For the first three months of Team Kindle, I [lovingly] called my teammate, Jared Messenger, the thorn in my flesh. Some days I was convinced he was sent to make my life miserable. I even quoted the Bible on this one…
“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.” – 2 Corinthians 12:7
I finally decided that I was not honoring him by calling him that lovely term of endearment. I stopped…kind of.
Before team changes in December, all I knew about Jared was that he was 30 and was on Amber’s team. When teams were announced, we were given specific instructions to take the next hour to be alone with God and really pray about the changes.
I spent that hour weeping / mourning the loss of my first team. I was super sad to be separated from my brother, Taylor, and was not excited to be with other guys. Within that hour, God spoke to me about Jared. He told me that there was a specific purpose for Jared and me to be on the same team. He said that Jared would help me walk in freedom from something — but it would not be an easy or painless process. From that moment, I was terrified to be on a team with Jared [which I shared with my new team].
Insert time when squad reconvenes. Taylor walks up to me and says, “I am so excited for you to be on a team with Jared. You two will love each other!” … alright, if Taylor thinks this is good… there is hope…
Taylor was right. I love Jared. I am so thankful for him. We have what we call a “concrete slab.” In Kenya, we had a concrete slab type-thing in our backyard where we would hang out and talk. After Kenya, if I asked Jared to find a concrete slab with me, he knew exactly what I meant.
Jared has been my big brother throughout the past 4 ½ months. He listens to me – offers sound advice in the midst of my “I just don’t know!” moments. Jared prayed for me as I wept on the back steps of our Kenyan home, understands that I need to be chased, and has yet to give up on me. He has taught me how to honor men by letting them be men. I don’t know that I could ever express to Jared — or anyone for that matter — how much he has impacted my life over the past 4 ½ months — by simply being Jared. He is simply an amazing man. I hope/pray he believes it. Everyone else does.
Jared:
is an AMAZING man of God.
is one of the most disciplined Christians I have ever met.
listens to country music.
calls me Sambo.
will not let me walk on the outside of the sidewalk.
is definitely a gentleman.
is a hard worker.
will never [again] get a massage in the same room as 4 chatty women. Made that mistake on Day 1 of Kindle.
[speaking of massages] doesn’t know how to spell massage … which is precisely why he received a heartfelt “message” from Sarah for Christmas instead of a “massage.” suckaa.
constantly works to be a better man.
is NOT old… yet we like to tease him about his age…
is a good preacher.
jumped on "Santa's" lap on Christmas & broke a chair.
is full of wisdom.
can booty-drop-it-like-it’s-hot.
leads by example — and a good one at that.
lets me call him “J-Money” because he’s our finance man.
is a man of few words — but those few words are definitely powerful.
is a “Mr. Crisp” type person.
is constantly referred to as “Jesus” because of his beard/long-hair-don’t-care current state of being.
uses more hygiene products than most women I know… [hence Mr. Crisp].
always thinks of others before himself.
tends to get annoyed when we show up late & miss a bus… or two…or three…
won’t admit it, but he’s going to miss me when this whole World Race thing is over…
gave up a LOT to be on this trip [ie…job. life. stability].
has a huge heart [love on him a little bit].
doesn’t blog.
will be a great husband/father one day. [I cannot wait to meet his wife].
is full of compassion.
uses phrases such as “love on her” and “him’s a good puppy.”
is seriously an amazing man.
knows how to make Valentine’s Day in Rwanda AMAZING for 5 women [read that story here].
is a genuine man after God’s own heart.
is an awesome example of what a Godly man looks like
has been an incredible role model not only for me, but the other men/women on our team/squad.
is going to baptize me during Month 8 Debrief at the end of this month.
If you want to find out more about Jared, you will probably have to ask me or another person on my team because you won’t find out too much from his blog. 🙂 [Just kidding, Jared]. You can check his blog out by clicking here.
