I can't be the only person who struggles with this, right?  Ever since I was a kid, I could not stand any sort of injustice.  I was VERY black and white, good/bad, yes/no.  That is all part of growing up, and I have learned a lot about life since then- but I still struggle with accepting and understanding things that aren't fair.  Especially when terrible things happend to innocent people, and especially, kids.  I literally have physical reactions of stress when I experience people's pain as they deal with something unfair or hurtful.  So, of course, God led me to a place where injustice is all around me!  I mean it is everywhere on earth, but I am face-to-face with it each day here.

Because of all my thoughts and questions, Steven and I have been doing a personal bible study of justice.  Really, it is the basic question of why do bad things happen to good/innocent people.  People, pastors, and authors give all kinds of answers to this, and I always think, "yeah ok but I still don't like it."  I have never "found" and answer I am satisfied with- and really, none of us ever will, right?  I am never going to like injustice.

BUT... (phew! that was seeming kind of hopeless for a moment.)  I have decided that I will never understand all of God's infinite wisdom and why things do or don't happen.  (Not really a new or profound thought, but I have to rediscover it from time to time.)  So, for a while, I am suspending the "why?"  I have to decide if my faith in the almighty, loving, and grace-filled God of the universe is strong enough to believe that His love and justice will always prevail.  And I do.

I believe it so much that I am trying to understand, at least, my role in it all.  What does God say about justice?  How does he deliver it to His people?  These are all big questions and I am just a little person, so rather than philosophizing about it all, I usually try to understand how it relates to me and the people in my life.  Several verses that have been catching my attention are like this one:
     "When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 22:23
Really, this is about our role in delivering justice on earth.  If we love God with our hearts, then we serve him through our life.  Two things about this verse caught my attention. God asks us to share what we have.  Not to earn more first and then share.  Just share what we were given in the first place.  Somehow, this easy thing is always hard and we put conditions on it, "when I have more time/money/resources I will give more time/money/resources."  The second thing I liked was when it says to help the poor residing among you.  Meaning, we are very near people who need help.  Meaning we should be helping and loving them.  Meaning, that justice does not always just happen, we are called to be a part of delivering God's justice. We are called to be IN justice.

So- I will end these thoughts with a happy picture that describes my heart for doing justice

two smiles, a fish kiss and a winky face.  good times :)

It's been an amazing holiday season celebrating the birth of our Lord, the new year, Steven's birthday, and hanging out with the holiday teams.  There have been some wonderful moments with the kids that really have melted our hearts.  Sometimes it is hard to even put into words what our hearts feel here when we spend time with the kids.  I think pictures help...

{simple play days.}  They are the best.  There is nothing like having a kid ask you to watch them go down the slide 50 times.  Or asking you to go down the tube slide with them even though you are practically the width of said slide.  Or teeter-tottering with a big-kid.  Just playing is a blessing.  And when they chose to play with us, we feel the happiest we've ever felt.




Sometimes there aren't enough words to describe the joy in our hearts when we spend time with our kids.  It's something only God could do and we are thankful just to be here.

In the last week we have participated in 7 parties, made 600 cookies, and had tons of fun!!! We divided the kids up into different age groups so we could spend lots of time with each kid.

Our first party was at Voluntari with the preschool and elementary kids. We watched A Disney Christmas Carol (in Romanian) and te kids got to eat popcorn, cookies and hot cocoa. The kids are actually really great at sharing, and they always offer their treats to us!

steven with one of the cuties!

showing her cookies and cocoa

my lil guy <3

sugar-high!

steven's bff

We had 4 parties at Periș; littlest kids, little kids, middle schoolers and high schoolers. As a staff, we sang traditional Romanian Christmas carols to them. Then, we surprised them by doing a silly dance/rap to Jingle Bells at the end. They all cracked up, probably laughing at our dancing ;) We played lots of games with them too.

waiting for the party to start!

a hula hoop game that the kids loved!

each kid got to decorate some sugar cookies- they LOVED the frosting!

had to eat a piece of bread covered in honey without using hands- very messy!

this game was so fun!

pass the parcel- we had to try to open a snickers bar that was wrapped 20 times with mittens on!

more cookies!

human snowman!

I find that God keeps surprising me with blessings daily.  I love spending time with each of them and getting to know more of their personalities and hearts.

