Picture this. 8 girls. One bathroom. One bedroom. One kitchen. Sharing all of our clothes. Doing everything together. Needing to be in constant communication with one another. Being with each other while exploring new cities on adventure days. Hitting rock bottom as we long for the comforts of America. Literally. We do everything together.
Community is one of the very unique aspects of the World Race. I’ve come to find that even though it’s super tricky sometimes, it’s always worth it. When we’re able to dig deep with those around us, we’re able to grow in intimacy with the Lord through fellowship.
A few days ago, the Lord gave me a really cool image about what community could look like. He showed me the image of a body. On this body was written affirmations. There were a bunch of words proclaiming how great and beautiful this person was. All of the truths of how the Lord had made this person were written out for all to see.
In order for that person to full accept how she was made, she needed to let people speak into every part of her life. That meant being vulnerable. Letting people into those areas that are harder to show. Allowing people to paint beautiful words on places that she wasn’t able to reach. She would never be able to write legible affirmations on her back. She needs to hand over the paint brush and have confidence that the person behind her is there to build her up and not to tear her down.
When the words on here were all positive, this person was glowing. She was confident and proud of who she was. But as soon as a single negative word was written on her, she sank away. She became ashamed of herself. She lost her confidence in who she was.
In the same way, we have the ability to proclaim these positive words about our teammates. We have the ability to call out all of the amazing ways that our teammates look like Jesus. We’re able to give them confidence in how the Lord made them. It reminded me of how important the words we choose are. That our words matter. And that they make a difference in people’s lives. Whether positive or negative.
Philippians 1:3-11 talks about how thankful Paul is for his friends in Christ. It starts out by saying, “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Despite the ups and downs, living in community has been such a sweet, sweet time. I’ve learned so much about myself and how I interact with others. I’m honestly so incredibly excited to continue to get to know these incredible people.
