#DAILY SCHEDULE FOR ROMANIAN KIDS FREE#

At least you’ll have some good stories to tell. So what if you fail? Might as well live and try something crazy.

#DAILY SCHEDULE FOR ROMANIAN KIDS FREE#

What really set me free was when I threw the idea out there to my pastor, Michael, and he said, “Well, if you feel like God might be leading you to Romania, I think you should just go for it.” Then, when I expressed my fears of failure, he responded with two words that changed my life – “So what? If you fail, you can just come back here with some cool stories and then go do something else.” That “So what?” really set me free. I hate failing, so I didn’t want to put myself in a position where that might happen. We would toss around the idea of moving to another country, but then I’d always kinda’ back away because I didn’t want to try something new that I might fail at. Before deciding to move to Romania, the biggest fear I had was failure.

Jake: I’ve got a lot longer answer than Jessie. I’m not a naturally extroverted person, so combine that with living in a giant city filled with people and with having to communicate with them in a language I don’t speak very well is often stressful to me. Jessie: Not being able to speak the language was and still is my biggest concern. In the States, I also used to do some freelance writing, and I did ministry with my husband with high school and college-aged kids. Jessie: I was a SAHM who home-schooled her children before moving here, and I am continuing in that path now. And at the same time, we were doing college and inner-city ministry in Milwaukee, as part of a church-planting team that moved to the city about 2 years previous. Jessie was a huge part of the ministry to the teens alongside me. I had been working as a youth pastor / church administrator at a small suburban church in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, for about 8 years. Jake: I was in full-time ministry with two different churches.

What was your profession before you moved to Romania?

Then for Isaac’s 1 year birthday (April 30), we moved to Romania, so we’ve been here about 8 months now. We didn’t really get along at first, but we soon fell in love, got engaged, got married, moved to a new city, and entered full-time ministry, all in just over a year. We met at church, while I was still in college at UW-Madison and she was working for Americorps VISTA (think domestic Peace Corps). I’m from Wisconsin and Jessie’s from Virginia. 🙂 We have four kids, Naomi (7), Mae (5), Illiana (3), and Isaac (1 1/2). Jake: Jessie and I have been married for 8 years, and we’ve got the kids to prove it. Where are you from in the United States? How long have you been married? How many kids do you have? How long have you lived in Romania?

Daily schedule for Romanian kids