Our Love Story: Our Very First Meeting That Neither One of Us Remembers

Here I am, with the first part of our Love Story. Since Roman and I have been back to Linz this weekend, the place where we first met, I thought that it would be good to start publishing our story. The funny thing is that neither one of us remembers the first meeting. But we do remember some things that make us sure that we actually talked to each other shortly. 

We were both attending GYC in Europe, a youth congress, at the end of July, 2012. Roman had been an Adventist for less than two years at that time and he was just realizing more and more the importance of being closer to God. For him the congress was more a time of reflection. When he was not in the meetings, He spent time alone reflecting on God and what he had heard. 

I, on the other hand, had a very busy congress. I was heavily involved with the prayer room and spent there most of my time there. I prayed with, talked to and counseled people... I hardly had time to attend the meetings. The prayer room absorbed most of my time. 

Here is what Roman remembers from our encounter: he decided to go to the prayer room to pray. When he got there it was noisy because people were talking, so he went to someone who seemed to be a leader, a curly-haired girl with glasses, and asked her if he could have some quietness because he wanted to pray. The girl understood and they stopped talking.

Well, I was the only curly hair girl with glasses in the team, so it was not hard to figure out who he talked to. But I also have some memories of our meeting. 

Here is what I remember: we had just finished a prayer session and I was doing what I always like to do - socialize with people, talk to them, hear their stories, their burdens or what God has done for them. So, I was talking to some people, when someone came to me and asked me if it is possible to have some silence because he wanted to pray. He was polite, but firm. His wish was granted! :)

Little did we know at that time that we will meet again in eight months at another youth congress and that our conversation will go beyond: "May I have some quietness, please? I would like to pray." Actually, we had some very deep spiritual conversations. But that is for another blog entry! :-)

  

To read the rest of our Love Story go here:
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

Faces of Love: Love Is Long-Suffering

One thing that I learned from my precious husband-to-be is to try to find spiritual applications in the smallest things. The other day I was not feeling well so I was taking a hot and cold shower. And while I was taking the shower it dawned on me that if the water is very hot, after being under the hot water for a while, I do not have a problem switching to the cold water. But if the water is lukewarm, you can pay me and I won't go under the cold shower. I have also seen that after being under the cold water I can take even a hotter shower.

Let's say that the water is our love. If we truly love God (fact represented by the hot water), it is easier to go through trials (represented by the cold water) because we know He loves us, too, and will not allow anything that it is not for our best. We will not murmur and complain, but will trust in His love and wisdom. If we truly love someone, trials will not take away the love that we have for each other, but will only make it stronger.

But if our love is not genuine, if we have a divided heart (represented by the lukewarm water), we will not be able to stand when going through trials (represented again by cold water). We will accuse God and we will not trust His wisdom. If we do not have genuine love for others, trials will only divide and drive us further and further away from each other!

No wonder God is telling the church in Laodicea that, because they are lukewarm, He will vomit them from His mouth. He does not want a divided heart, just as any husband or wife would not want a spouse with a divided heart.

Lord, give me a love that is fervent and long-suffering. 

I Am Getting Married!

After seven beautiful months of courtship, after praying and fasting and asking God for His guidance, about a month ago, my then boyfriend asked me to marry him. I am planning on sharing the story with you in the near future and I will start with the very beginning, so stay tunned! 

Looking back we are amazed of the way God orchestrated everything 

and scripted our love story. 

We are looking forward to spending our lives together 

and working for God together. 

Keep us in your prayers as we make plans for our wedding (that will be quite international with Romanian, German and English as languages:-) and try to glorify God though every single aspect.  

Faces of Love: Love is Unconditional

I know... it has been a very looong while since I made time to post something in here. I had not disappeared. I am still around. But as you can guess, I have been busy... Though I am still busy, I am planning on writing more often.

I have been learning a lot of things in the past few months. God has been teaching me a lot of things through my relationship and my awesome boyfriend. So I am planning on starting a series of posts called Faces of Love to share with you some of the lessons I have learnt in the past 7 months.

I have to admit that I had never thought that I can feel so accepted. Accepted even when I am not at my best. Accepted even when I am wrong and do mistakes. Accepted without sermonizing. Without any 'but' or 'if'. Not even one. Accepted with of my flaws and weaknesses. Accepted without any conditions. Just accepted. Loved. Embraced. For who I am.

