I apologize right from the start. I’ve got a feeling I’m going to be blowing up your feed with a lot of posts in the coming weeks. Perhaps it will make up for the lack thereof in the previous several months…?

I have to share a cool story with you. I went to my beloved piata mica this morning. That’s the AMAZING farmer’s market type thing here which is just ingrained into the culture. And joy of joys!Our apartment is within walking distance! Below are some of the strawberries I bought today!

Anyhoo– as I was walking with my little wheeled cart, in front me was an old woman struggling to carry a heavy bag of something (found out later it was potatoes). She would walk a few steps, stop, set the bag down and rest — again and again.

I immediately thought that the least I could do was put her potatoes in my cart and help her at least as far as the piata. So I stopped and did my best to ask if I could help her. After a bit of hesitancy, she agreed. As we walked slowly, she asked my name. I told her Elizabeta. (Romanian does not have the “th” sound so Beth or Elizabeth wouldn’t compute.) Her name was Antoinetta.

She asked me several other questions, of which I only understood a few. Partly because of the language and partly because she was just hard to understand as she only had a few teeth!

I told her I was from America and came here to work for God. I told her that God loved her very much and hoped that she knew Him.

Then I was impressed by the Holy Spirit to go one step further and buy a cart for her at the market. I mean, come on! That was a good 10-15 lbs of potatoes, and this lady was not in any condition to walk to the market — let alone with a heavy bag of potatoes!

I told her what I wanted to do, but I don’t know if she understood (or heard) me, so I just led her to the stall in the market that sells the carts and had her pick one out.

I can’t even express what a joy it was to see her face when she understood what was happening! 😄 It was like she had been given a million dollars. The people at the stall were very sweet and spoke very kindly towards her also, which only added to her joy.

Here is a picture that the vendor took for me.

For 50 lei (about $12), this lady was blessed in such a simple yet profound way. I told her again that I was doing this because of God’s love for us and that He tells us to bless others. I hoped she would remember that each time she uses her cart. “Dumnezeu te iubești și ne spui sa fie o binecuvântare la alții.”

I don’t share this to toot my own horn or to give you warm fuzzy feelings. I hope it does two things:

1. It encourages those of you who are part of our ministry here in Romania. Because you pray and support us, we have the privilege of being your hands and feet to individuals like Antoinetta. Thank you!

And 2. I pray it reminds you to be a blessing when you are prompted by the Holy Spirit to do so. Are you in tune with His voice? It’s hard to hear sometimes in our loud, crazy, busy lives.

God told Abraham in Genesis 12 that He was going to bless him and his descendants — not because they were so great, or so they could hoard blessings and have an easy life — but so that “through you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

I may not be able to bless “all the families of the earth” like Abraham did, but through my obedience, I can bless someone. And so can you. What are you doing with your blessings? Hoarding them or freely sharing them with others?

If you’d like to hear more uplifting stories like this one, subscribe to this blog! Also check out our Facebook page @ thejollysjourney. Facebook.com 🌐