My little perfectly sized team

           

 

 

            The other
night I was sitting listening to a team remember all the memories they have had
together, they were recording their memories on video.  I remembered the times that my old team used
to make videos of our memories from the first 3 months. I all of a sudden was
overwhelmed with grief, I haven’t had a big team since month 3, and I am not
loved like they are, I’m missing out.  Lies.  Just then in that moment I realized how silly
I was being.  I have been more loved than
I could have ever imagined.  I have the
love of the whole squad.  Sure I haven’t
shared every moment with the same 6 people, but I have shared countless moments
with 49 other people.  I have their love,
respect and friendship.  

            I also have
the best team in the world.  He is my
best friend, my team, my co- worker, my prayer warrior, my family, my roommate.
 I have been blessed with being able to
spend the past 9 months of my life with Nathan Dickens.  He has pushed me, made me laugh, made me cry,
frustrated me, cracked me up, made me smile, pushed me to be more of myself,
taught me how to relax, showed me how to see God in the most random moments of
life.  He has showed me more brotherly
love than I have ever known and has honored me like I never knew someone could
honor you.  He has lived out preference
24 hours a day for the past 9 months and he has showed our whole squad what it
means to preference people and allow others to preference you.  He has looked after me and taken care of me
so selflessly and sacrificially every single day.  Have I missed out on anything by not having a
team?  No way! Because I have had the
best team I could have ever asked for, my 1 person on my team has been the
equivalent of lots of teams put together. 
He has never made me feel alone, or wish that I had 6 other people to go
and talk to.  He is a constant source of
wisdom, friend to talk to, process with and live life with.  There have been times I know that I have made
him want to pull out his hair (how could I not? 
We are around each other 24/7), there have been times I thought I was
going to lose my mind.  But lets be
honest, no one spends this much time together, if we didn’t have those moments,
it would not be real life.  But through
all that, at the end of it and bottom line God put us together for this time
for a reason and not a moment has gone by that we haven’t pushed each other,
loved the crap out of each other and been a representation of Christ through
our friendship, our teamship and through loving each other the way that Christ
has loved us.  God has blessed me with
one of the best friends anyone could ask for and I am so thankful that I got to
lead with him this year. 

            When we
first led together in Peru (month 2), his leading drove me crazy.  9 months and a bazillion memories later I am
so thankful that we were and are not the same. 
By leading with him, I have realized new leading styles, new ways to
push myself, new ways to push the people around me into greatness and closer to
the Lord. Our styles have not changed and become the same, we are still very
different, but we have strengthened each other. 
His strengths have pushed and refined my weaknesses and visa versa.  Our differences have allowed me to grow in
ways I didn’t know possible.  Our little
team of 2 (perfectly sized team) has taken living in community to a whole new
level and it is only by the grace, love and mercy of God that our relationship
is as healthy as it is. 

            So even
though there is only 2 of us… we could fill a book with our memories, and we
have not missed out one bit.  I am so
thankful for the life I live and the people I live it with.  And even though this time is coming to an
end, our lives are about to be turned upside down and this time will be nothing
more than a memory; it has been a memory that has changed my life forever and
forever changed the woman of God that I am and that I will be to every single
person I meet.