Thankful List – Moldova

Tudor and his beautiful wife, Violeta – their kindness to us
The similarities between the vision of Vineyard Church in Ungheni, and Epic Life – and the similarity of Pastor Tudor to Pastor Keith
A whole branch of a cherry tree and honeycomb
Singing and playing guitar with Alexe
The spirit-led worship at Vineyard Church
Watching 'Oceans 11' and being silly with Karen and Ashlee – movie night!
Healing prayer for the woman with a tumor, and prophetic prayer
Awesome salad: cucumber, tomato, peppers, green onions, oil, and vinegar
Sending some postcards!
Words of encouragement about leadership, servanthood, and influence
Victoria and Andrei, our translators
God giving me the strength to keep going with Insanity and working out
Super kind-hearted words in a message from Keith
The power of 'listening' prayer
The amazing people we met from the village who had cancer
Cute Moldavian boys singing and playing flutes, and little diva Natasha
Painting a wall mural (God's grace with the sketch) with Victor, Nastia, and Daniella
Victoria coming to the post office with me and translating
Sitting on the bus from Romania to Moldova with Ashley Varner
Tudor's humor, his joking and laughter
Silly team time talking about guys and relationships
Karen's note from prayer night – "You are a natural leader."
Staying up for a night of prayer
'Super Pizza' date with the girls
Reading and being encouraged by the Word of God
Avis buying plane tickets!
Mom deciding to come to Project Searchlight
Sweet Victor (8-yr-old) helping me paint the mural
Playing in the rain, jumping in puddles
Writing a letter to myself to read upon returning home
Honeybear birthday photo shoot
Delicious pan-fried zucchini 'sandwiches' with basil, aoli, and tomato
Watching Sylvia milk the cow
Puppies, blackberries, and cherry trees
Actually seeing muscles growing in my arms as a result of working out
Super-quick mural sketching at the kid's club in the village
Birthday night out at the pizza place with the team
Homemade cheese from Sylvia's cow (weird)
The sweet goodbyes from everyone at church
A birthday 'Treasure Hunt' put together by my team
Learning contentment, in being 28, in a new year of life
Damaris, Victor, Alex (Tudor's daughter), Christina, Reeslan
Looba's birthday gift of a box of chocolates
Watching Kirby dance and sing Garth Brooks
Having a great convo with Laura in the park
A good talk with Ken about Philippians 2
Making pasta and french toast for the girls
Using the porta-potty and getting water from the well again, a reminder that we're still on The Race
Kirby and my awkward spot for exercising… in a hallway
Fighting for alone time with Jesus – in the weeds
Fresh local honey, blackberries, and milk
The gorgeous view of Naples, Italy (not really, but..) from our front door
Reading 'The Dangerous Duty of Delight' by John Piper
My 'sun' shower this morning, brrrr… cold… and kind of humorous
Judah and the Lion – new music from Laura
Praying for J-Squad
The kids acting out Jesus' birth story at kid's club
Praying while walking to get milk from the Russian lady with Elizabeth
Eating 'Pelemeni' – Moldovian pasta with meat inside
Laughing at Becky slapping Monica with a banana peel
My birthday card from Mom and Dad – so kind, especially loved Dad's words
The amazing smell (and taste) of cinnamon rolls
The feeling in the air of a storm coming
Our adopted Moldavian black cat and baby chickens
Having Kirby write out her giftings and encouraging a sister
Lizzie's gift (dark chocolate) drink mix for a Jesus date
Singing 'Deep' at the little conservative Moldavian church
Seeing Easter in Moldova (not really, but…) floral dresses, bright colors, roses blooming
Making cabbage rolls (aka Galushti) with Lena
Kirby waking up from a bad dream yelling out loud
Home-cooked meals: Chicken Pot Pie, Blackberry Pie, Apple Turnovers…
The Moldovian pastry Lena made, called 'Placenta'
Well runs and delightfully cold water from the well
Playing Phase 10 with the family, and singing, "Bine..bine..bine..bine… multsumesc!"
Our visit to the village with Alex and Irina, and meeting Lena and her family
Trips to go outside and pee in the middle of the night…. creepy!
Teaching 'Walking on Water' at the kid's club, and doing the trust fall with them
Getting a goodbye kiss from a little girl at Kid's Club