Just over four months have passed since I graduated and became a “real live adult.” Four years ago, I would have expected to find myself just about to start graduate school of some sort, living in a humble-yet-trendy little apartment – perhaps I’d have a cute-yet-professional study area – well versed in the magical realm of adulthood, and regularly putting X’s in the boxes on my “How to Have a Career and Live in the Real World” list. Four months ago, I knew none of that would be true for this September, but in my limited imagination (some squad mates and I are working on growing this) I never would have pictured myself here.
This month is all squad month, so instead of entering the country as a squad and sending teams to different cities to partner with separate ministries, we all ended our travels in Draganest-Olt, Romania.
Our set up, on paper, sounds like a set up for a bad reality TV show: 44 young adults living under one roof, sharing one kitchen, one washing machine, two and a half toilets, one of which is in a shower and doesn’t really have a flusher; sharing three showers, all of which are the approximate temperature of snow melt; sharing our yard with one mama and papa dog and a few of their pups, a young couple and their three month old baby, and a single mama with five kids under eight; our days spent in Draganest and nearby villages participating in ministries with various Romanians who speak various levels of English.
Our set up is a far cry from what the general population considers the “real world” or “real life.” It’s easy to joke about putting off being a grown up and delaying entry into the real world or about how much cleaner I am in “real life” (#honestyhour: stateside I still only wear the same 5 shirts and I don’t shampoo my hair as often as most humans).
But the reality is this: this is real life. This crazy, unimaginable set up, this race – it’s all reality.
I spend most days experiencing a mixture of great wonder and a great sense of normalcy, never one without the other; wonder that I’m actually here in Romania serving with the other people God’s picked to be here for this time, a great sense of normalcy in the day to day, and wonder that all of this madness feels normal to me.
The snow-melt showers are real life. The toilet situation is real life. The puppies are real life. The Birkenstock Stairs*, so worn and molded by the soles they’ve held; those are real life. The sweetness of the woman who is mama to a three month old and wife to a soon-to-be full time missionary is real life. The grape vine garages are real life. The multitude of ministries serving an even greater multitude of needs here; these too are real life. The tangible emptiness is real life. The parched land and the dry souls are real life.
Getting a “grown up” job, paying bills, buying curtains and a duster for your apartment or home, owning a car, organizing your life, living by a strict schedule, and navigating the magical and mysterious world of insurance are sometimes part of living in the real world, yes. But I’m reminding myself that always, always, always, living in the real world is so much more.
It’s diving in to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of those hardened and jaded by years of corrupt government. It’s willingly listening to and stewarding the stories of all those we meet. It’s loving our housemates and “bosses” with a sincere love. It’s daringly walking into darkness, fully aware of the light we carry within us. It’s putting ourselves straight into the mess of this world and loving in the midst of it. It’s allowing others to enter into our personal mess and love us there. It’s opening our hearts to experiencing the depth of hurt and pain in the people around us and learning to love them well. It’s sharing what we have with those who need it, knowing full well we can’t do it all but we have to start somewhere.
How blessed I am to be experiencing the real world in Draganest, Romania this month. How blessed you are to be able to choose to experience the real world wherever you are. May we all take care of our “real world responsibilities” with joy so that never are we too bogged down to fully experience the real world happening all around us.
*A good pair of Birkenstocks is a bad set of stairs.
