Dear Family and Friends,
What a glorious day in the Lord this has been!! I sure do have some stories to tell about it so I will begin with waking up.
First, Wendy, my best friend that lives in Columbia, called me at 7:15 a.m. and woke me up singing happy birthday in her Grover-from-Sesame-Street voice. I am here to tell you, there is nothing quite like having THAT precious voice howling over the phone!! How blessed I am to have friends that would stay up all night to harass me about turning 30! (I love you, Wendy!!!)
After I recovered from the wake-up call, I promptly took a Gardenia scented bubble bath (bath products I brought sent from the states, of course.) I then made myself the most splendid wild blueberry pancakes ever digested…complete with maple syrup….that was also brought from the states…as you can see, I do have basic needs met here 
I went to the office to meet with friends who were escorting me shopping to Debredsen (a city in Hungary) for the day. Before leaving the office, I checked my email. MANY OF YOU sent emails to terrorize me about the pitfalls of turning 30…and you remembering me was appreciated…bad jokes and all. And, yes, Daddy, it is very possible for you to have a child my age. You are, in fact, 50 and I DO NOT think you look younger than me!!
We left for Debredsen about 10:00 a.m. It was a beautiful day here and the ride was stunning…the fields of sunflowers are in bright bloom here and they extend into the horizon. God certainly used my love for nature to bless me yesterday with all kinds of beautiful flowers!
When we arrived in Debredsen, we shopped for bit in a few of the nicer stores. I had wanted to buy some perfume but it was soooooo expensive here that I decided to wait until it could be brought some the states. The Romanians that escorted me had no clue that perfume COULD cost that much…and we would not consider it expensive!
Next, we had lunch. And, yes, it was pizza…not great pizza, but good pizza. At least they used mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce! I had the waiter take a picture of all feasting on four pizzas. I immediately wanted chocolate ice cream and felt as though I had a right to indulge myself…I am now 30. I had the MOST incredible gelato…chocolate AND chocolate chip. My taste buds were in gastronomic ecstasy!!
On to “The Metro”…considered the ultimate of shopping experiences in these parts. “The Metro” is something like a cross between Wal-Mart and Sam’s Wholesale. You can buy large quantities or individual items. I have been to this store twice now and it is so packed with people that you must wait in line to park. People travel from all over to shop here…I being no exception. Since we were documenting my birthday on film, Pavel decided to take the camera in to get some actions shots for my family. Big mistake.
While inside the store, I was hit three times by pallet jacks and employees who have never heard the words customer service. I continued to rattle on in English about how rude and inconsiderate they were and that they needed Jesus in their life. These people had no clue what I was saying and looked at me as if I may be from an alien planet. I didn’t care. It was funny AND it made me feel better!
With my buggy bulging at the seams, I got in line behind my Romanian friend, Aurelia. After waiting there for about 30 minutes, some woman came over and started screaming at us in Hungarian. Neither of us understand Hungarian so we just stared at her. She pushed us…yes, pushed us, out of the line and points to two isles over while yelling and pointing at the sign above. I can only guess that we have too many items for the line we were in so I got with and move to the next line. Aurelia is quite upset and I console her telling her there was a reason that we needed to be patient and wait…and wait we did.
At the end of an hour, I was finally checked out and Pavel was anxiously awaiting for me to emerge through the doors with my buggy. As I make my exit, he snaps a picture and tells me how funny my expression was as he did it. Immediately, we were confronted by store security. The man cannot speak English but he is trying to demonstrate that we must give them the film. I snatched the camera from Pavel’s hand and I began speaking English as rapidly as I could. This worked and he became frustrated and took us to his boss. This man could also not speak English and I tell them that I will not do anything until I speak with someone that speaks English. Pavel is practically hysterical as we wait. I am praying hard that God get me out of this. On this roll of film is several shots from the abandoned hospital, many from my birthday party, and the others are of the day thus far.
They send down a man who speaks a language that is a cross between English/German/Pygmy. He says, “U must give ze film for to us because it our policy.” No, I explain, I will not do it. I tell them that if they want the film, they must immediately contact someone at the American Embassy and have them tell me what legal grounds they have for taking my personal film. They become very nervous when I say this and he says “must give us ze film” and he reaches for my camera. I am thinking that maybe I can talk them into developing the film, taking out the three pictures taken there and then give me the others. So, to confuse him, I start speaking in Spanish…nothing correctly….and point the camera towards the floor and take the last four pictures. The camera then starts rewinding the roll. I started talking very loudly, in English, demanding to use the phone to call the American embassy. Pavel asks where are the signs indicating that the camera in “illegal” in there store. They tell us that the sign is outside. I demand to see it. So, we must walk across the parking lot to the gate. As we leave the building, the guard chief lights up a cigarette. In one INCREDIBLY swift move, I remove the film from the camera and deposit it inside my purse. I quickly catch up to the guard so as to not be suspected.
The guard walks us to the sign…it is a picture of something that hardly resembles a camera with a line through it. On the walk back, Pavel looks down at the camera with wide eyes and says in English (the guard can’t understand) “Where is the film?” I say, “Just go with it when we get inside.”
