I arrived at training camp terrified. I knew that I was about to recieve my team. The people I’d be spending every day with for the next 9 months. I remember the whole week thinking “this can’t be right. I don’t belong here. This needs to change.”
They would always tell us we had to choose our team. Choose the hard things, the hard people to love. Looking back we all joke now about how much we didn’t want to be together.
Our tiny team of 5, Abundant Joy, had lost 2 by thanksgiving. We were small but we were family.
Laura, the freak. She is the one who never fails to make us laugh. She can lighten the mood in an instant and she is so so good at making you feel loved. She never judges and takes you as you are. No matter how weird you are, she can be weirder. She will love you at your worst and your best all the same. She is the strange sticky glue that pulls out our weird and keeps us together.
Maggie, the peace keeper. This girl is so kind. She does her best to ensure we’re all taken care of at all times. She is also a wild one once you crack through her shell. She’s got stories out the wazoo and she will talk with you over tea for hours on end. She knows how to be the perfect listening ear and never thinks less of you for whatever you may say. She is selfless to her core.
Kayli, the bundle of joy. She is everyones best friend even if you were strangers 3 minutes earlier. She is strong beyond her knowledge and loves deeply. Once you’re her friend you’ve got her forever. She’s always smiling at everyone, which can get us into trouble at times, but her sweet soul is so beautiful.
Gail, the thoughful. She’s got wisdom far beyond her years and absolutely adores Jesus. She knows Him and shares Him with everyone around her. She’s always got a smile for you. And when she does finally lose her temper it’s probably one of the funniest things you’ll see. She is a true friend who’s always going to care and know just what to do right when you need it.
Then, at the beginning of January, we grew to 7. We gained 2 new girls that had been living with us this far into the race but on a different team. They made us better. They pushed us, stretched us, loved us. This change brought new ideas. New life. It stretched our hearts.
Becca, the creative. Everything about this girl is creative. Her art, everything she owns, her views and perspectives. She is a unique one who pushes you to question why you settle for the norm. She has so much knowledge of Jesus. She recognizes what’s hard for her yet pushes to grow and do it anyway. She will pursue you and truely know you because she cares so darn much for the people she loves.
Sammie, the wise. She has such a beautiful connection with Jesus unlike any I’ve seen before. She will challenge everythinf you thought you knew about Jesus and push you into far deeper intimacy with the Lord. She also has this quiet sass about her that I absoluteky adore. You have to listen carefully to catch her witty sense of humor. She helps anyone and everyone without any complaint. From personal trainer to meal planner to bible study coordinator to fashion provider she will do it all with a happy heart. She loves quietly but fiercly.
This family was one that didn’t take too long to love. We went through some growing pains but for the most part this transition was a smooth one. We conquered Guatemala together and moved to Africa. From Guatemalan middle schoolers to Ethiopian refugees, the english lessons were consistantly…. interesting. I’m not sure how much we taught that sticked but boy did we love. As Bold Pursuit we boldly pursued the hearts of God’s children. We were a force to be reckoned with.
Then at the start of month 8, we became complete. We gained our 8th and final member.
Leah, the free. She is as carefree and wild as a bird. She had not once let the troubles around her overcome her. No matter what crazy situation she’s thrown into she takes it like a champ and somehow turns it into the best thing that ever could have happened. She’s down for anything and everything. This girl listens with her heart and knows how to ask just the right questions. She smiles with the light of Jesus so abundantly clear inside her big beautiful heart.
This new family was to be called Da Vine. Because we abide in the vine and and called to be divine. Best put, we’re a bundle of wildflowers from different corners of the world that were never meant to be placed in the same bundle. It took some pruning and rearranging but in the end, in my opinion, we became the most beautful bundle of wildflowers that God ever did create. It’s now clear that this was his plan from the beginning. To take all these free spirits and lead them down the same path. To build a sisterhood so strong that the ground trembles at every sycopated step. To give me a bundle of wildly beautiful and strong sisters that would walk with me through the rest of my life.
These women have grown this year. They now know to whom they belong and walk out their eternal inheritance daily. They carry the air of the princesses they were made to be. Filled with love, peace, kindness, patience, humility and a bold confidence that mirrors their Heavenly Fathers. They have grown me in ways I never thought possible. They are my forever family and I can’t wait to dance around the throne room praising Jesus with them one day.
Now none of this could have been possible without our fearless leader.
Esther, the honest. She is not afraid of uncomfortable. She pushed us to see each other in new light and choose each other. She always knows just what to say and is not only a great leader but an incredible role model and friend. When we complained, when we feared, when we ran away, she was the perfect reminder. She knows herself and shares honestly. Full of grace and wisdom and honestly. She lives a beautifully vulnerable life that isn’t afraid of the shortcomings of herself of any of us.
This year I was given a glimpse into real kingdom living. I saw it in the lives of the beautiful women of Da Vine and was pushed to pursue it myself. These girls have Jesus love written all over their hearts and it SHOWS in the way that they live. It’s a truely beautiful thing to do life with them and I wouldn’t trade it for all of the pumpkin spice lattes in the world.
We were strangers. They told us we were a team. We chose to become sisters. Thank you Da Vine for being such glorious rays of sunshine throughout all the bright and dark days of the World Race. You will forever be my favourite bundle of oddly but perfectly placed wildflowers.
