Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you......

Gringott's Bank. That's right. Diagon Alley is not in London, it's in Vienna. And I was there.

Okay, so that's cheesy but it's the first thing I thought of when I saw this building. Potter fans unite!

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Well, we are home. Hallelujah!

What a trip it was! I will go on and on in future posts and tell stories just like everyone else but this is not the post for that. This post is dedicated to homecoming.

Words can't say how happy I am to be back where I belong. Europe is beautiful, and being the history freak that I am, I can never see enough Renaissance art and architecture. And the Roman ruins in Vienna honestly had me choked up because I couldn't believe I was standing next to something I have dreamed of seeing for so long. I saw statues dedicated to Caesar Augustus (yes, the same one from Luke 2:1), Emperor Constantine, etc., etc. Like I said, on and on.

But I spent two weeks on a mission trip in a tiny Gypsy village with JGen. My JGen. Not mine to own but mine that God has blessed me to be a part of. It will make your hearts explode with joy when you see the photos of them with the kids from Tataresti. The happiness they brought to those under-privileged children in one short week will stick with them for the rest of their lives. The JGenners put smiles on the faces of kids who have very little to be happy about, they played with them, laughed with them, prayed with them, treated them as equals while their own neighbors shun them and oppress them. They loved them. And most of them have felt very little love in their lives.

Sarah, Virginia, Hannah, Hayley, Rachel, Spenser, John (JGenner now by default), I am more proud of you than ever. And I know that God is pleased with you, too. You put a face to the Name of Jesus these past two weeks. The kids there that surrendered to Him will always remember you all as the proof that He is real and that He loves them. I love you all.

But I have to confess. I was a complete jerk for most of the trip. I picked the wrong time to break a nicotine addiction. It was the biggest struggle I've ever faced and the two week headache due to withdrawal affected everyone around me. My mood was sour and my attitude bitter, as I told Spenser and John, I was the spirit of discord and bitterness. I'm terribly sorry to all of you for acting like a butt. But you showed your true character by overlooking me and not letting me get in the way.

However, the sun is shining. I am now tobacco free. I know many of you are happy about this but no one more than me. It feels like broken chains, to be honest. Praise God for breaking them.

Favorite homecoming story: About four days ago, we were eating ice cream (gelato) at this little streetside cafe thing. I had the "X-Trem Minta." I commented that the mint was a little minty-er that day. Hayley Taylor, who was dying to get home, said, "Yeah, the mint is minty-er, the sky is bluer, the grass is greener because we are one more day closer to home."

I cracked up.

Good to be back, y'all. Even though the time change and jet-lag has me waking up at 3:30 a.m. I'm doing laundry as I blog.

Happy Friday. Mays clan... be safe and have fun at the beach.

Buna Ziua! That means hello.

It is 10:00 p.m. here in lovely Satu Mare, Romania on Friday night. It has been a long and grueling week of VBS in the village of Tataresti (the "i" is silent). We have some amazing stories from the past week but I won't spoil it for the rest of the team by telling it all here.

The team I am speaking of is one half of the VBS crew. Half of our fellow travelling partners are in Baba Novac village. Our team in Tataresti is as follows:

Benji, Angela, and Bennett

Snoop Doug

Virginia

Sarah

Spenser

Johnny DQ

Hannah G-riffin

Translators...Bianca and Corrina

and, yours truly.

We had about sixty kids the first day, and our "top score" for the week was around 100. Salvation decisions are somewhere around 50-60. But, like I said, many stories and blog posts to come. Not just from me, I'm sure.

Anyway, we are safe and having a great time. We have a youth rally tomorrow and Monday is a free day. We then leave for Austria (G'day, mate!), and then homeward bound. I have loved this trip but I think I'm ready to start thinking about home again. Truth is, I miss y'all a whole bunch. As amazing as this experience is, there's no substitute for home, JGen, SCBC, Frequency, and everything else we've left behind.

And apparently we have to arrange our own transportation from McGhee-Tyson, a tidbit I missed out on earlier. So if anyone is in the taxi business next Thursday, I'll call you from Chi-town.

La Revedere!

Here are a few things....just in case

If you think the next two weeks will be hard for you, just remember the people who will be tolerating me. Two weeks without Mountain Dew, Fudge Rounds, or tobacco. This is the reason that mission trips are a sacrifice. It is very unlikely that I will be able to remain light-hearted and jovial under such circumstances. But I am happy to be ridding myself of tobacco once and for all. It worked the last time I went so let's hope lightning strikes twice. And this time I will not start back. Hold me accountable.

This trip will most certainly be life-changing, and considering the people who are going, then it will also be church-changing. There is definitely something brewing and I can't wait for it. If I were to choose a group of people to fly off to a foreign country with, these would be the people. There are a few others I wish could be there with us and you all will be missed, but maybe next time.

I appreciate what Benji said tonight. I am stoked about returning home and getting to work with a new attitude and a new passion for the ministry. Something great is just a few weeks away and I am grateful to God that He is allowing me to be a part of it. His mercy never ceases to amaze me.

For those of you staying behind, I hope you know how much I love you all and want nothing less than God's best for you. Please don't worry too much about your loved ones as they are in God's care and His hand will be on us as we travel. Do not cease to pray for us while we are away because I can tell you from personal experience that those prayers are felt and treasured even 9000 miles away. The greatest excitement on a trip like this is the anticipation of coming home and sharing the stories with you who walk with us here.

Finally, I wish with all my heart that the whole JGen group was going along. The last ten months of Friday nights have been amazing and I can't imagine what things were like before. Take care of things while we're gone and, Lord willing, we'll be back in a few weeks with a renewed Spirit and passion.

