There is a former World Racer here in El Salvador with us named Wes Vickers. He got off his race just this past December and yet here he is in El Salvy, working with our host Victor and loving on Teams Noria and 7th Sparrow.
We all had yesterday off and drove 2 1/2 hours up to Juayua Falls, Sonsonate to enjoy the numerous waterfalls there. And we did! It was an incredible, restful, glorious day!
When it was time to leave, after a 20 minute hike STRAIGHT UP the mountain, Wes realized one of his favorite tanks from Cambodia was missing. He said things like "oh, well" and "It's just a shirt" but you could tell it really bothered him. So I handed my apple and water bottle to Cody and took off running back down the mountain, telling Wes to "Come on, let's go find it." He ended up following me down, and the whole way we were laughing- he was encouraging me (I'm out of shape) and I was speaking positivity over the situation and over him (he was bummed out). We raced to all three waterfalls we had visited earlier in the day and didn't find the shirt. But maintaining our positive spirits, we started back up the mountain. Again. When we got to the stairmaster section, as I like to call it, with nothing but loose dust and uneven rocks to help our 75* climb, we took a quick break for rest and he said, "Let's 300 this thing!" And I, actually willing to go there, took a deep breath and started running. He called out encouragement to me the whole way up and when I thought I couldn't keep going (it was legit STRAIGHT UP- for all you Kentucky people, the Pinnacles ain't got nuthin on this mountain), I kept running to honor him.
The reason I'm relaying this story from my journal to you is that this moment made such a huge impact on me. Maybe it was only 15 minutes of my life, but it was so valuable. Even with the fear that we wouldn't find his shirt (we didn't), even with the daunting task of racing up the steepest, rockiest slope (but for real, Pinnacles)(…Kentucky), I had such a positive spirit and he had such bolstering words of life. THIS is how I should be with my team. THIS is how I should interact in every situation. I should stay positive and encouraing, even against all odds. I should be willing to climb mountains in order to love and honor my team. And I should be willing to take huge leaps of faith whenever the opportunity presents itself.
This is how we as a community should do life.
Wow. What a day.
[Author's Note: Wesley DID end up finding his shirt! Praise Jesus.]
This was the easy part of the hike. The SUPER easy part.
The man himself, photobombing our Team Photo
