Wednesday night I had the opportunity of sharing my beloved Romania with the Bible Adventure Club at my church. When I first got the call about it I was thrilled. Not only was I going to get to hang out with a bunch of crazy kids all night, but I also was being given free license to talk about everything I loved about Romania. In my excitement I quickly brainstormed a list of what I could potentially share and dug out some of my pictures and bottles and books that had made it back in my suitcase during my several trips.
Wednesday rolled around, however, and the only word that I can use to describe my state of mind is stressed out. While I had a good, general idea of what I wanted to tell the kids, I was struggling with keeping it on their level and the more I thought about it, the more the kids began to intimidate me. It had been about six months since I had regularly attended my church and I was doubting whether I would know any of the kids anymore, or if they would know me. I kept picturing a roomful of bored and unfamiliar young faces. In the midst of these fears my brother and I spent a good half hour frantically searching and calling around to find the cables I would need to hook up my Mac to the projector, and then I sat hunched over my computer for two and a half more hours creating a powerpoint. When I finally finished the presentation my dad rather tactlessly, though with good intentions, informed me that they didn't have a projector in the room I was to be using. I wanted to cry.
I prayed a lot, and I knew that God would take care of it, just like he always had. But even so, it was difficult to trust him. I left that night feeling totally unprepared and on the verge of tears - I was so tired and worried. On the ride over I turned up the music real loud to push out my other thoughts. I still knew it would be ok, but I just wanted to get it over with. I wasn't excited anymore.
When I arrived at church I was met by the four Wolfe children. They practically pounced on me and went into a long story about their new pet gecko before announcing that they were going to "get me". A young girl named Faith came up to me and said, "Hey, I recognize you." Two years ago I had helped out in her early childhood class at the grade school. She gave me the biggest hug. Ana Hillrich hugged me and pretended to throw goldfish at me all night. And when the program finally started, and Jess asked if anyone knew who I was I think the entire room yelled my name.
How good is our God? I felt so loved by those kids, and they reminded me why I love them so much. Instead of blank and bored faces, I found myself in a room of curious and lively kids. They asked some really great questions, and some not really great questions like "Do they have toilets?" and "Do they have drains?" They listened and understood when I talked about sharing the gospel with my Romanian campers, and a few of them grasped enough to be shocked at how many of my Romanian friends don't know Jesus.
It was everything that I thought it would be when I first got the call about it. I had so much fun with those kids. And I learned, yet again, that God can handle it. He is so good to me.
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