Biserică.

On Sunday, we said goodbye to our churches here in Târgu Mureș.  We don't have nearly as many goodbyes to say here as we did when we left the States three months ago, but the people we've become friends with during these three months of language training have been lifeboats for us -- promises and signs of hope that we will find community and friends here in Romania, that we will be accepted by our neighbors, that we can become part of the community around us.  We still mourn the loss of our close community in Grand Rapids, and the ease of access we had in the States to beloved family and friends scattered all over the country.  But now we live in Romania.  We are committed to doing that well.  So making our first friends here, even if those friendships have been short -- and now saying goodbye to them in order to move six hours south and set up life in Lupeni -- well, it's a little sad, all over again.

Especially regarding church.  Jack and I have been going to Noul Legământ, a charismatic non-denominational church in the center of the city that meets in a municipal building and is full of really friendly people of all ages and backgrounds.  We usually go with Otilia (well, sort-of -- she likes to get there, like, 45 minutes early, so we usually just meet her there).  Usually we stand around for at least 15 minutes before the service starts, talking with people in a mix of Romanian and English and the occasional accidental Spanish word when we get flustered.  And we feel welcomed.  We really like this church.  People remember our names and smile at us, and honestly?  It goes a long, long way.  Plus, tonight we saw the pastor out for a speed walk with his family and it made us smile.  A lot.

About 5 weeks ago, we also started attending the young adults' group on Sunday evenings at Noul Legământ, and this has been... So Good.  Life-giving.  There's a group of about 20 people, spanning from 17-30, who meet every Sunday night to worship, discuss Scripture, plan events, and laugh.  Lots of laughter.  And lots of Romanglish and conversation and prayer and discussion.  Again, we haven't known these friends that long, but their welcome -- and their prayers and hugs and support and goodbyes -- have meant a lot to us here.

We've also been attending an afternoon English service (I know, I know, three church services on a Sunday seems a bit excessive.... it's the busiest day of our week!).  The English service is, to be frank, sometimes a little bit amusing -- it's a motley crew of expats from the United States, Hungary, Britain, the Netherlands, and Romania, mostly, and we sing old '90s worship songs with rather interesting rhythm and listen to a sermon and then eat cake and drink tea for at least half an hour.  But for as endearingly ridiculous as the English sermon can be, we've also made some good friends there, and our goodbye on Sunday (complete, of course, with cake) was also bittersweet.

There is a lot I'll probably miss about Târgu Mureș once we live in Lupeni: the wide-open sky from not being in the mountains, the availability of brown sugar and peanut butter and tortillas, great public transit and a beautiful city center, the gorgeous flowers and trees.  But mostly the people, as always: our host mom Otilia; her daughter and son-in-law Laura and Alex; our fabulous language teachers Ramona and Lidia; the Michmerhuizens, who also are here through CRWM; Maria and Daniel, our first English-speaking Romanian friends; and all our friends from church (yep, all three services).  But we know we're going to a place that is also good, also full of community.  So for now I'm just thankful that the Church has been home for us here, just as it is supposed to be.