I think I have started to understand a little bit more of God's love for me. I do not know why He chooses to love me, but I know that He does. Realizing that my imperfection does not make Him walk away is one of those mind-blowing experiences. And seeing the same attitude in Roman, seeing that nothing can scare him away, nothing makes him love and accept me less, has only taught me more about my Father's love. 

Thank you, my dearest Roman, for loving me with His love. Fully. Unconditionally. And thank you for showing me a little bit of God's love.

  

Blessed. I Am Blessed.

I am blessed and life has never been more wonderful. I turned 32 just a few days ago and I cannot be more thankful for this period of my life. I know that there are people who are looking behind wishing they were children again. Even though I had a happy childhood, I still believe that life is getting better and better and I would not exchange the life that I am living right now for any other period of my life. So, since I just had my birthday, I thought that I would like to write a little about God's blessings in my life.

The last year has been an amazing journey. Actually I think that the word "amazing" does not do it justice. I think that I can officially declare it the best year of my life and here is why...

I thank God for restoring my father's health. It is amazing to see that, even though last year the doctor said that he might need a heart transplant, this year his heart is functioning normally. It has been really good to have mom and dad around for the past three months and live in the same place. I know that I will miss them as our ways are parting again.

I am thankful for a nice and nephew that are full of life and that bring so much more color and sweetness to life.

I am also thankful for having my little sister around. Now, that she will be off to Norway for a year, I know that I will miss her. But, even though I know that life will be different without her around, I am thankful that she can get more training for God's cause.

One other thing that I am very thankful for is the prayer ministry that turned my life around and made life so much more sweeter. I have done a lot of traveling in the past year (twice to the States, three times to Germany, Austria, Sweden, Portugal, Italy), a lot of speaking and leading prayer. I have seen many lives changed. I have made many wonderful friends and met many precious people that have been such a blessing to me. I simply cannot see my life without the prayer ministry. It brought so much more meaning to life.

And than, there is this blessing:

He came in my life when I least expected it, when I was content with my singleness. He heard about me from a mutual friend who told him that my prayer ministry changed her life and that I will be attending the same event he was going to. He came to the prayer meetings almost every morning. Than he saw that I am going to present a workshop. He came to my workshop, but I do not remember to have seen him there. The workshop was a blessing for him. Since he is a thinker, he wanted to share with me some thoughts on prayer. I was really impressed (he says that I did not seem impressed at all). I am used to people coming to me for counseling and advice. But here was a guy who just wanted to share some deeper truths about prayer. And he has not stopped to share his thoughts with me ever since. 

The past three months have been full of happiness and smiles. We have been learning and growing a lot together. All I can say it is that he was worth waiting for. If I were to live my life again, I would not have it any other way. It is simply amazing to see how everything fits in and how wonderful it can be when God writes your love story. For me it was amazing to discover that God still has young men out there who put God first, who try to honor God through everything they say and do. I am so happy to court such a godly young man who is helping me so much to keep my eyes on Jesus.

One year ago I prayed a prayer: "Lord, give me Germany or I die." Who would have ever thought that God will choose to answer this prayer by giving my a German boyfriend? Believe me, having a German boyfriend was not part of my deal with God. This is not what I prayed for. Actually, just a few months before I went to Youth in Mission, I told one of my best friends that I could court a Portuguese, but never a German. Never say never, because sometimes God chooses to answer prayers in ways that never crossed your mind. My friendship with Roman is a proof of that.

I hope to be able to write down our amazing courtship story some day, but until then, I just wanted to let you know that God is amazing and He works in amazing ways. He exceeds our expectations and does exceedingly abundantly above all that we think or ask when we choose to put Him first.

Liberated Through Submission

I have had the book Liberated Through Submission by P.B.Wilson on my shelf for quite a long time. I have finally decided to take it and read it a couple of weeks ago. And since the book was a blessing to me and she shared some very deep and revolutionary things, I decided to share a few ideas and quotes. So I most likely share more of her words since I find them so powerful and inspiring. 

"Submission is for all" says Bunny Wilson. It is for men and women all together. "When we defy people in authority, we are really saying that the situation cannot be solved unless we take action. We are, in fact, playing God... It takes a child-like faith to believe that God can handle any person, debate or circumstances. When we choose to submit, we can easily see why God says that unless we become as little children we cannot enter the kingdom of God... We can believe that God can heal someone of cancer, free someone of a drug addiction, or place a child in a barren womb. But do we have faith to believe that God can speak to another person's heart and tell him what to do? Do we believe that God can make the best of a situation, even when an authority figure blindly opposes God's directions?"

