Making New Friends

Because we wanted to go to the homeschool skating day, my night owls had to turn into early birds. I have known about the weekly event for several months now but for one reason or another, we haven't been able to attend. We ventured out this morning, a bit nervous because we knew no one. We found the rink easily and the girls started skating. Holly went slowly, hanging on to the walls for dear life. She was learning. . . I watched them for a few minutes and then decided to cast off my introverted personality and meet some moms. There were three ladies sitting at a booth so I walked up and introduced myself. They were very friendly and asked me to sit with them. We chatted a bit and discovered that we all were former missionaries, future missionaries or missionary kids. Amazing! We went out to lunch, exchanged email, etc. and they have invited us to be a part of their homeschool group. I am ecstatic about meeting these ladies. For so long now, I have felt like a misfit. I felt an instant bond with them and I'm praising the Lord for new friends.

Small World

Tuesday was my last day in the first grade classroom. I liked being in the same class for an extended period because I was able to get the routine down fairly well. I was even learning how to operate the computers. Smile. On my last day there, I received a note from one parent. The handwriting was slightly unusual but recognizable. What struck me initially was the way the "W" was formed. It was so Romanian or at least European. So I asked the little girl where her parents were from and she said that her dad was from West Virginia and her mother (the one who wrote the note) was from Romania! Small world! We exchanged a few sentences in Romanian. That was fun!

Today I was back at Holly's school shadowing the teacher in the special needs class. These are the children who can't function in a normal classroom because of behavior problems. Most of them are manageable but there are a few that are frequently out of control. This will be a challenge and I'm sure you will be hearing more before the six weeks is over! The teacher's baby is due on October 17th so it could be any day now that I begin as the temporary full time teacher.

At lunch time, I was on my way to the teacher's lounge to get my lunch out of the refrigerator when I saw a familiar face that I hadn't seen in a long, long time. We recognized each other at the same moment. It was a friend of mine from when we lived here two decades ago. She was just a teen then and now she's teaching at Holly's school. I can't wait to get together with her and catch up on things!

Blogger Reflection Award

I have been given an award by Patricia and Sheryl. They are both long time blogger friends with inspiring blogs themselves. Both are very worthy of this award and I am honored to be a recipient.

Here are the rules for passing this award on: The reason for the title is because this award should make you reflect on five bloggers who have been an encouragement, a source of love, impacted you in some way, and have been a Godly example to you. Five Bloggers who when you reflect on them you get a sense of pride and joy... of knowing them and being blessed by them.

1. Copy this post.
2. Reflect on five bloggers and write a least a paragraph about each one.
3. Make sure you link to this post so others can read it and the rules.
4. Go leave your chosen bloggers a comment and let them know they've been given the award.
5. Put the award icon on your site

Limiting the award to just five bloggers is tough. I would love to do more but time would never allow for that. Here are the ones that I have chosen:

Dana at Principled Discovery is not afraid to tell you exactly what she’s thinking. I like her insight on homeschooling, religion, the government and other topics. She even has another blog entitled “Backyard Birding”.

I met DK Raymer through the Thursday Thirteen meme. DK has a patriotic spirit all year long, reminding us to show our support of our troops by wearing red on Fridays. I love her quotes and pictures and learning more about her personal life. She had surgery this past spring that has made my broken pinky toe quite inconsequential.

Julie and I started blogging about the same time on Homeschool Blogger. Blogging is not the only thing we have in common. Our children are all close in age and we have both recently gone through a long distance move. Julie’s blog always has many things to reflect upon from door knobs to a relationship with Christ.

Gayle at Life with my Crew is another Homeschool Blogger friend who has moved to blogspot. Although she lives in my former state of Alabama, we never met in real life. There’s still a chance since my family is all there and I know we’ll go home to visit. I am encouraged by Gayle’s blog as she shares her daily life and leaves comments on mine.

Several of my blog friends moved to blog spot right before or after me. Kathleen aka Coffee Mom is one of them. She lives on the other side of the continent, in another country even, but she is a blogger that I’d love to meet in real life. In many ways, our lives are different but I find similarities too. Kathleen frequently posts pictures of her daily life happenings from birthday shoes to summer vacation fun.

A Visit from a Friend

I began my first blog nearly two years ago. I hadn’t been blogging long when I added Julie to my friends list. She was also fairly new to the blogosphere. Our blog comments evolved into e-mails and Instant Messages and then, when we were home on furlough in 2005 she invited us to drop by her house. On one of our Alabama – New York trips we decided to take her up on her offer. Julie is truly a brave soul to invite practical strangers to stay with her but she has a heart for missionaries and genuine hospitality. In fact, she never felt like a stranger to me but more like a kindred spirit.

Yesterday, she and her kids plus a couple of extras were able to stop by for a much too brief visit on their way to West Virginia. I am so glad that we are here in the states and we don’t have the Romania/US distance to deal with, but Texas is still too far away. I am thrilled that we are just about the halfway point for her on her journey and she was able spend some time with us. Who knows? Maybe some day we will live closer to each other. Until then we have the blogosphere to keep in touch.

The Weekend

Friday morning we all had a few hours of sleep. John had business to take care of with the selling of our van. It is a bit more complicated here than in the states.

We are staying here in Brasov with long time friends, Marius and Laura. Marius is a national Romanian pastor. His wife Laura invited Hannah and I to their ladies night on Friday. The theme was “An Evening for Princesses”. Everyone had an opportunity for a makeover, we were all given crowns, made by some of the ladies in the group, there was a message on Esther and plenty of good food.

Hannah and Laura

Saturday was a day to relax and that is about all that we did. Sweet rest! Today we attended service with Marius and Laura. John gave the message. This afternoon we will go out for a bit. Hannah wants to take some pictures for her photo blog. The Photo Hunters assignment this week is architecture. I am sure we’ll find something interesting in this very old city!

Love and Time

Blogger Friend School Assignment

Your assignment this week is to visit 3 Classmates' blogs and tell them that you are praying for them this week! This is a really simple assignment, but important to share with one another that you want to encourage them. When you are finished with visiting your classmates and leaving them a comment, post on your blog 3 ways that you can show love to a neighbor or friend!

“And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.” Genesis 29:18-20

Love and Time are synonymous. If we love someone, we will spend time with them or doing things for them. It is as simple as that. The ways we can spend time or the things that we could do are innumerable. It could be as simple as sending them a personal email, not just something that has been forwarded around the world and back again. We can be the listening ear or the shoulder to cry on when life gets hard; and it frequently does. We can call up a friend and say, “Hey, let’s get together for lunch.” Then actually do it. Life is busy. Life is hard. Let’s take time today with those we love.