Is it Weird...

Is it weird that I walk beside goats tied to a crosswalk?

Is it weird that I can eat with my hands?

Is it weird that I am drinking water out of a coconut in a bazaar?

Is it weird that there is a gecko in my shower and I don't even flinch?

Is it weird that I must walk with focus, yet must carefully avoid eye contact with men?

Is it weird that I walk beside an idol on my way to church?

Is it weird that I must take extreme care to be modest while men bathe on the street?

Is it weird that I am awoken by the Muslim call to prayer?

Is it weird that there are leftovers in my fridge, air conditioning in my room, and hot water in my shower... yet just outside the gate a little girl is sleeping on a sidewalk with her family?

Is it weird that every decision I make will reflect the group and not just myself?

Is it weird that I feel overwhelmed?

Is it weird that I must rearrange my focus, my thoughts, my opinions, my rules of personal space, my concept of ministry, my Western perspective in order to move an inch closer to the person beside me?

Is it weird? Or am I perhaps discovering a new normal... or really, what has been normal for the rest of the world. Maybe I have been wrong this entire time. Maybe, instead of dying to myself, I am really discovering life. I am learning what normal really is... not comfort and convenience but rather justice and survival. Maybe in giving up my Western perspective, I am opening my mind to the people I am growing to love and in the process, learning more about the God who created them. Maybe I am learning how to be a part of a family, rather than an individual. Maybe... but for now, it's still weird.