From Maria's Desk



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Oradea, Romania registered Charity No.14839712

 
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Maria’s Report – February 2012  

Time flys….

I can’t believe we are already one month into the New Year, 2012. Indeed time seems to fly faster than ever! Is that a sign of getting old?

I thought January would be an “easy going month”…..well, it was a nice thought. In the Smiles Foundation, it seems impossible to have that happen! Each day, presents a new challenge! The pressure of the financial world, is hitting us too. In order to keep our projects going, we have to work harder than ever, because we have less to do it with. It’s a good stewardship lesson for sure. My prayer is for God to give us wisdom to know how to do the job each day.

So, how was January for me personally?
Well…….we started work on the 3rd after a well deserved break and greatly needed! Unfortunately, I spent most of the holiday in bed because of a bad cold! But I came back with new strengths!

A lot of planning was done. Lots of new ideas for 2012. So the beginning of January was full of meetings, some philosophical and some very practical as we faced organising ourselves better to face the challenges anticipated ahead.

Once we settled a little, we had the annual
Staff Conference with all the Smiles Romanian Staff. A very interesting time, as I like to
say! All my colleagues, from all the projects, came together to spend time-sharing their story from the past year and hopes for the year ahead.

As every year, Mr Hoy had an encouraging message for us!
This time he shared with us
“5 Secrets of Life”.
You might wonder what are they???
Well we did wonder too…..but Mr Hoy made us to wait until the conference!!! But I will be nice to you and tell you now, before I see each of you face to face. 


Mr Hoy grabbed our attention by saying he was going to share the answers to the most important questions any of us could have. We all sat up and listened, and the questions in the minds of more than 70 people gathered
in the Mission centre was quite varied. How do we make enough money in life? Who should we marry? How do we live long lives? How do we please God?

Well – these were big questions and Mr Hoy promised to provide the answers. So even though he spoke for nearly an hour (with my translation!) we listened and even took notes. I won’t share all he said, but he shared about the Secrets of Life that he believed would answer all our questions in life if we took time to learn and put into practise.

Mr Hoy shared the 5 Secrets of Life we all needed to consider:

To LOVE
To DREAM

To RISK
To recognise MISTAKES
To SMILE
and to make life perfect he added a 6th!  HAVE A GOOD ATTITUDE!!!



Once the pressure of the annual conference went, I got back to my usual work.

One of the high priorities at the moment on my desk is: The
Save and Smile City Shop!!!! I have to make sure the paper work for authorisations are done, the design of the place is right, and that the shop is Opened on time! March
1st 2012  
Please PRAY for this new adventure! I will also have my wedding dresses moved there and I can’t wait!!!!!

Then, I have the ongoing work with
Salonta…..The building side is going good. Our manager for construction, Samuiel, took a lot of the pressure from my shoulders…..I don’t know how I managed the Tileagd Complex as now I can’t do the job on the construction side without him!!! Soooooooo THANK YOU Sami!!!

And with all these things going on, I realise we are at the end of the month. January has gone!!

I hope and pray that we all learn how to manage our time in the best way we can, in order to make time for our work, for our family, for ourselves, for OUR GOD!!!!! Let’s make sure we do not forget the ONE that has everything under control. THE ONE that makes everything possible!


I would like to leave you with a bible verse as an encouragement, a blessing for the continuation of this year, a Bible verse that is in EZRA, Chapter 8 vs. 21 

21 There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.

May God help us to humble ourselves before Him. May God help us seek Him day by day, and May God give us protection over ourselves, our children, our goods, and the entire World!!!

Thank you for everything you are doing for God’s Kingdom here in Romania.          

           Be blessed,

Maria


Previous letters from Maria:
January 2012 - Have a blessed year!

December 2009  November 2009  October 2009  September 2009 
August 2009  July2009  June 2009  May 2009  April 2009

 

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    Page last updated on 01/02/2012 01:25:29 PM
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