Before I left for the race I spent countless hours by myself and having a lot of me time. I liked being by myself and having that time away from the world. When you’re on the race you are never alone. I have my “alone time”, but that basically means me sitting by someone on the couch or outside and us not speaking to each other. We are living in community 24/7. And surprisingly, I love it. Always having 5 of your best friends with you is so much fun. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not easy and it’s something that we have to work at every single day. The relationships with each of us are all so different and we all bring something so different to the table, but it works.
My team is made up of me and five other girls. We have the absolute biggest personalities and when we were formed into a team we were told this could be our biggest strength and our biggest weakness. I was at first a little apprehensive about being with only girls just because of how girls are portrayed, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Instead of the normal “catty” friendships at home, we are constantly pointing each other to Jesus and trying to love each other the best we can.
Daysi– Daysi is our team leader and brings so much life to our team. She has a constant glow about her that is so contagious. She keeps us laughing (like talking in a lisp for the entire team time or ripping her pants completely in a Papa Johns). I’m thankful for her guidance and how she leads us.
Whitney– Whit is so the mom of our team. Any thing you need, she’s got it. She cooks breakfast for us in the morning whenever our host mom needs help in the kitchen. She has the biggest servants heart and she is someone that I strive to be more like.
Hailey– Hailey is one of those people that is so easy to talk to. We sleep in the same room and I know I probably drive her crazy because I keep her up late sometimes talking about everything. She has this awesome quality where she doesn’t try to relate to your problems, she just wants to be there for you. She is also so sarcastic and I appreciate that so much because it makes things way more interesting.
Lauren– Lauren is the team’s treasurer and I couldn’t imagine having to do all the things she has to do money wise, so props to her. Lauren was the first friend I had from the race and it’d been awesome to see our relationship grow. She seeks Jesus in everything. We also have the same sense of humor and she comes in so clutch when I need to laugh.
Julie– Jules is my piece of sanity on the race. At training camp our squad leader came up to me and was like “I think you need to go talk to Julie”. So our friendship was pretty much destined to happen from the start. She always beats me at cards and then takes it when we all yell at her for being better than us. We always say we have the same emotional needs, don’t even know what that means but it’s so true.
I couldn’t be more thankful for these girls and how they love me so well. The race is nothing like I expected it to be, but these girls make me smile and laugh through it all.
MEEK SISTAS FOREVA
