Most of you know about our teammate Ben who got injured and had to have surgery to repair his leg, so to update you, he flew home to Charlotte yesterday with his mother to begin his road to recovery. Unfortunately, this means he will not be able to continue with us. The good news is that he may be able to come visit us once we make our way back east.
To give some back ground, Ben joined us in April in Dallas, TX. We had already had the opportunity to meet him back in January when we were passing through Charlotte, and we got to spend some more time with him in Jacksonville, FL. Having him join us was great for me. One reason being that I would no longer be the only guy, but also because he’s 18. God has given me a heart for young men, and having opportunity to live in community with him was awesome.
Shortly after he joined, we decided to split in to two teams and we ended up on separate teams. It wasn’t a complete bummer because we were still on this journey together, and I knew God was doing amazing things. After about a month on separate teams, we all came back together for a few days. And in that time, me and Ben got have one of the best conversations. It was hard, but more than anything, it was God. Long story short, we left that conversation in tears and hugging one another. We made a commitment to learn what it truly means to fight as men of God.
A couple of weeks go by, we have a debrief, we have several new teammates join us (including two guys from his international race Zach and Justin), and we are about to go through a team change. One thing we knew going in to team changes was that me, Ben, Zach, and Justin would be on the same team. Everyone agreed that it was best that the guys be on the same team for a season and be able to pour in to one another. So, here I am finally getting to be with Ben, and I’m as excited as I’ve been all race. I knew Ben, and Ben knew Zach and Justin. We were easily connected through Ben, and it wouldn’t take long to mesh.
Well… here we are. A week later we had to say goodbye. Just like that everything we thought the Lord had for us was pretty much gone.
The rest of this race will look different, and even more than that, whatever the Lord has for us all is far better than anything we could imagine. Even though proximity changed, dynamic will not. Me, Zach, and Justin have so much ahead of us these next few months and so does Ben. And the best part about it all: Ben will have plenty to teach others about what it means to FIGHT.
This is a song that describes Ben’s heart for the Lord very well. No doubt I will think about him every time I hear it: Spirit Lead Me By Influence Music