I spent some time decorating cookies with Nicu.  He is pretty reserved and was putting the tiniest amount of frosting on his cookies.  I told him he was allowed to put more frosting on if he wanted because it is really good! He tasted it, and started putting gobs of it on, his smile growing bigger as he did! It always surprises me and makes me a little sad when I have to remind a kid that its ok to be a kid! These kids don't get to experience the typical joys of childhood, so it is a blessing to watch when they get a little taste of that joy!  At the end of the party, he took a CUP of frosting home with him!

This week I had a bit of a heavy heart. I keep seeing things that just physically hurt my heart to think about. I met a girl my age who could barely walk because her feet were so swollen and frostbitten- she had nowhere to live and had been sleeping outside for weeks. I see teenagers who can't read or write. And everywhere I see kids who deserve a family- and I can't do anything about that.

One day this week I sat with a 20 year old girl, who is attending university while still living at the orphanage. She is learning English and she wanted to read bible passages with me. We went back and forth sharing verses that we liked in both Romanian and English. She shared with me this verse out of Isaiah 49:15-16  "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands" ... Hearing her read that was intense.  She was forgotten by her mother, she was orphaned and left alone as a vulnerable baby.  But she knows she is loved by her heavenly Father.  I was so amazed at how she drew comfort from this verse.  A girl who has every right in the world to be angry that she was abandoned by her family, finds comfort in the Lord through his Word. It blew me away.

In this season of Christmas, I am amazed at the blessings God continues to pour out. I am missing home very much, but very thankful to be here with my kids.  Just to spend time with them is a gift!  We are preparing for Christmas parties and gift-giving at all of the orphanages, and there is excitement in the air!

the cuteness is just ridiculous

steven with some of the boys during character education class

art time at preschool!

the cuteness continues

We also have been out and about in the city!  We went to dinner and a movie this weekend and had a great time.  We helped pick out a Christmas tree and got to see Santa Claus (Mos Craciun.)

We also visited this beautiful church where the head and heart of Dracula is said to be buried.

We are loving our time here so far.  We are learning a lot, about the language, culture, history and people of Romania.  We are blessed to be here living our dream and thank you for your prayers and support!

Sorry things have been a bit dry over here on the ole blog. We have been cracking away working on language, holding babies, singing songs with the kids, having guitar class, and just enjoying as much time as possible with the kids. You know...missionary stuff. We made masks with the little guys a couple of weeks ago, for no other reason than sometimes its just fun to dress up! The other orphanage had people come in and throw a "halloween carnival" for them, so we decided the kids at the other orphanage should at least get the chance to dress up.

Boooo! I'm cute!

Its always neat to see the kids personality come out in creative projects. Some are diligent and pay close attention to detail and color. They choose specific patterns and have a clear vision. Some kids just start gluing, cutting, pasting, and coloring, and make alterations and changes as they go.  Others create as quickly as possible so they can wear their mask and begin with the fun!

We've spent some time at the baby hospital and my goodness, are they cute. We can't take photos, but trust me when I say they are adorable. Chubby, wrinkly, squishy, cuddly, and everything cute. Unfortunately they are sick. Please pray that they will all kick their colds and fevers and return to being healthy little angels.

We just finished up with an amazing team from Buhler, Kansas. Jen's parents were here on the team as well John and Joyce, a couple from their church, and Jeanette. The team helped prepare the Pipera house for winter. The cleaned the pool, pruned the rose bushes, raked leaves, and made repairs around the house. Most importantly, they helped prepare the most epic of thanksgiving meals. Turkey, stuffing, potatoes (mashed and cheesy), yams, salads, and pies were lined up as far as the eye could see! Which was needed since we had 80 sets of eyes peering down on the alp de'food. Graduates from the transition program came, as well as the whole staff, and some friends just to sweeten the pot. In the end, the dessert table looked like the closing scenes of a war movie; pie tins laid empty, crumbs covered the counter and floor, a splotches of filling took their last breath on the battle field (counter). The night was filled with laughter and good times.

We are still plugging away at language class and feel super blessed to have received and learned as much as we have so quickly. We speak with the elegance and intelligence of a  4 year old, but we could hold our own in a debate with a 4 year-old in a mock UN meeting. Please continue to pray for language acquisition!

In closing; a story from the Visa office. Thursday morning we trekked out to the city and met Costel (Romanian President of H2H) at the Visa office. All in all we were in the room for five and half hours. After a frantic run to the bank, a brief argument with some foreign students, making friends with the same foreign students, and an informal letter written by Costel swearing to bring in passports the next business day, we were finished and are now waiting to receive our 5 year visas!

