Do remember those moments when your friends become your FRIENDS? Perhaps it was when you laughed so hard together that milk came out your nose. Or maybe it was that 24-hour road trip you took where you got a flat tire and had to spend the night on the side of the road. It doesn’t matter what the situation was, the fact remains that before the incident, you were just friends, but after the incident, you were really good friends.
That moment happened for me this week. And it involved hammocks and hot chocolate.
Every night we have feedback, and tonight it was bringing up some great conversations. Right in the middle of it, however, Jamos and I had to go help one of our contacts really quickly. When we returned, the girls had gone outside to sit in the hammocks and listen to music. Jamos and I decide that it would be a good time to bust out our hot chocolate (we bring hot cocoa mix and a thermos of hot water with us to our house every night so we can have a midnight snack. Life is good.) and sit outside with the girls.
What started out as hanging out in the hammocks listening to music ended up as a 3 hour hangout session where we really opened up with each other, sharing things we had not shared with each other yet and relaxing under the stars.
It was in that moment that I knew these are some of my best friends. And it brought me so much joy.
It was so cool chilling in hammocks with Jamos, Emily, Nicole, and Angela under the stars in the middle of Bolivia, just sharing life and enjoying each other.
Yes, the World Race is about setting the captives free and bringing the joy of Christ to the nations. But it’s also about personal growth and enjoying the Lord in community. I had seen glimpses of that so far on the race. Surfing in Peru. Running out of gas in the jungle. Rolling in a mud pit for initiation.
But this time was different. It was a new level of community for us, and it was just what we needed. We had been bonding, but it was in this moment that something clicked for us as a team. Maybe it was impending team changes; maybe it was the good conversation we were having beforehand; maybe it was God thinking it would be cool to have our bonding moment under His glorious creation. Probably a mix of all three.
It’s moments like this that make me excited for the race because I know this is the first of many examples of true community we are going to have this year. This is what true community looks like. Sharing life with each other. Sharing joys, hopes, fears, stories, random thoughts. Everything. Encouraging one another. Speaking life into each other. Having fun in all circumstances.
God is good, and has a plan for this team. Maybe we are meant to stay together for the whole year or maybe we are meant to only be together for these three months. I know either option will be good because God is behind it all, but between you and me, I’m hoping I get to be with these four awesome family members I’ve gained in the last three months.
