Thursday, May 26, 2022
The Ascension of the Lord
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Welcome to Romania!
A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.
On our big 27 inch computer screens we have two screensavers at the moment. On the left Miles and Jasper are watching Paw Patrol. Miles is intent on the screen, and Jasper is intent on watching what Miles is watching. There is a little hero worship going on, of the Paw Patrol characters, of course, but also of the younger brother adoring the older brother. That puts too much responsibility on Miles, of course, who is learning everything in the world there is to learn as fast as he can.
I will not leave you orphans, says the Lord; I will come back to you and your hearts will rejoice.
On the right screen Andi and Aki’s family, including the boys, play in the sand while the evening waves crash in, one after another. The waves are loud. A couple with their three year old daughter have stopped to talk, but no one can hear much. They speak Romanian. They are from Romania. They stopped because Andi introduced herself and invited their daughter to play with Miles and Jasper in the sand.
Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.
Romania and Ukraine share 400 miles of common border. From Bucharest, the capital of Romania, to the Ukraine border along the major highway it is 180 miles. Romania has been a member of NATO since 2004 and the European Union since 2007. 500,000 Ukrainians have sought sanctuary in Romania since the Russian invasion on February 24.
Romania’s history, situated as they are between large, hungry states like Austria-Hungary and the Soviet Union, has been primarily one of independence demanded, fought for and sometimes gained. The more I read about Romania, the more interested I become. It is not just the home of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Besides being home to the world’s greatest vampires, Transylvania is home of the “world’s greatest road.”
In Corinth Paul testified to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. When they reviled him he shook out his garments and said, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
Andi and Aki often greet strangers and share their time and space with them. When they can, they share their faith in Jesus and the gospel message. I don’t think they had much time with their new Romanian friends, but it was time well spent. The invisible impossible dream we call “grace” passed between them.
Yesterday all of us embarked on another trip, too soon after the last one to Port Aransas. Margaret flew to Urbana, the Tomitas left immediately after Austin Classical School’s final chapel of the year, heading for Kansas City, Springfield and Urbana, Illinois, and Evansville, Indiana. I dropped off Jasper with his family after spending the day with him and then drove north as well. I made it all the way to Hope, Arkansas before I fell into bed.
As we traveled north, our Romanian friends will be travelling back east, far across the ocean to a country darkened by European war. As Paul prayed, no matter where he was, for his Corinthian and Galatian, Philippian, Ephesian and Colossian friends, we will pray for them.
(Acts 1, Psalm 47, Ephesians 1, Hebrews 9, Matthew 28, Luke 24)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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