Waiting...Again

I don't really know where to start with this story. Today was our court date to receive custody of the twins. We put in our first request for this last May and just now got our court date. The twins have been waiting and waiting to come to their new family for all this time. We were finally assigned our court date last October and as we got closer to this day I didn't allow myself to think about the bad things that may happen. I really tried to remain hopeful and think that there was nothing to stop this from going through today but I think somewhere in me also said, this is Romania ANYTHING can happen.
We showed up at court and our case was #39 so we thought we were in for a long long wait. The social worker that works for the private foundation the twins are under was there. She went into the little court room and came out and called us in. she told us they were on case #29. Then we realized that they weren't going in order. As a lawyer walked in the room he or she would call out the case number they were there for and then the judge would call that case number. Well, the twins social worker was expecting a guy she knows from child protection to show up to present the case when all of the sudden our case is called and some lawyer stands up and says that our twins are from Marghita and therefore the case should be sent to the small court in Marghita and decided there. The judge said ok and that was that and we walked out of the room! The twins social worker was just as shocked as us. Quite frankly I didn't have feelings of love toward the whole system of people in Romania who don't seem to think about the children...I reacted with ranting and raving and tears (just being honest). I had actually told God before all this, "God no matter what I WILL still praise you." So, in the car on the way home we kept music playing and I kept saying the words over in my head and telling myself that God is good and He does care about our case. He has his reasons for allowing this and He can see the end of the story!
We went and spoke with a jurist about all this and told him we understood that it was going to be in Marghita now and didn't want to try and change that but we were interested in our file getting sent to Marghita as soon as possible so we can get a new court date as soon as possible. He is going to press them to get our file out as quick as possible. Our last file sat in Oradea for 6 months before we were given a court date.
So, what did we hear in the court room while waiting...a case of "My neighbor's dog killed my cow and 10 goats." yes, I'm telling the truth.
So, how am I feeling right now...I am just a little numb right now. Feeling especially bad for our twins who were so estatic about this possibly being the last time we had to drive them back to Casa Alba. I will continue to tell myself that God cares and that He is Sovereign and in control even though it doesn't feel like it. I will praise because He IS GOOD. He gave His life for mine..I have no right to complain.
Please pray specifically for the twins, for our file to move quickly to Marghita and for us to be assigned a new court date quickly.

Life

It's January...winter blahs therefore I don't write much because there is little to write about and I don't want to complain. Thankfully, it has warmed up a little tiny bit. When it is right at freezing and above it feels like a heat wave to me...remember I'm from South Carolina so me and cold don't mix well! When the temperature is below freezing the house never quite warms up but at freezing and above we can keep it toasty warm. Today it is about 32 degrees and snowing so the house is fairly warm.
Baron and I have been talking for many months about sending our eldest son, Zach to the states this summer for a month. He is 10 years old and I think it would be good for him to be away from home a little bit and under the influence of other godly people. I am his Bible teacher, his music teacher, his Sunday School teacher and sometimes a boy needs to get away from mom and be taught by someone else. So, when my parents come in May he will fly back with them. We have registered him to go to the first week of jr. camp at the Wilds and he will be back in time to go to Romanian camp. We still aren't 100% sure how we will get him back but we have a little idea up our sleeve that makes me very happy. We just informed Zach today of his little trip he will be taking and there was a lot of jumping and he pretty much danced a jig! I think he is a little excited. The other boys took it well too. There didn't seem to be any jealousy. I have told them often that just because one brother experiences something doesn't mean that all the brothers have to do the exact same thing. I have tried to teach them to be happy for one another when something good happens instead of being jealous.

We are getting closer to our court date. The day that felt like it would never arrive is close at hand. The aunt has not been back again. We anticipate being granted custody of the twins in two more weeks. I don't know that we will be able to bring them home that day but pray for a miracle. I'm clinging to my little mustard seed of faith that we can bring them home. If we can't bring them home that day it will be around the end of February. We will have a big party at Casa Alba to bring closer for all the kids who have grown up with the twins. It will be a day of joyous tears for many and some sad tears as the other kids are happy for their friends to get a family but also wishing for a family of their own. Pray for all the kids.