"Submission without faith is slavery. Submission with faith is power. It takes faith to believe that God is correcting a relationship, situation or circumstance when all outward signs show the opposite. "For we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Cor. 5:7)"

"Woman was created to be a man's helpmate. That means she should be an integral part of her husband's life, enabling him to fully develop into the kind of man God wants him to be. This automatically makes her the kind of woman God wants her to be. Even in our fallen state, that plan remains intact. However, without some specific guidelines - husbands lead, wives submit - our sinful nature will cause us to make adjustments to God's sovereign plan. The result is the same as from the beginning: self-destruction."'

"God has given men some very specific leadership assignments which, when accomplished, glorify His kingdom. But it takes a man surrendered to God's Word to carry out God's orders."

"Many men greatly oppose the statement that they don't want to lead. They immediately cite their roles of the leadership at work, in sports and in many other areas. There are a few men who will admit that they are under God's leadership and even fewer who act that leadership out in the home. Why? Based on Adam's decision in the garden, a man does not want to govern his wife or home. His rebellion in this area is often justified and overshadowed by his outstanding achievements in other areas."

"1 Peter 3:7... All that wives are called to do is to submit to their husbands. Meanwhile, their husbands are expected to yield to God's plan by being the head of the house, by loving their wives, by being the spiritual leader in the home and by living with a wife in an understanding way."

"Being the head of a woman can require bulldog tenacity, along with gentle love and understanding. A man has to be humble enough to listen to the opinions of his wife, yet strong enough to go in the direction he feels God is leading him."

"Christian marriages start off on the right foot when the wife comes into marriage with the understanding of God's pattern for marital submission and intends to operate according to His established order. However, if she doesn't, it is the husband's responsibility to exemplify submission to her....The husband must examine and accept submission to God's word, to his pastor, to his employer and to the authorities in the land."

"Husbands should ask themselves one very relevant question: "If your wife were a required subject at a local university, would you pass the course?" Many man refuse to submit to God's Word and invest time in getting to know their wives. Even fewer men know how to communicate with them."

"Why is submission so dangerous to Satan? Why is it so powerful? Because we exercise it in blind faith, and faith defeats him every time. When we go against our feelings, thoughts and opinions (i.e., our Lord, God's Word, our husband, pastor or employer), and when we turn the results over to God, we step out in faith. We are making a statement that we believe God knows every details of our circumstances and that He cares. We are avowing that He is a just God, and that by being obedient to His will, we enable Him to handle all obstacles. Now that is faith! Does biblical submission mean that we do not express how we feel? No, it means we do. It means when there is a difference of opinion with someone in authority, we share how we feel with due respect and love. Than, if the other person continues to disagree, we turn the whole issue over to God in faith. Submission gives God space to show us who is right."

"We may sometimes ask: "What if the people I submit to make mistakes? I am the one who is going to suffer the consequences of their actions." The answer to that is once again, faith."

"As a matter of fact, God's spiritual vision for us can be summed up in one word: faith. It takes faith to see our husbands as they can be and not as they are. It takes faith to submit when we think they are wrong. It takes faith to wait for God to show us which one of us is right while having no murmurings or grumblings between us. It takes faith to believe that God can give our husbands the wisdom they need to make decisions that affect us and our children."

Well, there are many more interesting and deep things in the book. I highly recommend it, not only for the married couples or for those considering marriage, but for the singles, as well. 

Youth in Mission - You Shall Receive Power

"1.700 of young people?  I do not think that I will be able to enjoy it like I did last year! There will be too many people. I'd rather go to smaller conferences! They are more powerful!" This is what went through my head just before Youth in Mission started. As you can imagine, I was a little skeptical even though I prayed and fasted for this youth conference. But God was ready to show me one more time that He can work in a powerful way with many people as well as with small groups of people!

The first surprise was Friday morning. Last year we had a good number of people joining us in the mornings for the 6 AM prayer meetings. I think that the most people we had were 87, and this was the last morning. But Friday morning we had at least 105 people in the room where I was. I say in the room where I was because I found out that many people went to the prayer room, not knowing that the morning prayer session was in a different place. My friend and prayer partner Sophie went there as well. She waited for me to come and when she saw that I did not show up, she lead the group in united prayer. She told me that the room was full. So, because we realized that the room was too small, we had to change it for the next morning. And praise God that we did, because we had over 205 people who came to pray with us on Sabbath morning. Sunday morning, even though we lost an hour because of the daylight saving, a good number of people joined us. And the same thing happened on Monday morning.

