Day Three - Hanging out with Roni's Gang

I dislike the fact that it's taken me this long only to get to day three of the trip.  I've been home over two weeks now and feel somewhat disconnected from the trip.  I miss the kids tremendously but love the fact that they pop up on Facebook with an instant message every few days.

Our third day was Sunday and the team headed into Speranta Baptist Church to worship with the kids.  This is the church that Pam, Ben and I attended when we lived in Arad and is pastored by our friend Romica Iuga.  Since there was not translation readily available for the team members we skipped the first hour of prayer and arrived for hours two and three.  It was a nice service and Romi's brother, Viorel, brought the message.

After the service the team split up into pairs again and I went with Jay out to Ana's House, or the "big house" or Roni and Rodi's house.  Either way we enjoyed a marvelous lunch and hanging out with the kids. 

I had a chance to catch up with Mircea, who is now 14-years-old and the same age as my son, Ben.  Ben and Mircea got along well when we were in Romania.  However, I remember that in the beginning it wasn't always that way.  During that first summer in 2003, the boys were playing outside and I'm not sure what was going down but Mircea suddenly blurted out "When is that American going home?"  They came a long way after that episode. 

As I sat chatting with Mircea at the dining room table he wanted to know all about Ben's bedroom.  He was so fascinated that I had to sketch out on a napkin what his bedroom looked like right down to the window, closet, bed, etc.  Then Mircea wanted to know what my bedroom looked like and basically I gave him the layout of the whole upper floor of our house.  I'm always amazed at what intrigues the kids. 

With mission team members it is interesting to see if Romania lays out like they had in their mind before arriving.  I wonder, too, what perception Romanian kids have of America.  Much of it is what they see on television and the very unrealistic "reality" shows and things like that.  Some day I want my friend Roni and his wife, Rodi, to come visit.  But I already dread having them see the house that I live in.  It is a castle compared to the typical Romanian dwelling that poplulates their country.  At what point did we, as Americans, get confused as to bigger is always better?  I always think that I can only sit in one room at a time so why is it necessary to have so many of them?  And then have to clean all of them?  I think that it is a waste of time and energy having a big house.  Some day I'll be ready to go back to something much smaller and simpler.

Mircea and Jay at the castle in Şoimoş.

This is why I love going to Romania and hanging out with the kids.  They ask questions of me that prompt me to question my lifestyle, my motives and my desires.  I don't think one country is better than the other but each one has so much to offer to another; challenging each other in how we do things and accepting that sometimes we are different and it is okay to be that way.  Connecting heart to heart is the most important thing as people.