Pray for us. We have several things that we are looking into and we will keep you informed. We are hoping to start a Saturday club for foster kids. We are hoping to reach out to the kids of an orphanage near by here. Someday we want to start a Crisis Pregnancy Center. It will take a lot of planning and wisdom. We were encouraged when we talked to an official at the city hall about a pregnancy center he seemed very enthusiatic about it and thought it was greatly needed. Pray for our co-workers the Louks. They need to raise the rest of the needed money so they can come help us. We really need their help with all these projects!

As the winter blahs hit us, let's try to wake up each morning with this verse in our hearts, "this is the day the Lord has made, I WILL rejoice and be glad in it!" I want to be thankful for each day the Lord gives me to live and breathe and serve Him instead of complaining about circumstances and weather and whatever else I find to complain about. Living here I realize every day how blessed and spoiled I am as an American. If you are ever in such a pit that you are having a pity party for yourself, go visit a poor country and it will quickly help you get out of your pit! We are so blessed. Use all that God has given you to help someone else see the greatness and goodness of God.

An opportunity for someone!

I just wanted to put the word out for some people we met here in Romania a few years ago. They have a children's home about 20 minutes from where we live in a village called Jdoara. I believe they have about 19 kids in their home with very little help. I think a few of them are teenagers now and gone off to high school and I believe the youngest children are around 5. They have recently lost a lot of their paid workers and are in desperate need of help. There is also a 5 year old autistic girl who needs to go to a special school here in town every day and needs someone to care for her here in town so she can go to school, right now she is staying out at the home and not going to school because there isn't anyone who can do it. If anyone reads this and is interested in this opportunity, long term or short term please contact me and I will put you in touch with them.

Hard good bye's.

We have had a wonderful time with the twins here. Today was entertainment day. The kids stayed in their pajamas all day and played games, watched movies, and ate junk. This evening the twins began to realize they were going back to Casa Alba tomorrow. We try not to discuss it too much but as I was putting them to bed tonight Georgie started crying...not crying, bawling and saying, "I don't want to go back to Casa Alba, I want to stay here." How do you comfort a four year old and explain to him why he can't stay at home. I know I ask that question all the time but I am at a loss for words. I just hold him and cry with him and wish it weren't so and pray God's peace and love and protection over him. He is just broken hearted...so am I. He responds at Casa Alba with sadness and tears, Gina responds with outbursts and temper tantrums. Please pray for them. Please pray that our court date by some miracle someone will say on that day that there is no reason to wait for the paperwork, these kids just need to go home! If that doesn't happen it will still be another month before we can bring them home around the end of February...pray for a miracle. I am starting to believe that miracles don't happen in Romania but holding out for one still!

Christmas Time!

We had a fun Christmas. My brother and his wife arrived Saturday night. They found out when they arrived in Budapest that the train workers were on strike and the trains weren't running. Fortunately, there are 22 million Romanians in the country and about that many outside the country working and so many of those 22 million come home for Christmas. Go and Pam couldn't find a bus they could get on, they were all full so my brother started looking for cars with Romanian tags and found a bunch so they hithced a ride into Romania and caught a train from Arad to Lugoj and arrived at midnight. It was bumper to bumper traffic from Budapest to the Romanian border.

Sunday night, 12/21, we had our Christmas banquet at church. Tuesday we had Zach's 10th birthday and that night we went caroling. We went to about 12 or so houses and each houses pours you a cup of soda and forces you to eat sweets. By the time you arrive at the 4th house you are full of sweets but people get upset and don't understand why you can't eat the sweets they set out before you. It started snowing a little while we were caroling.

Christmas Eve we woke up and had french toast and bacon for breakfast. Go and Pam fixed it for us. Then we had our Christmas dinner that evening. That morning my oven decided not to turn on but after lots of prayer and a couple hours later it came on so we could cook Christmas dinner. Oh, by the way, we were eagerly awaiting a box from my mom with some Christmas goodies in it and my gift for Go and Pam. We got the package slip in the mail on Christmas Eve morning and Go and Baron went to the post office in Timisoara to get the box...we had our Christmas M & M's just in time for a Christmas Eve movie!

