On Vox: End of tour thoughts.
Well...there are just two full days left in Romania before we board the plane Wednesday morning. Supposedly, at the Crusade tonight, they were supposed to have announced our concert at the Philharmonic tomorrow. I didn't notice it if it did happen, but I'm okay with the possibility that it didn't, because I'm pretty sure telling like 10,000 people about a concert in a rather small building might be a disaster. :-P Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to the opportunity to perform in such a cool place!
This morning we had our final church concert, in Arad. There were two guys there who were a big part of the Graham Crusade this weekend; I'm not sure if the one guy is the pastor at this church or what, but it was cool to interact with him more personally. He joked around with us at lunch after the service. The other guy is Nelu, who we've worked with on both tours (2005 and this one), and I guess he's kind of a big deal both in the political realm and in the Church in Romania. The concert went really well, including my solo! I felt kinda nervous, which was weird, but I think I may have just panicked when I momentarily forgot the words like two seconds before I started! But they came back to me just in time...PTL!
I haven't had much time or energy to put up more photos yet, so I'll probably finish that up once I get home in the next week or so. I think the group is gonna set up a photobucket account and share the password so that we can all upload ALL of our photos, as a few girls didn't bring cameras, and we had a lot of photo-op moments where it would've been silly to get the same picture with 40 different cameras. So that'll be fun to see, if it works out.
I'm definitely feeling an odd sense of closure with Romania. Not necessarily forever, and not in any way bitter or negative...just a sense that I don't HAVE to come back again right away, which is how I usually feel whenever I leave here. It may be because my life is heading in some new directions right now that will probably put world travel on the backburner, or it may be because God's got something else in store for me to pour my heart into, and he knows I only have so much to give. I dunno. But today, for the first time since all these feelings of unrest came over me last week, I felt a peace. I mean...there is so much in store for my life right now, so many great possibilities, and it really hit me today that I don't need to limit myself to what I'm familiar with or what I already know I can do because I've done it...if that makes sense. Anywhere I go, God is with me. And anywhere I go, as long as I'm obedient, he will give me opportunities to serve, to be a blessing, to grow, and to be blessed.
One thing I do know, which I apparently forgot temporarily between my first trip with the choir and this one, is that it is REALLY hard to spend three straight weeks with 50 19-year-old girls. This year's group has had a much better attitude (overall) than the group in 2005, thank God (seriously)! But there is still no avoiding the drama, the emotions and the crazy mood swings (myself included)...so it's been interesting, to say the least. And rather stressful, too. I'm definitely looking forward to hanging out with some GUY friends, and basically hanging out in a group of, at MOST, maybe six or seven people. I actually feel kinda bad for Megan, my tour bff (best friend forever), because the last few days I've just been really easily irritated and thus kept to myself as much as possible, and kept my mouth shut to avoid saying anything too terrible (which, sadly, I did do at least once).
Anyway...a few people have emailed or talked to me online to let me know they've been reading the blog and praying for me, and I've SO appreciated that! Keep up the prayers, especially for safe travels home on Wednesday, and for NO fat ankles from the flight! :-P And pray for all of us, me included, for the reverse culture shock not to be too hard. It's always weird returning home from a place so different than what we're used to. And you'd think I'd be used to it by now, after four previous international trips, but it's still gonna be hard, I think, readjusting to the American lifestyle. There's some things about Romania that I get used to really easily, like having such laid-back meals that last hours rather than rushing through it to get to the next part of the day, and even small stuff like having delicious bread with EVERY meal. So I'll miss some of it, most definitely. And, of course, there will be the much appreciated improvement in plumbing and the blessing of walking into a building that DOESN'T wreak of cigarette smoke...and the awkward but fun process of remembering to say "Thank you" instead of "Multumesc" and "Arcadia Presbyterian, this is Tabitha, how may I help you?" instead of "Buna ziua, ma cheama Tabita, ce mai faceti?" :)
Alas...I must find sleep again. Thankfully, we don't have to be anywhere until after noon tomorrow (er, today already!). But I'd like to walk to the park and read, write, relax a bit in the morning...so off I go. I promise to try to post one or two more times before we leave...and maybe even get that dang video up of Numai Harul!
Originally posted on numaiharul.vox.com