May 11, 2017

Two Years

None of the photos in this post have anything to do with my two year anniversary in Romania!
Man, oh man...I'm really not succeeding at this whole blogging thing. My blog should probably be called "Better Late than Never" since I never blog about events, or my life, in a timely manner.

ANYWAYS, it's been 733 days since I left for Romania on March 16, 2015. That breaks down to 2 years, 1 month and 26 days...which is absolutely insane. I've been sitting here with this blank page open for a bit now. Actually, I started this post a few months ago, but all I could manage to type was the title. Two years. Two years since I left for Romania...and I have nothing to say. Well, we all know that's not true, it's actually that I have so much that I could say, but I don't know where to begin...

View from the office I get the privilege to use
I can start by saying that while I didn't think I'd still be in Romania after two years, I also totally thought I'd still be in Romania after two years. That probably doesn't make sense to anyone except me, but I'll leave it written there. When I left for Romania, I had no clue how long I'd be there, but I knew it wouldn't be a short term thing. I had absolutely no idea how I could possibly manage to be there longer than 6 months to a year, in regards to finances, but God has done some crazy things to put my doubt in it's place. I still have no clue how long I'll be in Romania, but I'm totally okay with that. In a strange turn of events, I kind of like not knowing. I like not having a "long term plan". It's oddly liberating. And I officially just laughed out loud because pre-Romania Casey would never, never, never have said that! It's funny how things can change in just two years.

Changes in the season leads to the excitement of flower picking in the village of Čšigmandru
I'm actually writing this post while on a three week "vacation" to the States. I've done my fair share of work while here, hence the quotation marks around vacation. But I think it's appropriate to be writing this from back home because those previously mentioned changes are a little bit more obvious from this side. Changes in my hometown - I'm writing this post from a new coffee shop in town. Changes in my family - my sister just got married and had another baby...so major changes in this department! Changes in my church - we're about to start the process of looking for a new pastor. Changes in relationships - new and old friendships! Changes in myself - too many things to list ;) Some of these changes have been easier to handle than others, but I think it's safe to say that most of them have been really, really great...

So, two years down...and potentially many more to come. Whether those years are spent in Romania or America, or somewhere else I haven't been clued into yet...I'm up for it! And one last thing, thank you to all of you who have stuck around for these two years. Your support, prayerfully, relationally and financially, does not go unnoticed and I am so incredibly grateful for you, my people!