Jehovah Jirah

We have asked our friends and family to pray for the details of our upcoming trip to the States and I wanted to share with you how our Great God has provided. In just two months time individuals have sent us enough extra money that we have been able to set aside $2,000 for our plane tickets. We just found out today that a supporting church of ours is sending us another $2,000 for plane tickets. So far, the one way tickets we have found for the kids and I in August total $4,000 so we are almost there! We have also been praying for a translator who also knows how to play the piano and today we received a phone call from a Romanian pastor that his son is interested in fulfilling this role and he plays the guitar and piano! He is our great provider and when we trust Him and wait for His timing He always comes through.

February

We made it through January. This really is the hardest time of year for me, from about the second week of January through the end of February. It is so cold, my kitchen is very cold and I get unmotivated to do any sort of cooking. My husband has been so kind to get up at 5:30 a.m. this week to start fires so the house can be semi warm by 7 a.m.

Good news, we have the twins birth certificates. This spring we can file for them to become American citizens, we just have to figure out which way is easiest and cheapest. They are officially Howertons...still no "blue passaport" as Joey says, but we are closer.

More good news, we are really looking forward to a trip to the states later on this summer/fall. In the almost 10 years we have been here we have only been in the states for a total of 7 1/2 months. This will be our longest time away, we plan on staying the whole school year. I am really looking foward to being part of a Co-op and the fellowship for myself and my kids. I am focusing though on not letting us get so caught up in all there is to do that we run ourselves to death. Life in Romania is so laid back I need to try and keep it that way for my kids. I am thankful though that they are very flexible for the most part and seem to adapt well, I worry most about the twins. Please pray with us about all the details of this trip, there are still alot of things to work out, translator, replacement, finances, etc. Also, be in prayer for the people that we minister too, it will not be easy for them, it will be big adjustments for everyone involved. I do think though, that if we all have a positive attitude it can be a learning experience for us all, learning to depend on God and not ourselves! Please also be in prayer especially for Gina still. She has a very strong will and for about two months now has had more screaming fits then in the whole time she has been with us. Pray that we will have wisdom, love, and patience to deal with her and that God will get a hold of her little heart. I can't believe the twins will be turning 7 in just two short months. They grew especially fast I think because we never knew them in their babyhood. The year they turned 4 was their only "baby" year that we knew them and only through visits. That is really hard for me.

The twins and Nate are enjoying kindergarten this year with their teacher Miss Sarah. Please remember to pray for her also.

Bucharesti, Romania

We took a trip to Bucharest on Monday and Tuesday of this week. We had an appointment at the embassy and we took a couple from our church so she could see a cardiologist there. Let me start by saying, I'm glad I don't live in or near Bucharest. It is not really a pleasant city. They do have lots of stores and "things" that we can't get on our side of the country but I would much rather drive across the border to Budapest, Hungary for a shopping trip (4 1/2 hours on decent roads) then to Bucharest (7 hours and terrible roads). There are so many street dogs in Bucharest. The people drive crazy, for example, we were in a long line at a traffic light, maybe half a mile long, and an SUV decided he didn't want to wait in that long line so he just jumped up on the sidewalk and drove all the way up to the light so he wouldn't have to wait any longer. The drive to and from Bucharest was so foggy we really couldn't see any of the country side. We drove along the border of Serbia and were stopped by border police. On the way back we were also stopped by police but no tickets. I thought it was funny, about 45 minutes out of Bucharest begins a 4 lane highway. You would think that with cars speeding along that road the police would pull people over the regular way, by turning on their lights and chasing them down with their car but they don't, they still clock you, then stand out in the road waving their arms for you to pull over...kind of dangerous when doing 150 km/hr! So, I guess I have said all the negative let me mention the nice things about the trip.
We knew there was a Ruby Tuesday restaurant there but didn't even bother to look it up on the internet because we decided it would be too expensive (TGI Friday's in Budapest is very expensive) and that we couldn't afford to also pay for our traveling companions food and they couldn't afford it. I put it out of my mind. Tuesday after we had seen the American doctor he sent us to a mall that had a pharmacy where we might find a heating pad. We decided to just go up and check out the food works and eat lunch there before leaving town and low and behold in a city of one million people we stumbled upon Ruby Tuesdays and our friends said they wanted Chinese so they went to eat lunch and we ate at Ruby Tuesday's AND it wasn't that expensive, we ate lunch for around $25! I love how God says I love you and here is a little something for you to show I care. I had my favorite meal, chicken fingers, and Baron had a big American hamburger! We also were able to find a heating pad. We have been looking for one since I started having neck and back pain and they didn't seem to exist in Romania but we found one in Bucharest for which I am thankful.
We also went to the embassy to get pages added to my passport. The last time I had to do this it was free and now it cost $85. I can understand them charging something but when something used to be free and then it cost $85 you have to wonder what in the world all that money is for...surely 26 extra passport pages don't cost that much?? We also found out a little bit about the complicated and expensive process of the twins becoming American citizens. We could really use your prayers if we are to ever get to America!

