Friends...life is just getting weirder and weirder I tell ya!  Brian and I are really feeling God's call on our life...and it is just weird and exciting.  We are praying with friends for Gods direction in our lives.  So keep praying for us and for our families:) 

The other night I was unable to sleep...which is VERY rare for me.  I mean sleeping is one thing that I am REALLY good at.  I can sleep on the floor...I can sleep in a chair...I can sleep ANYWHERE.  But for some reason Saturday night...sleep alluded me.  You know what I did?.. I read about Moldova.  I read research papers about orphans and orphanages in Moldova.  I read brief political histories of Moldova.  I read a UNICEF report about Moldova.  I read about mission organizations in Moldova...In future posts, I will share with you what I learned.  Right now...I just want you to know this...Moldova consumes me... I think about it every second of the day.  It consumes Brian too.  He dreams about the people and places we saw while in Moldova (which is weird...because we have lived in our house for 5 years and we both still dream about our first house).  Usually new things do not enter our dream worlds...but Moldova has entered in to every part of our waking and sleeping hours.  I am thankful that God continues to fill us.  I <3 Moldova!

God meant for us to go on this mission trip....He planned it from the very beginning.  He was with us every step of the way ( He continues to be with us).   But I digress...

On day 2 at the Orphanage, we met Peter and Mark from Scotland.  Yes, we all totally loved them because they were awesome AND because they have precious Scottish Accents!  Although they claimed that I had the strongest southern accent of the group...I still think they are wrong about that!  These 2 guys are really important parts of the story.  For many reasons....one reason....we all felt instant kinships with them.   Our little group of 6 felt like a family when we added Mia, Nycole from Atlanta, Peter and Mark from Scotland, and Dasa, Irina, and Galina.
Peter and Mark are both very cool fellas!  They are part of New Hope Trust in Scotland.  New Hope Trust was actually started by Philip Cameron's father, Simon, to support the orphans in Romania and Moldova.  New Hope Trust plays a VITAL part in the every day financing for both the orphanage and Stella's Houses and Simon's House.  Mark has been around from the very beginning...he has seen the growth of all the projects in Moldova...and it is amazing to hear his stories (not just because we all loved his accent....the stories are AMAZING).    The kids LOVED them both.  We all agreed that Peter is like the grandfather that everyone would love to have.  He is so comfortable with himself and accepting...he just oozes warmth and love.  He is very easy to talk to.  Every night after he would leave we would all talk about how precious he is.  I took it upon myself to be the first to hug him...but in my defense I told him I was about to:)  (Friends...I can't help it...I just gotta hug folks!). 

Peter making play doh animals with Valerica!

Peter did crafts with us on our second day.  He loved making things with play doh just as much as the kids did.   The kids loved these guys.  They loved time with all of us...A mission trip to an orphanage does not require any special skill set.  You don't need to know advanced Discrete Mathematics or what a quadrilateral is or Piaget's Theories of Child Development or why we say the Holy Catholic Church in the Apostle's Creed...you really just need to be filled with love for children...and a desire to show them that you love them...and that God loves them EVEN MORE!  While I have other stories to share with you about Peter...and Mark (Mark has kind of turned our world up side down...so keep reading...He is an amazing man of God and I can't wait to tell you about him too!).  I wanted you to know that...they came to Moldova to LOVE children...and to share the stories of these children with people in their hometowns and churches...like we are trying to do.

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