We love and miss all of you and appreciate each and everyone of  your prayers! They make a difference...so don't stop!
Love, Peace, and Jesus
-s

We have just completed our first month of language lessons! We have learned SO much in 4 short weeks- we even just wrote three short essays for homework last night! It felt pretty good to be able to say so much already. Now if only everyone in Romania would speak slowly so I can eavesdrop better...
The best part of our new (yet still very limited) Romanian language acquisition, is that we are able to connect with the kids on a more personal level. Before, we always had to wait for another staff member to come translate for us. Now, we are finding it easier and easier to get the gist of what the kids are saying, and initiate basic conversation (usually understand their answers!) It's so exciting to be a bigger part of their lives.

This is my boy. I fell in love with him and his younger brother the moment I met them in 2007. He is the quiet type, he never gets in fights like some of the kids do, and he has always protected his younger brother.   I have been praying for an opportunity to hang out with him and just let him know that I care about his life. God provided the perfect opportunity last week when all the kids we inside and he was sitting alone on a bench outside. I sat with him and we talked, in my broken Romanian, for an hour. Even though he was laughing at my linguistic mistakes, it was a joy and an honor to make him laugh. He is a kid who missed out on being a kid, so it is so special to see him have moments of childhood. It made me think about what day-to-day life is for these kids- what it would be like to have such heavy things on your heart at such a young age.  Even though there are people here that love them, it doesn't take away their daily struggles or heartbreak. I am reminded daily how important is it to pray for them.   When I see them laugh though, I think I get a small glimpse of how a parent loves their child, and how our Father loves us.
-Haley


p.s.  some more pics...

sweet statue we found in the park

Parcul Herastrau

lots of cobblestone

the halloween costume I made for Steven the Big Bad Wolf

off to a halloween party

to all my fellow southern californians- this is frost. on the grass. in october...  I am dreading the future snow pictures!

In love with Guitar!

watching madagascar

Brown Bear Brown Bear what do you see?

why are you smiling?

did i do that!

    So we just finished our second week of language lessons, which means now we have no idea what is going on but we get excited when we hear a vocab word we recognize. We are also able to say who we are, who you are, who they are, what we want/need, what we know (nimic(nothing)), etc. My first real attempt to speak Romanian resulted in me speaking way to loudly and slowly at a lady trying to find out where the bus stop was. She looked at me like she wasn't sure if she should answer or give me a dollar, but she responded in perfectly clear english "What bus are you looking for?" and then proceded to walk us to our bus stop! I felt like I was on one of those commercials where someone steps in and saves the day for some individual unknowingly about to walk in front of a moving bus.
   We also ventured out into the city and visited Lipscan in the Unirii district of Bucaresti. The area was once populated by old antique shops and artisan glass blowers/shops. The walls were covered in graffiti, the streets populated by stray dogs, and the roads all cobblestone. Today Lipscan has undergone a San Diego Gaslamp like transformation. The cobblestones and vintage architecture pave the way for a unique and quaint European setting, while the old shops filled with chachkeys have now been replaced by independent designers, anthropologie-esque clothing botiques (yes this is steven writing, yes I know what anthropologie is, and yes I do have a deep love for a store that sells nothing but women's clothing.), coffee shops, and many great restaurants.
   While there we visited a hat store that is owned and operated by an older man named Nicu. His hats have been featured in advertisements, newspaper articles, and magazines. He was extremely charming and kind and invited us back to watch him make some hats. He determined my head was too large for most hats, (it's not by the way I can't even find hats small enough in the states unless they are child/women sizes). I tried on a cioban (Shepherds) hat, a top hat, a taran (farmer) hat, some awesome fedora's that didn't fit, and some pretty sweet grandpa hats. The hat I really wanted happened to be on his head, but with my head being so large he said it would not fit and unfortunately he did not have the proper material in stock to fashion me one of my own. He also decided that he will come back with me to the U.S. and start a shop there.
   In another news the weather has dropped 30 degrees, we are now driving the Damas (see previous posts) into the next town to get a ride into the city from other team members, and we (by we I mean I) have affectionately named the Damas "Cochran" (Survivor fans, you will understand this reference.) I also had a zipper break on my messenger bag, which drove me nuts, but I was blessed by the presence of a man sitting on a chair outside of the subway stop fixing zippers at 2 bucks a pop!
Cheers-
s