Happy 2nd Birthday to the Reveal the Wonders Blog! 

This space began as a place to express an honest look at one 40 something year old woman’s experience with grief and widowhood. I have realized that it has continued with this theme all while expressing everything my Heavenly Father is asking me to share along with some of my most memorable adventures, some of my most precious memories and quite frankly some very random thoughts sprinkled in for good measure! I hope you have enjoyed reading all that has been posted. While the frequency has changed, my journey is still moving forward. I continue to experience “firsts” even though I am beginning to walk through all the “thirds”. 

If I have learned anything over this last year is that adventure is just around the corner if you are brave enough to take that step and make the turn! This year in my life, as I have shared here on the blog, I have made some very big life changes. I have started a new job and made a move to a smaller home, become an empty nester and I even had the opportunity to go and serve alongside 20 other wonderful people in the country of Moldova. So, in honor of the blog turning 2 and the beautiful people who gave to help me serve the widows and others in need in Moldova I want to share a little about my experiences! Please keep reading and begin praying to see if you need to take a step by serving outside your community (domestic or international). If you are interested in knowing more about the long stories from my trip to Moldova, please do not hesitate to ask!

So this past summer I hopped on a plane and traveled halfway around the globe to Chișinău, Moldova. Myself and the team I was traveling with went to work with a ministry and church that has been working in the area for a while. They have established relationships and are building a beautiful community of believers half a world away. Saying yes to this trip was an easy “yes” at the beginning of this year.  Life was basic and everything was status quo. No big life changes were planned and all appeared to be smooth sailing. Well we all know me too well for that to be the case by the time the trip came around. Sure enough I made a huge job change at the end of May. New people, new responsibilities and adjusting to a new environment was big. I had been at my school for 11 years and in education for about 25 years so to completely walk away from education was a huge transition. Yet this transition has been straightforward and easy; almost like putting on your most comfortable pair of shoes. The next change was not something I was sure I was ready for as a mom, but it’s here nonetheless. My daughter has moved into her own place. My baby bird has left the nest, but like the sweet  momma bird that I am, it all started with a nudge. So ready or not we have both launched out on our own for the first time ever! Yes, this means I moved again, but it also means I am officially an empty nester at age 47. I didn’t expect this nor was it supposed to look the way it does, but God has us and is blessing our steps as we take them! Before you ask, I plan on staying put for a while, so to the beautiful people who have put in the sweat equity to help move me this time or one of the other three times know you have earned a well deserved break! 

Next thing I know it’s time for this trip. I’m torn. Do I go? Do I stay and help my baby girl move and get settled. She told me, “Mom, I got this.” Well shoot. My momma’s heart was happy, sad and so many other emotions. As moms we always pray we are able to raise children who know their identity and are bold enough to follow the steps their Heavenly Father is asking them to take but those aren’t the stories we typically hear. We usually hear about the ones who fail to launch. I mean there is even a movie about it! 😂 So I stay with the plan and go on the trip and man am I glad I did. I am still unpacking all that happened but I know one thing, I was supposed to be on this trip. Stepping out of your comfort zone is never easy. In fact most of the time it is downright terrifying. You would think that by now I would be used to doing things that stretch me but it is still not normal and I don’t think it ever will be. Add in the other changes swirling about and it took a day or two to fully get my bearings and settle into what we were doing in Moldova. I had my “why” for the trip. I knew the audience I would be ministering to and more than that I knew some people on the trip. What I didn’t know is how much I would connect with my precious roommate, the team we traveled with and worked with in the country and the beautiful orphans, widows, and people in Moldova that I would have the opportunity to meet. I truly left a piece of my heart in that beautiful country. 

There were big prayers prayed for healing, for restoration and for reunification. There were prayers for comfort and peace after devastating loss. There were conversations and connections made over shared loss even through the help of a translator. More than anything I learned that despite culture, language, age and stage, widows have something in common…they just want to talk with another widow. There is a mutual understanding that the other person truly gets it on a level that others do not. Because of this I was blessed to meet a beautiful woman named Larissa. She has been a widow longer than me, but we had a great conversation about leaning on our church and community when we need spiritual and practical help but ultimately God is our source for comfort and strength. We talked about prayer, scripture and worship. I had a translator to help me communicate but the conversation felt seamless and flowed like we had known each other for a while. While Larissa may never read this when we parted ways we hugged and agreed to pray for each other until we meet again! I am praying for you right now, Larissa!

There were several opportunities like this one and I haven’t even begun to unpack all that visiting the orphanage meant to me. All I can say at this point is that I’m grateful that God granted me the ability to see these precious young people like He does. They are important to Him. He has called them and has given them a purpose and a name. I know He moved in the hearts of the workers as well as the children that day. I can say I had a difficult time holding back the tears and honestly as I’m writing this they are flowing again just remembering their beautiful faces…especially the one that picked me that day. Her little pink ruffled skirt and t-shirt complimented her brunette braids and beautiful brown eyes. Her smile lit up the room and I could tell she, like me, was stubborn, sassy and sweet. All qualities she will need to survive and thrive in the environment she is growing up in currently. 

We also had the opportunity to visit areas of downtown Chișinău, Moldova and learn about the history and culture that makes it unique and special. We had lunch at a quaint restaurant downtown before going for a drive out to a monastery that held rich spiritual history. This monastery had been around a while and was built atop a mountain/canyon. Below the ridge and under the monastery there are cave entrances dotting the walls of the canyon. These caves have been around for quite some time and were used as places where early Christian’s would hide and seek refuge from those who were persecuting them. They used the caves as underground churches and places to safely copy scriptures. These were and continue to be  holy places and spaces. We had the opportunity to go into one of these caves where there is still an underground church and the monk we met has lived in that space for over 40 years tending to the cave, the church, accepting visitors and protecting the history in that place. It was a very sacred time as we gathered in the prayer rooms carved out of the cave and learned more about the space we occupied. We ended with covering that space and the monk in prayer and sang Amazing Grace. The moment was holy and we sat quietly in reverence.

The end of the week we spent ministering to people in Bălți and Chișinău. We did a multitude of outreach activities. We had an area for the kids where we played games, did facepainting and temporary tattoos, dance parties, Bible lessons and snacks! It was so fun to watch the kids relax and have fun. While the kids were living it up the moms were inside the church enjoying a time of worship and a message of faith, hope and love as well as a time of prayer. It was inspiring to hear their stories and have an opportunity to pray with them for healing and restoration in their bodies and in their families! Finally after the message and prayer time concluded we handed out food and toiletries and a Bible. You see these families were people in need, for many reasons but the main one is being a refugee from Ukraine. 

Overall this trip was something I needed. I needed to step away from my daily life, to be challenged to see people like God sees them. I needed to step out of my new found comfort zone and be challenged to be vulnerable and real in telling my story. I needed to be in an unfamiliar place and have the opportunity to get to know the people on my team, my roommate and the people we worked with in Moldova. It was an experience that I will never forget.

Recently, I applied and have been approved to be part of a team to travel back to Moldova and work specifically with widows and orphans. I am looking with hope and preparing with prayer for all that 2024 has in store for me, my daughter and those that I hold dear! So, if you have an opportunity to go on a mission trip…do it, the experiences and the people are so worth the time and investment. 

Thank you for reading this post along with others over the last 2 years. I am quite sure the adventures are just starting and 2024 looks to be full of a whole new set of experiences. Stick around…the fun is just beginning!