We woke up Christmas morning to a pretty snow! The kids opened their stockings and then they longingly looked at all the gifts under the tree but we had to get ready for church. In Romania everyone goes to church on Christmas morning. So, they pain stakingly sat through a service and then had to come home and change their clothes and go out and bring up some wood before digging into the presents. They really had a great time though looking at what each other got and they were very patient while waiting for their turn to open a gift...well they were kind of patient. We had left overs that day and just relaxed and enjoyed the day. That evening we had a birthday cake for Jesus and each person lit a candle and said what Jesus had done for them this year. It was a special time and we really enjoyed it.

Today Go and Pam left. Her mom's package still hadn't arrived but we will send it on to them and it will be a nice surprise. The only disappointment was that the stuff didn't come in time to make gingerbread houses but that's ok...we'll make them next year!

Christmas Week!

Christmas always comes and goes so fast. I thought that this year I would really relax and enjoy and think about the season more. My brother and his wife arrived on Saturday. I got an email from them Saturday afternoon telling me they couldn't come by train as originally planned due to a train workers strike in Hungary. Unfortunately all the busses were full too. Fortunatley this time of year many of the 20 million Romanians that live and work outside of the country are making their way back home for Christmas so my brother went looking for cars with Romanian tags and found a ride in :-). They arrived at midnight on the 20th of December.
The 20th of December was the 19th anniversary of the revolution that took place here in Romania. I watched a little documentary about it and was amazed at the "court room" that Ceaucescu and his wife were tried in. It seemed so primitive. The trial lasted 2 hours and they were condemned to death and taken out with their hands tied behind their backs and shot to death. It just amazes me the changes that have taken place in the last 20 years in this country but also how many things really remained the same.
Something I am doing that I don't normally do...staying up late. The house is so quiet I just can't help but sit here and enjoy the tree lights. I enjoyed adult conversation with my brother and his wife this evening. It is good to get to know my sister in law. The only time I met her was at their wedding so I really didn't get to know her because it was a busy time. It is fun to see my brother so happy.

Today Baron and I went and picked up the twins and brought them home. We left at 8:30 this morning and got back home at 6:30 this evening. The twins kept asking, "When are we going to get there? OH, we are never going to get there!!" They were so excited to get home and see their brothers and meet Uncle Gogo and Aunt Pam. It was fun to walk into the kitchen and see all 4 boys come running out to greet them and hug them. It's always good to have the family all together. We are just a few weeks away from our court date. Pray for my nerves!

I look forward to celebrating Zach's 10th birthday tomorrow. It is so hard to believe it has been 10 years since we had our first baby! He actually wasn't born until the 24th but we decided to have our big Christmas dinner on the 24th and celebrate his day on the 23rd. He doesn't mind opening his presents a day early. I still remember spending Christmas in the hospital 10 years ago! What a special gift Zach has been to us.

We are still awaiting several Christmas packages in the mail. I can't usually send my brother a gift because of where he lives so this year I went all out and got a nice gift...but it hasn't arrived. I am so sad they will not have it to open on Christmas...I just pray it arrives before they leave!

Well, I really must get to bed...I have lots of baking to do tomorrow and tomorrow night we go caroling with our church...not my favorite thing to do...I'll explain later :). Good night!

A Baking Story

So, I decided to publish my baking story. I had seen this wonderful looking recipe at ThePioneerWoman.com and decided I was going to do this for our neighbors for Christmas. On her website it comes complete with pictures of the process. So, if you want to see how the Cinnamon Rolls are SUPPOSED to look each step of the process you can go to her website. Mine started out ok. See how pretty the pot looks on the stove?



When I got to the rolling part my butter mixtures started oozing out eveywhere, dripping on the floor and all over the counter...she had said it may ooze a little! I even put on less butter then she said too!



Well, as I always say appearance isn't everything...they may not look that delectable but they really are delicious! I made a huge mess in the process but pray that our neighbors enjoy them.



Baron and the boys delivered the hot pans along with a book about seeking God to five of our neighbors. I made a big mess in the process and actually as I sit here and type the mess remains...maybe I can get the boys to go clean it up for me. Where is the cleaning fairy when you need her?