A Few Steps Back...

Yesterday, I was rummaging around in my top drawer for a match to one of my mismatched socks and came across a half eaten, wrapped up, traditional, Romanian chocolate bar.  The Bible Students, who were so welcoming and openhearted, gave Brianna and I these bars when we arrived. Funny as it seems, this chocolate bar meant a lot to me. When I found it, my mouth watered as I excitedly unwrapped the wrapper. But, the chocolate did not look like the rich, creamy brown shade it once was. Now, this old candy was a faded and discolored, hardly edible. 

Finding that chocolate yesterday reminded me of my life-changing, soul-searching, heart moving, experience in Romania and Ukraine in May 2011 that I vowed to never forget. Though, looking at the chocolate caused me to realize that it was much like my memories of that missions trip - faded and discolored.

Just like I had forgotten about this special (and tasty, I might add) gift sitting in my sock drawer, I was also unknowingly forgetting about the incredible people I met, places I saw, things I touched, moments I felt, words I heard, and prayers I prayed in these eastern European countries. All of a sudden, the mismatched sock didn’t matter. My cold feet didn’t matter. The chocolate bar didn’t matter. I just wanted to remember the things that did matter.

So, as I held the candy to my nose and smelled the rich hazelnut chocolate that smelled so fresh, I was brought back to last spring, and it all became real again.

I wanted to document just a few things that I learned, and remembered, while in Romania and Ukraine just in case I don’t find another ethnic chocolate bar to remind me… 

It was a time of clarity. God made something, a few things, very clear about my future. One of them was about my future husband and I knew that the guy I liked at the time wasn’t him.

   

      It was a time of closeness. Brianna and I have always been very close sisters. But, on this adventure, we reached a new level of closeness. On this trip, we discovered that our personalities are opposite. But on the inside, we share the same heart. Being in an unfamiliar country, with unfamiliar people, who spoke unfamiliar languages, made us not only closer sisters, but also best, best friends.  As Anne would say it, she was my kindred spirit.

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 It was a time of inspiration. Brianna and I got to put our comradery to use and contruct our first “real” sermon together. We, of course, spoke on dating. Surprised? And, as a honorarium, we got flowers and more chocolate from these chaps!

  It was truly father-daughter time. I have never had such quality time with my Dad. In Romania, I got to see my father’s heart – pure and raw. I wish this on every daughter. Listening to him speak about leadership everyday for an uninterrupted five hours, I realized that my Dad is the greatest leader. He’s also, my hero.  He challenged me, taught me, led me, and loved me and I am so thankful for this man of God in my life.

 

  

It was a time of friendship. The three of us met some of the best people who were so simple, yet so complex with their walks with God. These people studied day by day in hopes to witness to those in Muslim countries and corners of the earth. We gave our friends the name, world-changers. Because, they will do just that.

 It was a time to love. In Ukraine, we visited an orphanage. Loving these children was something I didn’t know my heart could feel, but it just did. Unlike some of the other memories, this was an experience that could never escape my memory. I hid these precious faces in my heart and their smiles in my mind.

It was a time of complete sacrifice, fulfillment, expense, gain, laughter, and weeping. God gave me passion for people and a purpose for reaching those people. He allowed me to see into my God-appointed future and I became so overjoyed and pleased. Because I knew that whatever I do in this life, it will be for the sole purpose of furthering His kingdom. And that, my fellow bloggies, is the most fulfilling thing in the world. 

Love,

Whit