Week 4—Sincrai Group Homes

To follow my really hard week of camp last week, I had an excellent time this week. The Lord knew that I really needed some encouragement. Again, I was on Team SUA with some wonderful kids. Each member of the team blessed me whether they were a camper, volunteer, or Irish team member.
This week was the first time that I seriously desired to bring a child home with me. If international adoptions were open in RO, I would want to bring these four children home with me. Eva, the youngest of the four, was on my team. She was absolutely precious. Eva turned 7 on Friday and my heart swelled in celebration for her life. When you would hold Eva, she would hold on to your face and the sweetest smile would come across her face. In Romanian, she would ask me if I loved her and when I told her yes, she would just respond with a “si yo” (“and I, you”). It was fantastic. On Friday, at The Weekend, I noticed that she has a surgical scar on her leg and that one leg was longer than the other. My heart broke in compassion for this girl that is so small, yet there is some story there with what she has been through. And that is how it is with each kid that I meet. They each have scars, whether it is physical, emotional, spiritual or mental. Each kid we work with has a story, and each has a purpose. That’s what keeps me going when I’m exhausted at camp, thinking about how the Lord has a purpose for each kid there. The Lord has purpose in me being there, in teams being there, and volunteers being there. I love that. I love that God has a reason and a plan for everything in His hands. It’s so comforting to think about.
As I've been reading through Psalms, today I came to Psalm 121, the "Berry Psalm." It both made me smile and tear up a bit for that wonderful place. Take a minute to read it, because it's words are great. I love that I am now in the section of Psalms that are the "psalms of ascents." They are all looking up towards the Lord.
Tonight, a huge group of us have rented out the bowling alley to have an official going away party for Paul and Fiona. It was sad to think that this was their last week at camp. They both have incredible hearts for the Lord and have such an energy and excitement with the kids. They will be sorely missed. The next three weeks of camp will be led by Brian (the intern director) and Sarah (an intern whose had alot of experience with Livada). I'm looking forward to the fresh perspective they will be bringing to camp. Please be praying for both of them as they get comfortable with leading camp.
On a side note, I just wanted to say that all of the interns have decided to have Christmas in July! We are going to do a white elephant party and watch a Christmas movie next sunday before our 8 week interns leave us. What's funny about this is that we've already watched Home Alone 2 about a million times already and we'll probably watch it again. :-) the humor of the interns really makes me laugh.
Well, I think that is all for now. Thank you all for praying for me in these weeks. It means so much for me to receive comments and emails of encouragement. The Lord uses every bit of it to refresh and revive me.
Much love to all of you!!