20 years!!!!!!

Yes, it is true. Today, July 4th, marks 20 years since I first set foot on Romanian soil.  How am I this old?  I cannot honestly believe it. On top of this being 20 years since my first trip to Romania, I am also nearing 6 years in total out of those 20 of my actually living in this country.  Looking through all my pictures from my many journeys here, I am in awe and amazement at how good God is. At how He has blessed me. At how His plans are so much more amazing and better than my plans could have ever been for my life.  These 20 years show God's faithfulness to provide, to lead, to love me even though I have not deserved His goodness.

This post is not about "me", this post is about HIM. It's about a God who loves me, a God who loves the orphans and gypsy and Romanians and Hungarians of this beautiful country.  It is a post about a God who works through a shy, sometimes disobedient girl.  It is a post about a God who has promised to be with me and never forsake me, and these past 20 years have proven this promise of His 100 times over.

WOW...that's all I can say...well...wow and THANK YOU JESUS!

Here are some pics of me 20 years ago, and then again this year in the spots!

Timisoara - 1997 and 2017

 

Petrosani - 1997 and 2017

 

Sighisoara - 1997, 2007 and 2017

 

 

Brasov (my home now!) - 1997 and 2017

 

 

St. Patrick

Lorica of Saint Patrick

I arise today
Through a mighty strength,
The invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From every one who desires me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a mulitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength,
The invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation

St. Patrick (ca. 377)

We Have It All

 

Such a great devotional reading this morning. 

Seek ye first the kingdom . . . all these things shall be added unto you.Matthew 6:33

How much time have you spent in your Christian life meditating on the plain instruction from our Savior?—“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

The God who has revealed Himself to needy men and women wants us to know that when we have Him, we have everything—we have all the rest!

Any of us who have experienced a life and ministry of faith can tell how the Lord has met our needs—even for food and the essentials of life.

Brethren, we ought to learn, and learn it soon, that it is much better to have God first and have God Himself, even if we have only a thin dime, than to have all the riches and all the influence in this world and not have God with it!

Let us go on to know Him and to love Him more dearly, not for His gifts and benefits, but for the pure joy of His presence. Thus we will fulfill the purpose for which He created us and redeemed us!

 

Dear Lord, help me make the transition from wanting more and more “things” to being satisfied—and overjoyed—with only Your presence in my life. 

-AW Tozer

Redeeming the Time with Intention

I have had this idea in my head over the last few days.  The idea of time and how my time is the Lord's to do with as He would.  The Bible says,

"But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord;
I say, 'You are my God.'
My times are in Your hand..."
Psalm 21:14-15a 

This idea has been tossing around and so for the next month I want to do something about it!  I want to redeem some extra time I have in the mornings.  I need and want to be intentional about it. 

I spend time each day in prayer for friends, family and even people I don't know.  But I want to be specific here, I want to spend time praying for specific needs and requests.  And I want to pray for you!  So if you have anything specific you need prayer for, please send me a private message and I will pray for you!  This is a private thing I want to do.  It will only be between you, me and the Lord.  So if you are need of prayer, about anything, big or small, please send me a message.  I know I won't be able to pray verbally for you to hear with time differences and distance and such...but I will commit to pray for you during this.

I want to redeem the time the Lord has given me and I hope that I can use it pray for any of you who may need it.