Christmas

Counting our blessings. This is what we did for Christmas.

Enjoyed a visit from Uncle Gogo and Aunt Pam.


Took a walk in the snow!


Sang Happy Birthday to Jesus!


Ate Christmas M & M's!


Celebrated Zach's 12th birthday on Christmas Eve.


Opened stockings



We watched Chritmas movies.



We made gingerbread houses or I should say Pam (my sister in law) did all the work and we just joined in the fun and decorated them.

Life As It Happens in Romania.

It started snowing last week, just a little not much. Then starting Monday night it started peppering down as my dad says! I planned to go get some packages in Timisoara on Tuesday and grocery shop with Sarah and Zach. It was snowing pretty good but we decided to go anyway. It was snowing pretty good and I grew up in S.C. so I drove slowly and fortunately so did everyone else on the road. I was amazed that I did not see one fender bender or one car off in a ditch. So, we get there, get our packages and get to the mall where the grocery store is and I went to get money out of the bankomat and it told me my bank in America would not allow me to get out money. I tried 4 machines to no avail so, after a long drive in the snow to Timisoara I drove home without groceries :-(. We got the bank problem fixed. They had changed something in their computers that tagged our cards as being used in a foreign country even though we have been doing it for 9 1/2 years, they thought it was questionable activity. So, now they tagged us as living in Romania so it shouldn't happen again. Last night was our Christmas concert. Baron went out to start his van since it was cold and found it wouldn't start. He went and asked a neighbor for jumper cables and he brought his home made ones over :). We got the van pushed out and realized that the car parked on the sidewalk was blocking us from getting my car hooked up to Baron's van and we couldn't find the owner of the car. We decided that we were running out of time and pushed it back in (which is difficult b/c your feet are slipping on the ice while trying to push a big van) and just squeeze in the small van. We decided we can't always know the reasons why things like this happen but we pray that the reason for this one is that we can get to know these neighbors better and share Christ with them. Fortunately two American families come to the concert with their vans and they helped us pick up all the people for the concert. We had a lot of visitors and were excited that 5 kids from the center for handicapped kids came with a worker.

Funeral

As many of you know a lady in our church died last Thursday. This was the first funeral that Baron had to completely lead. God in His sovereignty allowed Baron to preach one night of a funeral a couple weeks ago. Having that experience was a huge help to Baron. Funerals are a tough thing, when you live in a different culture you make lots of mistakes but you hate to make a mistake at a funeral, and you can't just stop and chuckle at a funeral when you make a mistake either. Baron really was nervous about saying/doing the wrong thing but I thought it went very smoothly and the family was pleased. Thankfully instead of the normal two nights of "preveghi" or a wake, they only had one Friday night and then the funeral on Saturday afternoon.

In Romania, each church has their own cemetery and you don't mix Orthodox bodies with Baptist bodies etc. So, we had always told our people not to worry (some of the old ladies often wonder where they will be buried), that they will be happy in heaven and we will worry about where to bury them. So, God opened up this door, led us to the right funeral home where the lady was a Christian and her son was the manager of an Orthodox cemetery right near our church and we were able to buy a plot there for Sora Parsida Nicola to be buried. We were also still able to conduct the whole service with no problems given by the Orthodox church.

The body is set in a very, very small "chapel" (I put it in quotations because it is not a chapel as you are envisioning it, it is a small, cold, concrete room). The casket is in the middle of the room with a bench on either side. Friday night was in the 40's. We left the kids home with Sarah. Baron preached a salvation message and one couple we specifically know that are not saved, listened to the whole message. I played the violin, we sang a few songs.