I've had international roaming activated on my phone so if you just can't stand us being out of touch, feel free to call or text. Dial as normal, so I'm told. We'll be in touch, I'm calling it the "Homesick Hotline."

Check here for posts from Romania. Not that I'll have time but, hey, ya never know.

Adio. Te iubesc foarte mult.

Dumnezeu te mai ţine în siguranţă în timp ce noi suntem departe.

Let's see if I can remember how to do this...

I am welcoming myself back to bloggerland, twelve days after what should have been three days. The company I work for just happened to disconnect my internet service instead of transferring it. Geniuses.

This post could be filled with stories of moving, there are many. I could praise the great multitude of friends that helped me out in more ways than I could have imagined. I could go on and on about the endless frustrations that I have faced over the past two weeks and the non-stop marathon of physical labor that it took to vacate and make-ready the old house. Maybe some other time.

For the first time in about thirty-one years, there are no Carvers on Dreager Road. I say, "So be it." In fact, just today I signed over power-of-attorney to Ryan so that he can close the deal next week while I am in Romania. Yes, today is a landmark day.

And what's up with all of you "post-nots" these days? I take a blogging sabbatical for a week and the whole network falls apart. Surely your lives haven't become that boring. Get to typing, people! Sheesh.

I'll finish by saying that God is amazing. These past few weeks have been very hard on me as far as my daily walk is concerned. I let the busyness and distractions take me away from focusing on Him and this marvelous blessing He has given me. But He and I have been talking alot over the past few days and I'm getting some great ideas for JGen, the Frequency kids, and even Sunday School. There's alot to be said for down time, I guess.

Please pray for all of us during our trip. I feel a vibe about the trip that is similar to pre-DiscipleNow. I can't wait to experience it all with the students that are going.

And congratulations to Vanessa on her brand new J-O-B. She definitely earned it. Don't forget the little people, Ness.

Have a great Wednesday, y'all.

Last Post for a couple of days

This is for Benji, even though he probably won't see it. Tonight at church, he looked at me and said, "Hey, HEY, hey!" Then he asked me if I knew what show that came from. Duh.

When we were kids in the '80's, What's Happening was a hugely popular sitcom. It's similar to The Jeffersons or Good Times, or The Cosby Show, for the younger ones. The phrase was made famous by the character "Rerun," and yes, that's his name. So I asked Benji if I could do the Rerun dance which drew an emphatic, "NO!" from him. So here it is. Wait for it. It's around 1:17 in the clip above. It was hilarious then and still is, but maybe just because it reminds me of a time when humor was more innocent and laughs came a little easier. Enjoy.

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As the title proclaims, this will be my last post from Dreager Road (feel a little tear coming on, wait, no, my bad). Friday is moving day. And after all the stress and frustration, I am amazingly calm and peaceful about it. But, as always with my overly analytical mind, I have pondered the possibilities and determined the reasons for my quiescent state.

The bulk of my stress, I thought, was because of the enormous amount of physical labor involved in sorting, packing and rearranging my crap. But then I made a to-do list of all the phone calls I had to make to transfer or connect the utilities. The list scared me. The companies I had to call are some of the worst for long and un-productive wait times. AT&T, KUB, Comcast, KCUD, DirecTV, my stomach is churning again just mentioning them. After several failed attempts, I took my lunch hour today to try and tidy up this mess.

Smooth sailing. Not kidding. Every call went like clockwork, until I got to the water department.

"We need a lease agreement from the property owner, Mr. Carver."

"Can I fax it to you?"

"No. You have to come in and sign. And there will be a $110 connection fee."

(cough, cough, hack, blech) "A WHAT?!?!? FOR TURNING A SPIGOT IN THE FRONT YARD?!?!? (count to ten, breathe deep)

"Okay. Will that get my water on tomorrow?"

"We require 24 hours notice, Mr. Carver. If you come in tomorrow, it will be turned on Monday due to the holiday."

"24 hours notice to turn a water faucet in the yard, no indoor access is needed?"

"That's correct, Mr. Carver"

"HA, HA, HOOHAH. That's hilarious. Can I send someone over there today to do it for me?"

"No sir, Mr. Carver. It has to be the tenant."

"AARRRGGGHHH!!!" I hang up the phone, fighting off the tsunami of obscenities rolling through my brain.

So I start scheming. 1) need letter or lease agreement. 2) need to get there by 4:30. 3) should either one of these not happen, I have no water until Monday.

Light bulb in my head and "Alleluia Chorus" ringing in my ears.

I call Juli. She willingly agrees to type up a letter of authorization, which the property owner ok'd, and I can swing by Dr. Rick's office and pick it up right after work and proceed to KCUD. All of this goes off without a hitch and I will have water tomorrow.

So the point is: I am calm and peaceful now because the worst part of my move is done. And it is because of Juli, who saved my rear-end today and helped pack and brought me supper when I was too busy to eat. Ryan, who not only sold the house, but won an FHA dispute insuring that I sell for the original price and built a porch railing and a deck, helped move in a refrigerator, and kept assuring me that everything is going good and the deal will happen. V-baby, who dedicated an evening to come over and help pack up my hundred-thousand strong CD collection, even the uncomfortable ones, and Sarah, who took on the impossible task of the junk room, confronted my dark and sordid past, and overlooked the awkwardness of picking up certain things that I have kept. I am sure that before the weekend is over, many more thank you's will be required.

So I'll wrap up this last post with a heart-felt thank you and I love you to my friends, church family and blog followers. It has taken thirty something years for me to find people who care enough to lend a hand simply because they want to. I have moved five times in the last thirteen years. This is the first time I haven't had to do it alone.

On a funny note, I just removed another splinter from my chest. I keep finding the little suckers.