I find myself sitting in the bed that I get the chance to live this week, a squad mate sitting just an arms length away from me, worship music playing in the background, the air-conditioning running, and trying to just process through a part of my life.
We are changing teams this weekend. As of this moment, we don’t know our new teams. But I find myself reflecting on the team that I have had the privilege of spending the first four months of my race with. The 6 people who challenged me to look beyond who I was and see what God had for me and who He has made me to be.
Our lives got messy at times, and they stuck with me. I have slept in the same room with Katie, Kel, and Sarah for the last 112 days of my life. We have had countless team times, feedback, meals, ministry days, laundry sessions, exploring days, cups of chai, adventures, and so many other things. I have laughed until I cried with them, I’ve cried the tears I needed to express, and I have had my heart broken with them. With them, I learned what life really looks like in community.
I learned that life in community is easily the hardest and the most rewarding thing I have ever done. They look me in the eyes and tell me to go back to Jesus. They see me on my good days, my bad days, and all the other kind of days in between. They see me when I am fresh, exhausted, showered, or needing a shower. They have become the family I can count on any time of the day. They are the ones who hug me when home feels a million miles away; they share their treats from home; and in a way, they share their families with me because somehow, we are all in one family. They didn’t have the chance to just share part of themselves with me; we got to share each and every part of our days, and somehow, our lives.
I didn’t know that the World Race had 6 people that would challenge me every single day to be more like Jesus, through the parts of my life that I don’t typically let people into. I didn’t know that I needed community, and that community would change me more than anything else this journey has sent my way.
As we walk into team changes, I won’t lose community all together. I am excited to walk into different team that will challenge me in a different way, but I am bittersweet to lose the team that I started this journey with. Be looking out for my next blog introducing you to my new team!
Until He Comes,
Kristy
To Grant, Katie, Kelley, Sarah, Mason and Cole: You were each handpicked by God to challenge me in a different way, to push me to Jesus, and to make me more like Him. Thank you for the 1-on-1s, never, ever giving up on me, and everything else you have done over the last four months. I am excited to have 7 more months of this journey to share with you, if even in a different way. I don’t think I will ever have the words to properly say thank you for everything. I love you each so much.