The funeral today was held outside the little chapel because there were more people today. It was much colder today, in the upper 30's. Very cold for an outside service. We dropped only Drew off at Maria's since he had a sore throat and Maria wasn't coming because she was having dizzy spells we brought the rest of the kids with us. I tried to explain to the little ones about the funeral. Nate was worried we were all going there to die. I re assured him that was not going to happen. Then I told the twins if they had any questions we would discuss them after the funeral (they tend to talk loud and say inappropriate things in public). I kept them all close to me during the service. So, we stood outside around the body while Baron spoke again, encouraging the family (some saved, some not) that Sora Parsida was happy, not suffering anymore, and in much better place. The family all stands right next to the body looking at her and crying quietly. Our church choir sang Psalm 23 and I sang, Still, My Soul, Be Still. We brought the electric keyboard for these two songs. I have never sang at a funeral before and was wondering how I would do singing outside in the cold next to a body but I just sang it to her daughter (also a church member) and God gave me strength to sing it to encourage her. Then, we follow the body (they put the lid on) to the hole. Baron says a few more words and tells the family to say their final good bye. That is when the son and daughter start waling and saying things like "oh momma, why did you have to leave me, mamma, mamma, what will I do without you..." They did this for just a few minutes (which is actually short, sometimes it can go on and on). Then right there on the spot they shovel the dirt onto the casket.

The family wanted to have a dinner after this. A dinner here for Orthodox is a good work where you put on a big dinner and allow in beggers and poor people as a good work to win brownie points for your lost loved one. We explained that Sora Parsida didn't need any "help" getting to heaven, she had accepted the finished work of Christ before she died and was assured a place in heaven already. The family understood this and it was a dinner in honor of her for her family and friends only so we approved. When we got there, Joey (whom I had kept telling to be quiet because he speaks loudly and you don't want him to say anything inappropriate) says quietly to me, "mom I need to tell you something, let me whisper it to you..." Then he comes up and whispers in my ear, "Mom, I don't want to die!" He was truly fearful, the whole thing of seeing her in the coffin and put in the ground did not set well with him. I assured him, he didn't need to worry about it right now, I explained as best I could that her earthly body was dead but she was happy in heaven with a new body.
That night after he was in bed he started crying, and saying over and over, "I don't want to die, I don't want to die." I just reassured him as best I could and told him to dream about his Christmas presents. It is really something we don't like to think about and when you go to a funeral and see the body put in the ground it does give you a sad, scared feeling. We as Christians just have to remember, that the ones who are suffering are the ones left behind.

I have been to funerals in Romania of unsaved people and they are far more depressing, this one seemed much lighter knowing she was in heaven celebrating Christmas with Jesus this year! God is good in all His ways, He was merciful and did not let her suffer long. His Spirit was with us today and kept Baron calm and focused on the task. I believe her family was truly comforted today with the service and the words spoken.

December Arrives

We have so much to be thankful for. God is good, His mercy is evelasting, His love endures forever, He never leaves us, He always forgives, He is patient and kind with us, and the list could go on and on! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with fellow missionary friends. The kids all behaved (another thing to be thankful for) and we had a wonderful day.

This year for the first time ever, we the Howertons put up our tree before Thanksgiving. I know the Romanians think we are crazy. They put theirs up the week of Christmas most wait until Christmas Eve. Some people who can't afford a tree just buy a branch to hand candy on for their kids. I have most of my Christmas shopping done. We have received many glorious packages with goodies from American and are playing Christmas music. We are blessed to have many friends and family who think of us and send us things to bring us Christmas cheer even though we are far from home! We are thankful to have many gifts to share with the needy children that we work with, many do not get a gift other then the gifts we give them.

Christmas always comes and goes so quickly. I just hope to enjoy each moment, not get impatient, not have a to do list a thousand miles long, and enjoy the true reason we celebrate, the King of kings was born. He left his throne in heaven and lived among us. I love how John puts it, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." That is pretty amazing to think that the Word put on skin and came down to show us how much He loves us. It is mind boggling to think of how much our Creator loves us. Lets return that love by obeying Him and pouring out that same love we have received to others!