My month in Romania had a lot of ups and downs, but God taught me so much through unforeseen circumstances. There were many lessons, way too many to compile in one list, so here are 10 things I learned while in Romania.
1. Spiritual warfare is real and straight up hard. Getting out of bed was even a struggle. The days were gloomy and rainy. We weren’t sure what we would be doing for ministry or if we would even make an impact. But God was still leading the way.
2. Pooping yourself is not fun, but makes a good story. I was the first on our squad. Someone had to be the first, I guess. I’m just that lucky. In my defense, I was really sick and it was in my sleep.
3. Kids are actually pretty fun. They are so imaginative and have so much energy. They figured out that I have crazy strength and can fling them around in the air without them falling.
4. You don’t have to change yourself for ministry. Just be yourself. I was nervous for children’s ministry since I don’t have much experience in that area. But I do have some art skills, and that tree of the fruits of the Spirit looks pretty dang good on our ministry hosts’ wall.
5. I hide in my room when I’m uncomfortable or overwhelmed. Twenty-two is a large number of people to have in one house. Plus, the enemy was making me feel really insecure this month. So, I hid in my room. My team gave me feedback and I was able to emerge from my isolation.
6. My team is just straight up wonderful. We did drift apart this month because we wanted to spend time with other squad mates and we were split up for ministry. But after an intense feedback session, I realized these girls are amazing and see things in me that I don’t always recognize.
7. I need the sun to thrive. Romania is pretty gloomy in the winter. Much like Ohio. The winter isn’t my friend in Ohio, and you can bet my mood was affected this month by the lack of sun.
8. Jesus can be found in walnuts. If you’re unsure how, we were too. But Florina and Mark were great at describing how the income from the walnuts allow the church to have supplemental money for various ministries.
9. Familial relationships are super important and shouldn’t be taken lightly. We met with many women in their homes and asked about their stories. A common theme was that their children left home and never really looked back. Some of the women’s husbands left the country to find work only to divorce the wives so they wouldn’t have to send any money back home. This made me greatly appreciate the closeness of my family and the love we have for one another.
10. The Lord loves my laugh. During one of our worship sessions, we paired up and asked the Holy Spirit to lead prayers over one another. My partner, Kristi Smith, said she kept hearing my laugH in her head. The Lord is pleased When I share my joy since that is who He created me to be.
