Thoughts on Romania Part 1

I have been struggling to get excited about writing my thoughts about our recent Romania trip. It's not because we didn't do fun stuff or that I don't have thoughts to share. I've just really struggled with seeing this last trip as a mission trip. I guess I've always assumed that missions work should involve some type of sacrifice or feel like a sacrifice. I don't know if its because we took a week at the end of it for a family vacation in Germany or because the work seemed too "easy." But this trip, unlike when we went 2 years ago, did not seem like a sacrifice to me.  Maybe I've just learned that I'm home wherever my family is, no matter the circumstances. It felt like our only sacrifice was money, and even that didn't feel like a sacrifice, but a blessing that God has been providing to us for the past year (yay for overtime pay!).

Each trip I take affects me in a different way. My Haiti trip in 2010 was life changing. I truly feel that God used that experience as a spring board to get me and my family moving towards missions work. I can honestly say those 9 days in Haiti were the most intense, heart-breaking, scary, exciting, & emotional days in my life. I'd say it was probably the most "spiritually high" (there's a good church phrase for you) that I've ever been. I feel like every trip since then has been trying to recapture those moments of clarity when I felt God's presence so close and tangible. That's not to say that I haven't felt God's presence on other trips, it's just... different. 

Romania in 2012 was just Keith and me with four other people. That was hard because we left the kids at home. That trip was also an answer to prayer for me because it was our first trip together overseas. We have done mission work together in the states, but being out of your comfort zone is a whole different experience and it was one I wanted to share with Keith. It was also the first time I felt compelled to return to a place (in the states or abroad) where I've served. I know it sounds weird when I say how much I loved my trip to Haiti and how life-changing it was, but I can honestly say, I do not have a desire to return. But Romania... I can see myself returning there yearly, Lord willing.

As I ponder these past trips I'm starting to realize maybe that is why this one did not feel like a sacrifice. Maybe when you are in the mission field that God has called you to (whether it is working with handicap kids, traveling to foreign countries, working in a soup kitchen or being a stay-at-home mom), the sacrifice seems minimal because your heart is in line with what God called you to do. And really, isn't that what we're all looking for? To feel like we are walking with God rather than trying to figure out where God is? Isn't that where true peace lies?  Until next time...

 "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7)