Our month 4 debrief brought many changes. We began our race with 3 squad leaders who had previously gone on the race. They have traveled with us to make sure we know what we are doing and they have spoken life into us. They have been a tremendous encouragement. However, they only go with us for 5 months. Since this is month 5, they had to raise up and train new squad leaders out of our squad. Those 3 will travel between each of the teams for the duration of the race, encouraging us, planning future debriefs, and all of the other things squad leaders do. Our new squad leaders are David, Erica, and Nikki. They are going to be amazing in their new roles!
Because a few of our squad mates have returned home and because 3 team leaders are now squad leaders, there had to be team changes. We now have 6 teams of 6-7 people. The way that we learned about our new teams was special. All of us went to a park, where we could easily spread out. We each got a piece of paper with our name on the outside and a secret on the inside. We were told not to look at the inside until Michael whistled. They gave us 5 minutes to go off by ourselves, mentally release our current team, and prepare to welcome our new team. When the whistle sounded, I looked at the secret inside my paper. Then I looked up to find my new team leader. I looked and looked. Then the crowded parted and my new team leader was standing with a few members of my old team. Woohoo! I ran over, jumped the hedge, and went for a group hug.
After much deliberation, our new team is called Abounding. We are abounding in God’s love, abounding in faith, abounding in SO MUCH! And we are going to have an awesome journey together.
Here we are!
