grade class with homework. After homework is gametime. Rachel taught the kids Chaos this week - a game that the kids and staff play in Galati, Romania (and Grimes, Iowa...). It was great. (As far as homework is concerned, "we" means the rest of the team. Fourth grade homework in another language is out of my league for now. :) )
* Language lessons with Adriana are going well...we just started again after a two week hiatus. Learning a new language at 31 is difficult. But worth it. Today I read the WMF lifestyle celebrations out loud...in Romanian...in the presence of two of my teammates. I seriously had to pause for a full 30 seconds after saying the first word and inwardly battle my feelings of embarrassment and the desire to give up. Outwardly, this is not a big deal. Inwardly, it is a battle of pride. Lots of people have been praying about language learning for me. Thank you. Seriously. Thank you.
* As you know, I am not really a cook. I mean, I like to bake things, but am not a pro in the kitchen. So yesterday no one else was home and i made this recipe for lemon potatoes that i found. I thought, "it looks easy enough, and it's a different way to prepare potatoes. Why not?" Friends, it was horrible. (That may also be due to the fact I didn't have every ingredient and therefore added a few spices on my own...) My suggestion: follow the recipe if you decide to make lemon potatoes. Today I made a first ever tomato-based sauce for pasta. That was fun and turned out so much better than the lemon potatoes. Yea! Victory!
* Yesterday while playing with the first grade class at the orphanage, a little boy made me lots of food (his kitchen was this great cardboard box - some things are no different in any culture! kids love to play with boxes!). Then he decided i was sick and needed an IV, some syrup, tea, and pills. He also listened to my heartbeat...through my forearm...but, it's the thought that counts. After taking my temperature (under both arms, please), he declared I was well. He also felt my forehead to see if I was sick. He must have learned doctoring from my mom, because i obviously did not have a fever...Anyway, it was really sweet to play with the first graders a bit. All the first grade girls were gone (they have different activities, or circles, in the afternoons), and we just played with the boys.
*Two staff members from the Galati field visited last week. It was really encouraging to just sit and talk with them. Here's a few more stories as detailed in April's blog here.
I realize his is kind of general, but I had to start somewhere. If you are looking for really deep thoughts and new observations and understandings about the Kingdom of God and Jesus and life, you will be disappointed. I will not be able to deliver that for you. There. It's out. You can check out the blogs of my teammates, on the WMF website, or other folks for some depth of insight. But honestly, I don't have it. I haven't read all the books or pray really well or have a lot of discernment and wisdom. I am new at this...I, I, I, blah blah blah. I know I know, whatever. But i will try to do a better job of just posting life as it's lived, and some stories for you to get to know how things are here and what i'm learning. I hope that you can discover this journey with me...even if it's made up of a lot of random stories without a, well, clear point.
Ok! Better go!
la revedere,
annie
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