Month 2 of the World Race has been a deep breath of fresh air in so many ways. Month one was h-a-r-d for many reasons. To be honest, I felt disconnected from God and discouraged for much of Ukraine – why did I feel so spiritually dry on the Race when I was feeling so in tune with God before the Race began? It was a month of struggle in many ways, including community. Our team was constantly on the go in Ukraine and had a really hard time connecting and knowing what this whole ‘community-style living’ thing was supposed to look like. Some of us had experienced community living in the past (myself included, and lots of it!), while others of us had not; either way, all of us were struggling to adjust well.
Month 2 has been redemptive 🙂 Each of our 4 teams came together for all squad month and debrief in Brasov, Romania, where we got to commune and serve with one another and with the Lord together. We all felt refreshed by the intentional (and such life-giving!) 1:1’s we got to have with our Squad Mentor (we love you Jeremy!!) and with our beloved Squad Coaches (Keith and Karen Christianson, y’all are irreplaceable and a sweet, vital part of our family!)
I got to ride a gondola up a mountain, enjoy the climb down with a newfound fellow world-traveler (blessings on the rest of your journey, Kevin!), and spend some quiet time with the Lord while sitting on the side of the mountain, under the safe and comforting canopy of the forest.
Much of my free time in Brasov was spent soaking in the beauty of a nearby park filled with flower gardens (I LOVE when flowers bend in toward the light! and SO MANY ROSES!!!) …
I had unforgettable interactions with the people there (not to mention amazing creatures!), like this cute little guy, who I nearly stepped on before noticing him! Yipes!…
One day while playing my guitar on the bench of that park, the Lord reminded me that He actually delights in the things that delight my heart (old people, music, animals, flowers, to name a few…) and that I don’t have to sit back and wait for those things to cross my path. Instead, I could actually ask Him to intentionally put those things in front of me in a way that could be used to display His heart and His Love. Just as quickly as I prayed that prayer, the Lord answered, and supplied even more than I asked for 🙂
It started in Brasov, Romania with this precious woman Elaina, who lived with her son and had been widowed for several years. Elaina sits on the streets of Brasov selling flowers to make a living. She carries the burden of her children with her…one child passed away last year, one is sick (pneumonia maybe?) and some others live further away. Our squad felt led to bless this woman by buying all of her flowers one evening so we could hand them out to people on the street and spread the love of God. We got to sit and talk with her, pray over her and make her (and ourselves) smile 🙂 God even provided a translator for us through a bypasser on the street so we could understand each other! He’s good at handling the details like that 😉
Brasov also had THE sweetest community of chess-playing old men in the park. They were super kind when my squadmate and I approached them during their game. They talked with us in Romanian (we had no idea what they were saying, but they said it with a smile!) and they hugged us – my heart!
I also got to witness something else pretty unforgettable that day. My squad mentor and I had just gotten done with our 1:1 in the park, and I explained to him that I didn’t feel like myself month 1, largely due to unrealistic pressure I had been putting on myself from being ‘team leader’ – I felt like it was my responsibility to hold everything and everyone together. He kindly listened and then had just finished telling me that my assignment for this next month was to get out of my head, get in touch with my inner weirdo and not apologize for it. We started walking back to the hostel and immediately the Lord placed a man in my path who became an outward display of my new assignment (of being a weirdo) for the month.
Imagine a 50-something year old full-out ‘ice skating’ on a sidewalk in Romania with roller blades, wearing black tights and a blue windbreaker, swaying to the beat of the rock music accompanying him through his earbuds, with his Italian style facial hair and long flowing brown locks whisping in the wind. I stood in the street, enamored by the passion that he danced with, trying to hold back the excited giggling screeches that I could barely keep stuffed inside myself. He was giving everything he had for the moment, without a care in the world for who was watching. He actually stopped in front of me and half-jokingly asked if I wanted to give it a try – I think it was rude for me to stand there and watch him – whoops! He told me he is a classical guitar teacher at a university there in Brasov, then explained “This is my PASSION!” I wish I had gotten a video of him skating, though I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. To me, he was a picture of FREEDOM in all its glory; he seemed so at peace with himself, so content with life, so securely in touch with who he is deep down and so unfazed by anyone else’s opinion.
My aim is to be more like him 🙂
Check out my next blog post for more of the amazing things the Lord did in Basov!