A few months prior to the conference, I thought that it might be good to offer the possibility to those who want to be able to lead out united prayer in the prayer room. So I asked the organizing team to include united prayer facilitator on the list of volunteers positions. 16 people registered. When we met to talk, pray and make plans on Friday morning, instead of 16, there were 20 people. Some of them decided to come and help even though they did not sign up to help in the prayer room. So, needless to say, this year I did not have to spend time in prayer room since there were so many young people eager to help out! And I could not be happier because more prayer leaders are formed in Europe! 

Even though there was so much interest in prayer, I still did not know how many I should expect for prayer during outreach. Last year there were around 40 people who prayed with us. This year the room was too small, as more than 85 people came to intercede for those who went out on the streets. Some people had to turn back as there was not more space in the prayer room.

Let me remind you that we are talking about Germany, the most difficult country I have worked in so far! I am talking about a country where most people are not used to pray out loud. Thank God that He has His people here, as well.

I am still marveling at what He did and how far He has taken united prayer in a little over one year. It was such a joy to have people come to me and tell me that they took united prayer back to their churches from Germany, Austria, Holland, Switzerland, Czech Republic and that it has been such a great blessing for them.

I was wondering before I came to the conference if I should attempt and have an all night prayer meeting. But I put aside the thought. The conference is too big. We are speaking about Germans here. Who will want to join a prayer meeting? I will be too busy with two workshops, a prayer room and a booth to take care of. I will not get too much sleep. So, with this in mind, I decided not to ask permission for that. But after my workshop, I was talking with one of the attendees about prayer when this person asked me to tell him about the all night prayer meeting. And, while telling him about it, David, one of my prayer partners came and asked: "So, are we going to have an all night prayer meeting?" So, I finally got it. God has been trying to nudge me before, but I ignored Him. I went and asked if we can have an all night prayer meeting. We ended up getting permission for pray until 1 AM, because of security reasons. We had a beautiful prayer time. I will never forget two young men who came and asked for prayer as they decided to get baptized and give one year of their life to Jesus.

Having Jerry and Janet Page as main speakers was a real treat! I simply love working with them! And they were a huge help in promoting the morning prayer times and prayer room. God used them to inspire the young people to pray more.

It was at Youth in Mission that I could see one more time how real the Great Controversy is. I was peacefully listening to the evening presentation Sabbath evening, when Wendy came and asked me to come out. She proceeded to tell me why she called me and another few people outside. A little bit earlier that evening, Edy, one of the attendees got a text message from a friend. It was a desperate text message about Clara*, this girl's sister, who was on a bridge trying to commit suicide. She asked Edy to try and do something. So he talked to Clara for more than 15 minutes, but could not change her mind. When he went back inside, the person sitting next to him saw that something was wrong. He asked Edy who told him the story. So, to make a long story short, he went to Wendy, Wendy got me and my sister and we went out on a hallway and started praying. I have to admit that I do not think that I have prayed with such intensity before. Knowing that the girl was on the bridge at that very moment and that our prayers can save her life, that she needs someone to stand in the gap for her made us pray like we have never done it before. At the end of the prayer session, when Edy checked his phone, he found a message telling him that Clara's sister was finally able to take her from the bridge. But you know what is the most amazing thing for me? Clara's sister was supposed to be at YiM, but she decided not to come the day before the congress. I know now that God stopped her because He needed her to be there so she can save her sister's life. Neither Clara nor her sister are Adventists, but praise God that He is no respecter of persons and He leads even those who do not know Him.

One could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit during the Conference! Oh, how I loved seeing Him at work! God showed me that He can also work powerfully during a big conference of 1.700 attendees. 

It was at Youth in Mission that I got the idea of starting a European Network of Prayer Warriors. Since I am traveling so much and meeting so many people who love to work for God, who are involved in His work and who love to pray, why not connect them so we can intercede for one another and for the work in Europe? We have 34 people from 15 countries in the group so far! And the number is growing as more and more people are requesting to join the group! So, if you are passionate about prayer and are interested in joining us, leave me a comment and your email address or contact me through the Contact form. 

I am eagerly waiting for next year's Youth in Mission Congress. And I am also looking forward to ARME Germany. So many young people told me that they are looking forward to it, too. God has started a work in Germany and I simply cannot imagine how much more He is going to do in the future. Little did I realize when I prayed last year: "Give me Germany or I die!" how far He will take this prayer and how much He will do. He has exceeded every expectation... And I know that He is going to do much greater things than what I have seen so far!



*Clara's name has been change in order to protect the identity of the individual.