Least of These

(I'm not sure why this posted before it was finished. Sorry if you got this twice.)

Today was the hardest all around for me so far. The emotion of where we are and what we are doing hit me while we were walking around between shifts at the hospital.

We left the hospital around 12:30 and headed around town, by the black church, then up to the gondola that would take us to top of a mountain (sort of). While the journey to get there was hard and seemed to take forever on foot, the view was spectacular.

We did have an interesting conversation with a doctor today. She was completely amazed that people would come to Romania from America for only a week. She said that Romanians don't have any sense of volunteerism. I'll add a "yet" to that sentence for her. We have already met some people here who think what we are doing at the hospital is a great thing, and there are a couple of volunteers from the area.

The hospital was hard today. I spent a little extra time with the babies this afternoon while a few of the girls went to feed the newborns. One of the things I love to do is to bless someone secretly, so they don't know who or where the blessing came from. This is true with the babies. I knew this going in but I didn't know how much it would affect me. Each baby I hold or feed or change or play with will not remember me when I leave, but they are forever in my heart. Next week, some new strangers will come to hold and feed and change and play with them. I wonder what goes on in the minds of these little ones. As I tried to comfort a baby today with an IV in and his arm with a splint-type thing on it that was tied to the bed while he had a fever and I couldn't pick him up, my heart broke yet again for him. The IV was basically for dehydration, with no medicine in it really. He was so unhappy and just wanted out of that bed. All I could do was pray and cry.

"When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'

"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'

Bonjour, Paris! Au revoir Paris!

We made it to Paris - an uneventful flight. However, I've lost my camera so there will not be many photos posted from me. God is faithful, and I trust he will take care of the situation. We did have an adventure in the airport trying to get it back though. So thankful for traveling with grace-filled people.

We're about to board our flight to Bucharest but I wanted to let you know we're safe so far. More updates will follow.

Au revoir!

Michigan today, Romania tomorrow!

Today is the day. I'll be boarding a plane that will take me to Paris, then another plane that will take me to Bucharest. From there, I will travel to Brasov where I will spend the next week(ish) working with Firm Foundations at Children's Hospital in Brasov.

People keep asking me if I'm nervous. I can honestly say there isn't shed of nervousness in me right now. Why?

• I'm traveling with an amazing group of people.
• I get to go love on babies and the people who serve them every day.
• I get to be Jesus to every person I come in contact with, in Romania and all along the way (though this is true every day).
• I know God planned every detail and He's got it all figured out.
• We're taking the Baby Closet international!
• I'm traveling with an amazing group of people! I know, I know... I already said that, but it's so true.

We leave late tonight, and arrive tomorrow evening at our final destination. The journey to where God is taking us is long, but as with every charge from him, the journey is part of the adventure. I can't wait to see what he has in store for us!

Random Active Kindness

Recently, I started helping lead a group of 5th and 6th grade girls on Sunday nights. It's really been challenging and rewarding, and I'm loving it!

A couple of weeks ago I talked about loving your neighbor. We read a lot of verses about loving each other, ending with the parable of the Good Samaritan. As we closed, I challenged them to do a random act of kindness each day during the week, and to come back with stories of what they did and what the reactions were of the people they served. (Side note: We didn't have many of the same girls the next week, so the only story I have is this one, from one of the mothers: Random act gone wrong. Maybe we should let the parents in on our weekly challenges.)

As we were cleaning up after the girls left, we found one of the girl's papers. She had written down the assignment as "Do a random active kindness every day." We kind of giggled at that.

At home later that evening, I thought of how she heard that and I think she was right. Loving others requires action. It's not about feeling some emotion, but it's about getting up and doing something. We can't say we love God and love people if we are sitting around talking about it.

It's time to get moving! It's time to make a difference. It's time.

We ended our time together talking about why it's important to love others and show kindness to them. I'll leave you with Matthew 25:31-46 from The Message.

The Sheep and the Goats

"When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'

"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'

"Then he will turn to the 'goats,' the ones on his left, and say, 'Get out, worthless goats! You're good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—

I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.'

"Then those 'goats' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?'

"He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.'

"Then those 'goats' will be herded to their eternal doom, but the 'sheep' to their eternal reward."

It's time. Go.

If you don't know where to start, some of the ideas on this site may jump start your creativity: A Risk A Day