Life

(Deep breath) Oh boy.

We spent the month of September in Eastern Europe, Romania specifically.

In Viile Tecci, Romania, there are potatoes that need to be dug up, organized, and bagged. There are logs that need to be sawed, split, and stacked. There are crepes that need to be eaten! There are apple trees that need to be climbed and shook, and there are apples that need to be gathered from the ground. There are cement blocks that need stacking, cement that needs mixing, and a wall that needs to be built. There are donuts that need to be stuffed into bellies! There are soccer matches that need to be played. Houses need painting, hills need climbing, and children need to be loved. Ice cream needs devouring. Homes need to be visited and people need prayer and encouragement. Life needs living. 

We did a lot of stuff in Viile Tecci.

We witnessed children laughing and playing. We were there for the death of one woman in a car accident. We saw men about to fight each other, one with an axe, the other with a sickle. We saw tempers flare. We saw both laughter and tears. We saw elderly Romanian women, wrinkled and weatherd by the years, who have seen more life than all of us, come forward in tears and ask for prayer from a group of young foreigners.

What are we doing on the other side of the world in a village in Romania?

We are living life.

One thing I’ve noticed in the past nine months is our tendency to compartmentalize. I could break my life into “life before the race,” “the World Race,” and “life after the race.” I could break my race into Dominican, Haiti, Cambodia, and so on. I could see things as an outsider looking in. Or I could dive in to how it really is. Life. What do I have in common with on older Romanian woman? Nothing and everything all at once. Yes, we are different, but we are human. We live imperfect lives that have laughter, tears, joy, and sadness. We were both born to a mother, and one day we’ll both die. We both need help. What do I have in common with an a Dominican kid who lives on the street? Nothing, and everything.

Humanity crosses borders. Political, geographic, and social. Every country on this planet is filled with people who need forgivness, love, tears, and great laughter, no matter what language they speak or what culture they are a part of. We met a couple in Zambia that is from Spain. They have been riding their bikes for a year and a half. They have covered Asia, the Middle East, and have gone all the way down the east side of Africa, and are planning to go up the west side all the way back to Spain. That’s a wild life huh? But to them, they are just living life. It’s different, but they are just living their lives. We are going around the world for a year doing crazy stuff, but really we’re just living our lives. We are living our lives in Cambodia or Romania, helping and serving and praying, but we are living our lives. So what’s the difference between a couple who is biking the world and we who are traveling the world?

We have been transformed by God. There has been a change in our hearts and lives because of Jesus Christ. If we allow it we can live life guided by the Holy Spirit. We can strive to become more like Christ, and help to change others’ lives. We are not here to push religion on anyone. We are here to tell of the love of God which is for all people, which brings healing, forgiveness, health, and life instead of death, sickness, emptiness, and darkness.

So when this race ends I don’t just go back to who I was before. I don’t disregard what I’ve learned or seen. I continue on with my life, continue to try and be a good witness of God’s love whether in America or elsewhere.