In Asia, you often find yourself without a toilet seat but rather a squatty potty. Unlike a toilet seat, you don’t sit in a squatty potty. It’s exactly how it sounds… you squat! (Honestly much cleaner because your bum doesn’t touch the seat where all the other bums have been… I mean don’t get me wrong that’s a whole other level of community we fail to recognize but that’s a different point) I will now present you with a little bit of back story before we jump into the squatty… another thing you shouldn’t do… ANYWAYS! In Swaziland we had “normal” toilets. Or at least what Americans consider normal toilets. Basically we had toilet seats. My team, Team Radiate, probably spends the majority of our time on the toilet second to spending time with Jesus, duh! (We got digestive issues or whatever) So yeah to be “graphic” our team poops a lot. And sometimes this task that seemed so simple became difficult, a burden, dare I say out of our control. Upon arrival at our ministry site, we instantly realized that our bathroom was a squatty potty. At first glance, this doesn’t seem to be the most luxurious experience. And many of us were not looking forward to it. As time went on the squatty potty became more and more comfortable. We got used to it, we figured out how to aim even if we didn’t master the art of it in a month. Sometimes you slip up and pee on your foot, it just happens. But what we began to realize this that when we had difficulty in the pooping area of our lives it was actually easier to go in a squatty potty. Your body is positioned differently and it just slides right out. (Apologies for graphic detail) Something we thought would be difficult or uncomfortable became the opposite. It made pooping easier and ended up becoming quite comfortable for most! (Plus it stretches out your calves so we were all more flexible by the end. It’s a win win!)
In my experience, I have learned that squatty potties are a lot like learning how to best love each other. We all receive love the best in different ways. We all have different love languages: words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, acts of service and gifts. I want to preface that no love language is better or more important than another. I personally receive love the best through quality time and words of affirmation. In the past I thought that since this is how I feel best loved, that this must be how others feel loved as well. This isn’t usually the case. For example: just because I feel most loved through quality time doesn’t mean that someone else feels a strong sense of love through that as well. They may prefer acts of service instead. By me only loving others the way I feel loved is both ineffective and me living in the comfort of my own love. This act of love is comfortable and familiar to me so it is what I end up giving away. (Still not necessarily a bad thing) However, this last month while my team was living in South East Asia, I learned a lot about how I can love each team member individually and differently. I don’t love on Eva the same way I love on Cece. I don’t love on Sadie the same way I love on KC. I don’t love on Taylor the same way I love on Sydney. I have learned to love them in different ways so that they may feel most loved. Now you may be asking the question: Hannah, how does this relate to a squatty potty? Well let me tell you dear reader. Even though using the squatty for the first few times was uncomfortable and unfamiliar, the more and more we used it the more comfortable and familiar we became with it. By perseverance and endurance we began to see fruit of the squatty. (AKA easier to poop). Like love, once we learn how we can best love another person, we must press into that even if it is uncomfortable or unfamiliar at first. But again, through perseverance and endurance we begin to see the fruit of loving a person differently. Stronger relationships are formed and there is a new sense of intentionality that is brought into the friendship.
God is love. And because we have the Spirit of God inside of us, we can love like Him. Now don’t get me wrong, He knows how to love us best and the love of the Father is incomparable. But He is every type of love and invites us to experience and pour out His love to others as well.
I encourage you to dig into how you best receive love and share that with the people around you. Ask the people around you how you can love them best. But most importantly, press into the love of the Father. It is like no other. He knows how to love you best. He has perfect love. He is perfect love. God is love.
But anyone who does not love does not know God; for God is love. (1 John 4:8)
Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. (Romans 12:10)
So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. (John 13:34)