When we re-entered the security office, the guard went back upstairs to get someone that spoke English. We thought we could just leave, so we went outside. Another guard races out after us and explains that we must wait. So, down the stairs comes a new translator. He dons broken glasses glued in the middle and a pocket protector jammed full of pens on a lab coat….no kidding. He does speak very good English and he tells me that there is no need to call the embassy. He proposes to have me pay for developing the film and they will extract the photos and negatives that were our impropriety. I agree that his suggestion is fair and I open my camera. I gasped as I open the back cover and find that there is no film. Pavel does a beautiful job of acting. He jumps back and says “You didn’t put film in it?” and I scream back “You didn’t put film in it?” Note that we are not lying here…just asking questions:-) I start screaming at him that he has put me through this whole ordeal for nothing. Then, I smack him on the arm twice. We continue to yell at one another and the guards are hysterical laughing because the translator has told them what is going on. The translator says, “Oh, well, that is one less thing you have to worry about.” Pavel and I leave the office yelling at one another into the parking lot. My best acting yet and Pavel’s debut. What a team we were! What a sense of humor God has!!! He knows my sense of adventure and He gave me one yesterday! Pavel and I were feeling on top of the earth about gettin’ that one over on those authority guards!!!!
We told the story about 100 times yesterday afternoon. Pavel now calls me the “mother of smecher” which means the “mother of being slick.” Those of you who agree are laughing hard I know!! :-p~~~~
When I got home, I put away groceries for an hour. Then, my boyfriend, Jeff, called me. He gave me the most incredible birthday present. After several days of earnest prayer (by him and myself), seeking Christian counsel, attending church, and watching God working around him, Jeff told me that he resigned from his position in the ministry in NC and is coming to Romania to work with my ministry here!! We are so excited about him coming!! We talked extensively about the personal side of this. Jeff told me that he had to remove me from the picture regarding the decision. He said that God may be using me as the vehicle for getting him into the ministry here. If something develops for us relationally, it is just an added bonus. If not, we will certainly know working and living in the same city and we will move on with our ministries individually if God calls us to do so. Neither of us believes that it is a coincidence that God has called us to work together but we are waiting on Him to lead in that area.
After Jeff called, my roommates/co-workers and Aurelia came running into my room and told me to come quick. We work in the building where the Christian radio station is housed. They had made a birthday dedication to me telling me how special I was to them and the people here and how God and formed me with His own hand to do the work here. They thanked me for what my work would mean to the this generation and they had the station play the Ray Boltz song, “Thank You.” Of course, I cried my head off. When my great-grandmother died four years ago, my brother sang that song at her funeral. She was an incredible, sweet woman with a heart for foreign missions. I loved her immensely and she was an inspiration and a blessing to me life. She always wanted to see someone is the family do foreign missions work and love people in the name of Jesus. Last night, as they played that song, I was absolutely certain that she knows and she, too, is thanking me. What a tender moment…and a glorious feeling.
My roommates and Aurelia then really blew me away. They collected their money and purchased me 6 blown glasses and a beautiful, handblown cobalt blue vase. On the side, is an abstract of two people holding hands and reaching up. They told me that it was Jeff and I reaching towards heaven. Of course, I cried again. Words for their thoughtfulness escape me. I am humbled to work and live with such Romanians. I praise God to have blessed me with such friends and such a memorable day. I cannot imagine having a better birthday.
The greatest gift I have received is the peace and joy that comes from knowing Jesus as the living spirit that indwells within me rather than the historical figure that continues to defy explanation because of theological debates. I am thankful that God loves me so much, He took the time and effort to show me by bringing me here. Because He first loved me, I can love others. I continue to pray that I never put my service to God before my devotion and love relationship to Jesus Christ.
Thank all of you for your support, encouragement, and love. The following is what I wrote last week about turning 30:
In exactly one week from today, I will turn 30 years old. And you know what…it is absolute bliss. There is something magic about this age…I am old enough to be taken seriously by those with more years than myself but not old enough to be considered set in my ways. No matter the age to which I am speaking, people seem to listen. I noticed that I have started saying to adolescents, “I remember when I was your age…” and I have become increasingly irritated with the rock music and now consider it mostly noise. I am probably in better cardiovascular shape than ever and I still wear a size 4. I have acquiesced to the fact that I will never wear junior sizes in jeans as the proportion of my hips and waist is not that of juniors….a misses’ size 4 to 6 will have to suffice. I notice all babies and older adults and find that I call them both “precious.” My attention about how I dress has heightened and I am doubly flattered when I am complimented on a long, fitted dress rather than a short, tight dress. I no longer classify being conservative in some aspects of life as an insult. Consequently, politics have now gotten my attention more than in previous years. I think that most importantly, I have learned that God cares more about what happens on earth than I do. My summation is all any of us need to do is strive to me more like Him, open our hearts to being servants wherever we are, and just show up. He does everything else. Acknowledging that sure does take the pressure off what I think I should do for the next 40+ years!
Basking in the Son,
Michelle
Posted on July 29th, 1998 by Michelle
Filed under: Michelle's Journal