We picked J. up from school and hit the road to Braşov on the highway, cruising in delightful silence taking in the gorgeous January blue & funky sky. We spent the weekend in the mountains with new friends from all over the country and the world. We so needed a change of pace & to get out of Cluj.
This weekend there was room for everyone. But especially there was room for silence or tears, as well as focused, organized work and effective planning and networking.
We connected with a large number of Americans who live all over Romania and speak the language with an endearing accent. Servants at heart, dreamers and adventurous people who are as crazy as we are… if not slightly more.
Three special ladies, guests from US, made a lasting impact on me. They talked about the heart. Our heart. God’s heart for us. The heart of children with trauma. The journey of healing and the invitation to pray boldly.
So… we were adopted. We joined forces through DorDeAcasa. We became part of an inspiring team, passionate about helping every child to grow up in a family.
We brainstormed about abandonment prevention, foster care and ways to inspire and inform the general public about adoption.
A lot of our time was spent on connecting the dots post-adoption as well, through adequate training, refresh camps and support groups.
But what I was personally most excited about was listening to Liviu Mihăileanu share with keen intelligence how the law is affected. We heard how ARFO develops partnerships within the system and about the progress implemented these past few years. I started following their work a while ago, as I was drawn to the clarity and accuracy of the materials created and curated by them.
Then this morning we got official news regarding the overturn of a law: Family-based foster care can no longer be restricted.
I have the utmost respect for the ground work done with brilliant persuasive brains and hearts, by humble people, who care about implementing relevant change, taking small steps, and working with integrity and excellence.
–How do you meet these people? – asks mom over FaceTime, as we chat about our busy year so far, and we recount our connection with friends, partners and new projects.
–We meet them in the most [apparently] random ways… except that, in reality, everything is connected.