Today I am going to talk about the effervescent joy that is my roommate.
Her name is Daniela but you better not call her that unless she is in trouble. She prefers to go by part of her last name, Piva.
We were destined to be roommates. I arrived at the house late at the start of the semester and there were two spots available, one place in two different bedrooms. I made a beeline for one end of the hall when one of the girls said that the other person occupying the room was a morning person. So of course I did an immediate about face to the other bedroom. Where I found Piva.
She was unpacking her things and her stuff was EVERYWHERE. I mean, an explosion. If you know me at all, then you know that I am very organized and despise clutter. But I just laughed to myself at the mess and figured it would be an experience in learning patience.
As we unpacked together, she told me a bit about herself. She was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil but had just come to America after spending the summer in Australia. She had a level of joy and charisma that I was immediately envious of. She also deemed our room the “Party Room”.
I’ll admit, I was worried at this point. I like books and solitude, classical music and a serene atmosphere. This was just not adding up to what I had envisioned.
Fast forward two months. I could not be sharing a space with a more perfect fit for me. Our bedroom is equally cluttered and disorganized. It is a frequent occurrence that we settle in our beds for the night with the intention to sleep and then talk instead. We pray together often and she has stood by my side in the face of spiritual warfare. We discuss the Bible and why people work the way that they do. We share our dreams for our lives, talk about the cool things that God did with us, and laugh always.
She is the person that managed to get me to commit to not eating sweets for two months, and then, on agreeing that we would start in the morning, snuck down the stairs with me at 11pm to stuff our faces with cake.
Her love languages are candles, Australia, and Hillsong. When you’re telling a story, you will never get more enthusiastic response and reaction than from Piva. And she understands not to take personal offense on the fact that I can only manage incoherent grunts for the first half hour that I am awake. But she still manages to sing “good morning” to me anyway.
She is a gem that has been given to me and I treasure her greatly. I am so grateful that I have gotten to spend this time with her before she goes back to Brazil and I continue my training to lead trips.
Everyone needs a Piva in their life and I am glad that I have mine.
“Let the music play, hear us praise your name. See the darkness fade, dance the night away. We have found our place, in the savior’s grace.”- Brighter, Hillsong Young and Free
