Okie dokie my friends, family, and supporters! So, these past ten days I have been at training camp for my World Race. I would just like to say how much I learned and grew physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. Well I mean it kinda wreaked my emotions, but I think that I will write another blog post about that later stay tuned… Anyway while starting the beginning of my journey on the World Race, I have now met my new immediate family as well as my extended family. Let’s just say they are all wonderful people who love the Lord wholeheartedly and desire to walk in His plans. I will also say that we are a big group of oddballs… not like oddballs but just different and unique in our own ways. We are super cool 😉
So to begin, here is the extended family I am proud to be a part of…
We have two squad coaches, who are the wiser of us all. I will call them grandma and grandpa of the squad. Their names are Robin and Robert. They are always so encouraging to each of us. Also, they get to come visit us on the field every once in awhile too. My favorite part is that they brought us Popsicles and gummies at training camp. Boy that was a delicacy! Actually no, I love them for more than just the goodies they give us in times of starvation. 🙂
Next we have Mom, Kaylaynn, and she is our mentor. She knows it all! From where we are headed, to our ministry sights, to the rules and regulations, to dresscode, she is the woman of the hour. Not only does she know all of the details, she truly cares for us all… that’s a big job! She gets to spend time on the field during our race, and she will always answer the phone for our 2AM phone calls as few or frequent as they may be.
Next, we have our squad trainers. I am going to say they are those people who your parents tell you to call aunt or uncle even though they aren’t even related to you. This part of the fam got to hang out with us for the ten day training camp. They volunteer so we are their payment for their time spent. Although we only get them for a little while, they poured out all of their hearts and knowledge into us. They understand what God is about to do through us, and they want to be involved! They shared with us, led our teams in devotions, and just loved unconditionally.
P.S. this is Patrick DOTY, and he was my trainer… we may get the pleasure of seeing him at launch…:) He has been to a million countries, is housemates with a crying baby for the time being, and he does a rocking Simon Cowell accent.
Moving on… We have the crazy fun aunts and uncles! (The real ones.) This lovely group of four will be travelling the world with my squad. They get to spend the full nine months rotating between our teams. Lo, Mark, Hillary, and Mckayla are so fun to be around but also bring a lot to the table to share. They have all been on the race before and most all have squad led already. They know the ropes. They will mentor and guide us in these next nine months of living, so YAY!!!
Lastly, we have the big family! I am going to say we are all the crazy cousins to one another. This is my SQUAD, Gap P! (yes, our letter is P, and our color was yellow… just laugh we embraced it. *shrugs*) We are all between 18-22 years of age and love God! Let’s just say we lost squad wars, didn’t get matching yellow clothing, or paint our faces yellow, but we did win one round of dodge ball, get 2nd place in the dance competition, and run through the rain, thunder, and lightning to get our backpacks to safety. All in all those are accomplishments for us! We are so prepared to face this new chapter of our lives and build each other up. God brought us together for a reason, and He will do great things through us in these next months. Good news is, even though I don’t get to live with all 41 of them for the next nine months, I do get to spend the first month in India with them and meet up for debriefs and travel days! Whoop Whoop!!! I love them all, and you will hear more about them I am sure!
Now for my immediate family… The Bat Family! (Sorry Mom, Dad, Abby, Mallory, and Chandler, this is only an analogy they could never replace y’all! ;))
Left to Right… Emily, Me (Lindsay), Stella, Bo, Rodrigo, and Jackson
These are my siblings for the next however many months they tell us. We are “Aliento de Vida” (Breath of Life in Spanish). We chose this name because our team wants this year to bring a new breath of life into us. God has a wonderful plan for us, and we are open to see what He breathes. Also, we want to bring a breath of life into the lives of the people we will encounter through God with love, hope, healing, and His word. Plus it’s in Spanish because the goal is by the time we get to Ecuador everyone will be pretty good at Spanish.
We are also the bat family because Jackson masterminded us all as characters, they are very accurate except I forgot them… There’s another aspect of us! We are really funny, goofy, quirky, and will laugh a lot! I am honestly so blessed with my team, and I can’t wait to spend the next months living with them. They will become my shoulders to cry on, the keepers to my secrets, the brothers and sisters in Christ who I can always count on, my big smiles after a long day’s work, and the love that can refill me after a long day of loving on the community. We are a SOLID team right here!
(just a glimpse of our craziness)
Anyway my Family at home, you have all met my new Family for nine months. I hope this can help you understand more of how important community is to our journey. Jesus had 12 disciples, so he didn’t have to do life alone. We will never have to do life alone either. I know there are more people behind the scenes, and I know they are awesome too. I would like to ask if you could pray for my squad, leaders, and team over these next months. I hope now it can be personal with some names and faces.
Most importantly, I would like to thank each and every one of you for being a family to me. You have helped me get here no matter what part you played. I will always be so grateful for all you have taught me, how you have encouraged me, and the ways you loved me over these years! God has blessed me so abundantly with my family!
