A Lovely Kind of Monday

As I write, it's evening here, but morning at home.  On a normal Monday, I would be in my 3rd hour of a 10-hour workday, just getting started with the new week, probably getting through emails and planning out the week with my boss.  But today...

Fresh snow this morning.  The footprints

reflect my journey from bedroom to kitchen for

breakfast

I woke up to snow!  It had snowed a little overnight and snowed off and on for a couple hours in the morning.  I was a classic Phoenician and took pictures and videos and couldn't stop staring out the window.  This caused me to be a little bit behind in my morning routines, but I was ready just in time for Dorothy and Laura to pick me up for a mini road trip to the town of Corabia.  Corabia is on the southern border of Romania (across the river is Bulgaria!) and on the southern edge of the ministry area of Hope Church.  Cornelia and her husband Mircea have lived and ministered there for almost 6 years and are somewhat isolated, being about an hour away from most of the other members of the church. 

Cornelia, Laura, and Dorothy on the streets of Corabia

I don't know Cornelia well, but I do know that two of her greatest loves are Jesus and coffee, so of course we hit it off.  The 4 of us ladies took a bitterly cold but beautiful walk to a local café, where we had pizza and coffee and heard Cornelia's story and prayed with her.

Tasty pizza, tasty latte, sweet fellowship

When I got back to Draganesti, I walked back to the church and got to go along with a few people to check out an apartment to rent (no, not for me!).  Christy, who is an American missionary preparing to be here long term, got an absolute steal - a large, furnished apartment super close to the church for less than 200 dollars a month.  It was fun to see how relatively simple the process was here - she checked out the apartment today, they'll write up a contract tomorrow, and she will move in on Wednesday!  I helped Raul with a couple quick tasks at the church, and got my homework assignment for my time in Craiova tomorrow, then got to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening here at the house.

on the road back to Draganesti

So my afternoon was actually a little bit normal.  I talked with Christy (my roommate for two more days), played piano (there's a piano in my house!) and spent some time online looking at different models of the local church, for a lesson tomorrow in Craiova.  Despite my insistence that I was capable of buying my own dinner down the street, I instead had it hand-delivered to my bedroom door by Raul's youngest son - Raul has been so careful to care for my needs while I'm here.  This was definitely a blessing due to the sleet and crazy low temperatures outside.  I am happy to be in my warm and cozy room, looking forward to tomorrow, and very glad that this was not a normal Monday.

Just proving I can dress for winter when I need to