Unu, Doi, Trei...

Și noi, dar, fiindcă suntem înconjurați cu un nor așa de mare de martori, să dăm la o parte orice piedică, și păcatul care ne înfășoară așa de lesne, și să alergam cu stăruință în alergarea care ne stă înainte.
Să ne uităm țintă la Căpetenia și Desăvârșirea credinței noastre, adică la Isus, care, pentru bucuria care-I era pusă înainte, a suferit crucea, a disprețuit rușinea, și șade la dreapta scaunului de domnie al lui Dumnezeu.
Uitați-vă, dar, cu luare aminte la Cel ce suferit din partea păcătoșilor o împotrivire așa mare față de Sine, pentru ca nu cumva să vă pierdeți inima, și să cădeți de oboseală în sufletele voastre. - Evrei 12.1-3

No, you haven't stumbled across the wrong website, nor are your eyes misleading you. This is one of my favorite passages in Romanian. It is Hebrews 12:1-3. I memorized this as a sophomore in college. This was back in the day when my room was decorated more in scripture-covered note cards than framed art and pictures of family and friends. For those that haven't memorized Hebrews 12:1-3, here it is below in the NIV:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin which so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning it's shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

This passage has helped me get back to the "basics" many times. In times of trial, I look at verse 2 and realize that my plight is nothing compared to that Jesus had to face. In times of great perseverance, I've meditated on verses 1 and 3. It is a go-to verse for me, and is perfectly positioned right after Hebrews 11 in which the writer recounts numerous "heroes of the faith." Reading through Hebrews 11 and then 12 always lifts my spirit and helps me remember what God I serve and what he can do.

This verse is certainly coming in handy as I learn Romanian. That's right, I'm learning Romanian stateside. Romanians are everywhere these days. There's even a Romanian church here in San Antonio. However, it's not from a stateside Romanian that I'm learning the language. Instead, I am learning through the use of a tutor via Skype. You see, there's this brilliant little invention called the Internet, which has enabled people to communicate no matter where they are in the world. With the use of Skype, I'm able to see, talk, and write to my tutor who is thousands of miles, and 1 very large ocean, away.

So far it's going well, and while the opening script of this post may look impressive, I assure you I am no where near that fluent. In fact, "fluent" isn't even a category that I would be anywhere near right now. However, it is coming. My tutor, Laura, says that I am learning quickly and that once I am in Romania, it will come even faster. I pray that is true. For now, I'm sticking with simple phrases like:

Question: De unde ești? (Where are you from?)
Answer: Sunt din America (I am from America)

Romanian is Latin based like Spanish, French, and Italian. Therefore, those that have studied those languages would recognize some similarities among many words. However, you would also notice what I say is a Russian influence in the language as well. The result is a beautiful language that I cannot wait to be fluent in! Here's to getting my wish....