This month in Moldova we’ve lived in Ocnita. Our hosts are Andrei and Larisa and they’ve been great. We live in a small house (called a “saray”) with two rooms full of our beds and packs, a small kitchen, and an outdoor dining area. We use the bathroom in an outhouse-squatty potty. Think a hole in the ground with walls around it. We take actual showers about once a week at the sauna and compensate with bucket showers in between, when it’s warm enough outside. There is a dog named Scooby who we’re hoping to make a little fatter by the time we leave, and a cat named Hulk Hogan. We may not have indoor plumbing but we’ve got great wifi. And we live right next to Ukraine. I’ve come to enjoy the uniqueness of Moldova. Here are some things I learned this month:
1. I’m kind of okay with my naked face. I expected bigger revelations from #NoMakeupMoldova but the biggest lesson I learned was that makeup all around isn’t a big deal.
2. How to tell if a kitten is male or female. Thanks to Google, Hulk Hogan can now rest secure in his masculinity.
3. Living in community is like making fried chicken in a tiny kitchen. Messy but worth it.
4. And choosing to be present is always worth it, even when it’s real freaking hard.
5. Drawing water from a well is actually sort of fun, just don’t let your bucket go rogue.
6. If a snarky kid makes a rude comment about you don’t worry, he will get his due. Your teammate might accidentally nail him in the face with a soccer ball later.
7. How to start a fire in a wood stove…. so I’m actually pretty awful at this and ended up cussing the wood the last time I tried but I did get lucky once!
8. When you cross the border into Ukraine you may get asked 20 questions in Russian but the pizza and thrift store finds are worth a little bit of chaos.
9. Yes, you can take a bucket shower outside when it’s 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Try to avoid windy days.
10. Going to the toilet in the squatty potty for a month will tone up your leg muscles.
11. I’m a big sinner but Jesus loves me. Churches in Moldova have some traditions like not wearing makeup, wearing ankle length skirts, etc. Christians who don’t keep said traditions are often judged and considered “sinners.” So Andrei and Larisa often joked with us saying “Big sinner but Jesus love you.” And it was fun to joke about but I’ve been reminded this month of how true that actually is. I had some dark and ugly moments when I was fighting what God was seeking to do in me and through me. I was really angry at him and I told him so. His answer was constantly “I love you daughter. Keep seeking me, keep trusting me. I love you in all of your mess.”
Don’t fear the brokenness. It’s the threshold into God’a love for us.
xx LeAnn
