To my Passport girls,
It's not very often that one can say they come across multiple lifetime friends in one sitting and yet I find myself walking away from our mere two weeks together knowing that our lives and stories will be forever intertwined. We were given a unique experience; merging a World Race Team with a Passport team for a ministry month. I'll admit that walking into it, I wanted nothing more than a month with a handful of people and some solitude. Instead, I was given a whole team of eager, ready to serve, young people. And looking back, I wouldn't have it any other way.
Our teeny tiny two weeks together will forever rest in my heart. The whole team affected me in a way I couldn't even begin to explain and I want to thank you for that. Marcus and Josh, you are both amazing men of God. You're the first to jump up and serve and the last to rest; don't lose that. Marcus, put a shirt on and Josh, stop getting hurt so much. 😉
This letter, however, is for my ladies. It's for the one's who witnessed the scorpion massacre and assisted in the removal of the body, as well as the freak out and 'exercise' that occured soon after when my finger went paralyzed. It's to the gals who picked weeds, raked leaves that seemed to replenish themselves randomly, painted over the same spot .. over and over, tried to color with the chitlins, and planned a whole SIX minute program for the kids. It's to the ladies that sang country songs in the back of the truck, that dug through piles of clothes in boxes in the thrift stores of Leon, the girls that screamed with anticipation when they saw that Hunger Games was playing, the girls that couldn't stifle their awkward laughs as they were being creeped on at the beach, and the one's who participated in the bartering of the clothing. It's for all you beautiful women who I had the honor of living beside for such a short time.
You are all beautiful both inside and out. Each and everyone of you has such a passion for life and for serving. God has equipped you ALL with a talent that is unlike any other. Grab ahold of your passions, your desires, your dreams, and make them His. Take the inner yearnings of your soul and apply them to your life today. Don't wait for tomorrow to make a difference and don't put off what He's calling you to right now. You all have the power to change the world around you and He is calling you up into that.
Live a life like Jesus and love. All you need is love, love, loooooooooove (llaaaa laaa laaaa) so go and have it. Go live it.
Be you. Be confident in your identity in Christ. Be bold in your faith. Be certain of who you are and embrace everything about you. Love yourself and other's will love you too. Surround yourself with encouragement and honesty. Apply feedback and walk in humility.
Thank you for loving without hesitation. Thank you for opening up to us and accepting us as some of your own. You gave me two weeks of family. You gave me two weeks of a sisterhood and with that allowed for God to use you where I needed it most. You gave me two weeks of unconditional love and laughter. Two weeks of LIFE. Between the super hard (dirt covering every pore that sweat was oozing out of) work and thrifting in Leon; between lice outbreaks and scorpion stings; between clothes swapping and clothes borrowing; between late night talks and drive homes under the starry night sky; between all of that, we walked in being a family and we BECAME family.
I walked away learning something from each and every one of you.
You all are vivaciously ineffable.
And you're perfect.
Here is where I love you.
<3tasha
