It has been so long since I have blogged so I will have to catch you up! Romania was such a sweet and restoring time for me and the Lord moved in so many incredible ways!
Currently, I am Africa serving at a carepoint with the cutest kids and it’s been so fun! But that is for a whole other blog post, but for this one I am going to back track to Romania.
In Romania, my team was taken away from the squad for a time and sent to a little village called Draganesti-Olt. There, I got to work with a local afterschool program with impoverished kids while also going house to house giving fliers from Hope Church. All of those things were incredible, but one of the days we got the opportunity to work with a Romanian and his son and share the gospel in the village. After going around the village and talking to people, they invited us to come to a youth event and play games with the kids. We arrived and the kids were singing songs, playing musical chairs, and some other really fun games. While all of the kids were playing, there was a little boy standing off to the side all by himself. I went over to him and stood with him as the game went on. In the little Romanian I knew I tried talking to him. His name was Micah and he was probably the youngest in the entire group. I sat down next to him, just to give him some company and he was just staring at the game the other kids were playing. He was just standing and watching the game. He wouldn’t do much else than that and he just seemed like he was not present in the situation. I pointed to the game to see if he wanted to go, but he shook his head and just watched them. Then I offered him my hand to hold, just to see if he wanted to be with me or if he wanted to do his own thing. He grabbed my hand and I held his hand for about an hour or so as we watched the other kids play. He didn’t say anything, I didn’t say anything, we just watched the game.
We left the youth event and got back to our mission house and I was an absolute wreck. I was crying for about two days just over that moment. It was such an emotional experience and the Lord showed me lot through it. I really wanted to see Micah go and play. Part of me really wanted him to be himself, to play, and enjoy being himself. He just did not seem present, as if he was in another place. Part of me also really wanted to know what was going on in his little mind. What was he thinking about? Was he scared? What did he need? But the Lord spoke into those moments as my heart was breaking for this little boy. I got to hold Micah’s hand for about an hour, then we said goodbye. I may of gotten to hold his hand for a little while, but how much longer would Jesus be holding his hand and walking him through every moment! It was so sweet to think about how much longer the Lord would get to be with him, to love him, comfort him, and guide him through life. Also, the Lord reminded me of how he meets us where we are at. For Micah, he just needed someone to hold his hand and sit with him. God always meets us where we are at, and it was just a kind reminder of the Lord’s character and how he works and comforts through our situations.
Daily reminder: the Lord meets us where we are at. His hands are open, all we have to do is take it and let him sit with us with through it. He is so patient and full of so much love for us that he will sit as long as he has to. He just wants to sit with us. He just wants to be near to the ones that he loves.
– Lauren
