Welcome home

So, the suitcase is unpacked, the laundry washed and folded (hung?), and all the "extra stuff" that decorated the middle of our bedroom floor for 3 nights is also put away. What am I doing??? This is way too organized.....but, yes, the trip is now a memory, or should I say many wonderful memories. Now, the prayers intensify for our friends in Romania, especially those on the committee for human rights and dignity. One of the things I discovered while there and have forgotten to write about is that when a baby is stillborn in Romania, it does not receive either a birth or a death certificate! In fact, most times it is burned or given to a lab for scientific research! Heartbreaking for you and me.....gotta be absolutely the worst kind of hell for the parents to go through.
Saw a sign in the Timisoara airport as we began our flights back home, "inhumane treatment is not human rights". I have promised to pray diligently for the Committee for Human Rights and Dignity, and those of my friends who are part of it.....wish you would too. Think I've written this before, but it bears repeating...the Romanian people will need a LOT of support and encouragement from us and the other participating European countries to stand firm on these issues. Another thing y'all could pray for is that babies are not allowed to be given to orphanages (most of which are now run by Christians) until age 2. Many orphanages have babies dropped off on their doorsteps and are required by law to surrender them to the hospitals...where, of course they will be given inferior food and inferior care...they just lie there....no hugs or any kind of human interaction. We're hoping that this committee will be able to change this law.
What to write about? As I try to ease back into daily life here, it's sometimes more of a rude awakening and culture shock to be back in the States. I'm all about relationships, so I guess it's no surprise to me that I sometimes feel as if I "fit in" better in most other countries where people actually just sit and talk to other people, and care about them, not what they do. Who I am is NOT what I do! I'm not a gadget freak or anything like that.....yes, I just got a new Blackberry, mostly because my other cellphone's camera broke and my contract was up.....but just today, Terry and I were lamenting the fact that there are umpteen ways of communicating with people and still it's just about impossible to get some people to return a phone call! Or an email. John Maxwell wrote a whole book about it...seems like everyone is "into" communication, yet very few of us really connect with people. It's annoying to see people with their heads down, constantly texting or facebooking on their I-phones (or Blackberries) instead of conversing. I've actually had it happen to me! 2 people in a Starbucks booth (we were waiting for some more to join us) .....just me and one other person who decided it was okay to ignore the human and just interact with a gadget. I'm not sayin' it's rude, I'll leave that to someone older than me. I guess all these "modern vehicles" are an inevitable part of progress...just wishing and hoping that people do not forget/neglect that God created us to live in relationship with each other, not just to be facebook or twitter friends! Big difference....just sayin'.