ROSE'S DIARY DECEMBER 5th 2013 05/12/2013
It's strange isn't it how the little things are what you will remember and will turn something from run of the mill to really special, and what did it for me was the gratitude.
The drivers left as planned this morning. After a bit of a hitch and delay with a broken light that proved challenging to replace, they finally made it to the border by noon (having left Cefa at 8.00 am - normally it would be an hour to the border), then they got fined by the Hungarian border control for not having a piece of paperwork we have never been asked for before.
My day did not pan out as I planned - Alex was unable to come to do the sponsored pensioner reports with me due to a medical emergency in the family of one of his church members. So Sergio suggested that I should take the girls into town and have dinner at their place, then give Maria's husband Rovin a lift back as he could go there straight from work.
Well on the way into Oradea, the traffic was heavy so I had to drive on dipped lights all the way, which was a nightmare as there are no road markings to show the edge of the road in places, people walk near the middle of the road dressed in black (how do they expect a driver to see them?) there must have been 1001 potholes and I reckon the light was so poor I didn't see most of them. Then I missed the turn off and ended up in the backstreets of Oradea when the roads got even bumpier and one of the girls got travel sick ..... Finally we arrived.
Had a lovely evening there, but it was dreading the drive home! I needn't have worried about it, the traffic was light so I could use headlights virtually all the way which made SUCH a difference, all invisible pedestrians had obviously arrived home by then and wisely stayed home(!) we sang hymns and songs in Romanian and English all the way and there was no problem with travel sickness thank The Lord . A much pleasanter trip, at least as far as I was concerned.
We all went Into Casa Mabel for a cup of tea and further chat. As I am leaving Cefa tomorrow I gave Maria and Rovin a jersey calendar I had bought from them and their gratitude - especially Rovin's - suddenly made the difficulties of the earlier evening fade into insignificance. After he had thanked me and looked at the calendar, I watched as he gently fed Maria one of the less able and often confused old ladies with a chocolate, wiping her hands and gently talking to her, she beamed at him in joy.
Both Rovin and Maria are orphans, brought up in the state orphanage system and after graduating from the orphanage system at 18, both have received help and support from either Mustard Seed (Maria) or El Sadia (Rovin). And now they are married and we trust and pray the marriage will flourish and strengthen.
Yes even after setbacks IT IS WORTHWHILE.