Well I cannot believe I have been home from my Europe trip
for a week already. Even as I sit here
drinking my favorite Kaminzauber Tea from Austria, it already feels like my
time there was a dream.
I had a wonderful trip.
Of course it was too short. It’s
hard to balance seeing everyone I want to see, with actually taking a much
needed vacation to let my mind rest. I
always want to see more people, and spend more time with them than I have
available. My last trip to Europe in
2011/2012 was filled with lots of travel and it was just too rushed, so this
time, I opted for more time with fewer people.
It is always a give and take I suppose.
I began my trip in Timisoara, Romania. Flying from Orange County to Chicago to
Munich to Timisoara. Thankfully my
tickets were bought with miles, so it was next to nothing for my round trip
ticket to and from Europe. But with
miles, comes crazy connections!
Timisoara is my favorite city in Romania and possibly in all
of Europe. It was the first city I
visited in 1997 on my first trip to Romania, it was the city where the Romanian
Revolution began and for whatever other reasons, it holds a special place in my
heart.
I brought my friend Marinela, the young lady I had mentored
while living in Oradea down to Timsioara to stay with me in my hotel for the
first 3 .5 days. It was wonderful spending
time with her. The first thing she asked
for us to do when she arrived by train, was to go to the zoo. So after a mini adventure to find the bus
that would take us out there, we made it to the zoo. Marinela loves animals.
We spent the rest of our time walking around the city. She had never been to Timisoara before and
was excited to see everything. I showed
her where the Romanian Revolution began and even gave her a mini history
lesson. Even though it is her history,
she was unaware of many of the details.
There were many “teachable” moments, like going over how
important it is to wash your hands and to not put them in your mouth. Especially after traveling by public
transport. We spoke about her upbringing
in the Romanian orphanage, and the hard times she went through. It was eye opening to me to hear her speak of
wanting to know her mother. The longing
a person has, even in their 30’s to know their mother….it just made me want to
adopt all the more. Listening to Mari
who spent her entire childhood from birth – 17 in an orphanage just broke my
heart. I was thankful that she has a
group of other orphaned young ladies that she now lives with, they are her “family”,
just like I am part of her family now.
Also knowing she has the Lord, her perfect Heavenly Father, who sees her
heart, knows her fears, hopes, dreams and sees her tears. He will never abandon her.
We ate her favorite food, everyday….McDonald’s of course.
And while I was trying to adjust to the new time zone,
Marinela loved playing with the Barbie, coloring books and markers I brought
her.
Marinela said to me
before she left, she had always wanted
to visit three places in Romania.
Brasov, Timisoara and Cluj. I had
her come and stay with me for Christmas one year when I lived in Brasov,
and
now she was with me in Timisoara, she asked, “next time you come to
Romania,
can we go to Cluj?” I smiled at her
comfort with me, to be able to ask this question, and to know that I had
a part
in helping her to see beautiful cities in her own country. We will see
what the future holds. It was sad to say goodbye when our time had
ended, but I was thankful for the time we had together.
Immediately after Marinela left, I went over to visit with
my dear friend Laura and her family.
As some of you may remember, Laura was my Romanian language
teacher for a few months when I first moved to Romania in 2007. We have remained friends and I consider her
and her family to be my “other Romanian family”. I love them all so much! Laura had a baby since the last time that I
saw her so I was excited to meet the new addition and to see how everyone had
grown. It seems the past 2 years since I
had seen them last was the biggest change for them. The other times, when I would come and visit,
everyone still seemed to be young children, this time, I came and John the
oldest was a young college student and 2 others were teens! When did this growing up happen!??!
My time with Laura as always was too short. Only 2 days.
We spent hours together though.
Maybe 20 hours or more? It was a
time to talk, laugh, eat, share about what the Lord has been doing in our lives
and enjoy everyone’s company. I had
brought some lego gifts for the younger boys and clothes for my little Romanian
sister, Irina. I had a lady at work help
me to collect some clothing items for them as well. Oh,
and marshmallows for the family.
Everyone was thrilled. It was so
fun to hear their excitement about what I had brought them. I was blessed to be able to bless them and I couldn’t
have been more blessed by my time with them.
I had to leave Laura’s family in the afternoon on my last
day in Timisoara to board a train for Oradea.
I was going to meet my friend Kelly for the night, as we would be
leaving early for Budapest, Hungary the next day.
I was blessed enough to be able to meet up with another
missionary friend I had not seen in almost 4 years. Sue and I had worked together when I lived in
Oradea. Kelly and I met up with Sue and
a new friend now, Allyssa, for pizza. It
was fun to catch up and see all that the Lord is doing in Oradea and in each of
our lives.
The next morning Kelly and I left for our train to Budapest.
We had a lot of fun.
Kelly took me to places in Budapest I had never been before, including
the great big indoor market they have.
(Where I bought some delicious Sunflower honey.)
We went on two walking tours, hosted by Free Budapest
Walking Tours. We went on a Communist
Tour and a Jewish Tour. They were both
excellent and I highly recommend them if you are ever in Budapest. Our guides were great and we learned a lot!
We also visited the House Of Terror. The building had been used by both the Nazi’s and the Communists. The museum inside is a type of memorial to all the victims who were detained, interrogated, tortured or killed there. It was very eye opening to the evils both those regimes inflicted on the country.
We did a lot of walking around and catching up. Kelly and I met when we both lived in Oradea. I have not seen her since I moved home in 2010. She is still living in Romania, so we had much to talk about. It was a great time of fellowship and exploring a city we both love.
After Budapest I boarded a train for Vienna, Austria. The part of my vacation where I would have some real alone time. I love my time with friends, but really looked forward to allowing my mind to have a break. To walk around slowly through a new city, taking in the sites, taking pictures, trying new food, enjoying the lights of the Christmas Markets.
It was a lovely time. It was also a freezing time. The temps were between 25 and 40. The snow was lovely, but unfortunately it didn’t stick around. Nonetheless, I enjoyed every moment. Walking as much as 10 hours a day, and seeing a dozen different Christmas Markets throughout the city.
I also visited the Jewish Memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. Anytime I am in a city with a memorial, I always try to visit it, in order to pay my respect and to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem. “Mântuieşte, Doamne, poporul Tău, şi binecuvîntează moştenirea Ta!”
As I said at the beginning, I can’t believe I have been home
for only a week and already my trip seems like a dream. My heart is always torn between Romania and
America. I feel so at home when I am
there and long for it when I am
not. I am beyond blessed by the
opportunity I have had to live there and the many times I have been able to
visit.
I read a great book while on vacation called, “We Wait You”,
by Taryn Hutchinson. She was a missionary
in Romania and Hungary (among other countries in Eastern and Central Europe)
with Campus Crusade for Christ. Her
story touched my heart and literally made me cry…in my hotel room, at the
airport, on the plane. Ha! But it was
worth the tears to read stories that I could relate to and to know many of the
places that she spoke of in her book.
One of the main things she wrote that I could relate to, was that she
didn’t feel at home in America, and she didn’t feel at home in Europe. And yet, she felt at home in both
places. And maybe that was ok…because as
it says in Hebrews 13:14, “For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the
one to come.” To me it was a reminder
that I am not Home yet, that I will always be a wanderer here on Earth.
And when you think about it, that isn’t so bad.
As
Tolkein so perfectly said it,
“Not all those who wander are lost”.
Grace and peace....
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