Love is a constant in our world. Society screams of romantic love with the movies, music, and Valentine’s Day. That’s all fine and good, but I’ve always been more fascinated with the other forms of love.
C.S. Lewis believed there were 4 categories of love. Eros: the typical romantic love that is perhaps the easiest to recognize. Affection: the love between family members. Charity: or Agape in another word. This is the type of love God has for us, and that Christians are commanded to practice towards others. Friendship: a love between friends as close as siblings. Lewis describes Friendship love as, “the least biological, organic, instinctive, gregarious, and necessary…the least natural of loves.”
I don’t think I truly understood what he meant until I met my team for the race. Abby, Rachel, Hannah, Malia, Rissa, and I are so different. Each of us are a different color of the rainbow. We joked one day that if we all went to the same high school we wouldn’t have ever been friends. We didn’t mean it in a bad way. It was just a fact we all acknowledged.
We wouldn’t have cared to look past the surface for long enough to get to know the real person. We were brought together by something greater than our preferences, God. He saw that we really did fit together, and he put us on a team to prove it.
I am so grateful to God that He did. I love my team. The other day I was telling someone about my team and I accidentally said family instead of team. That was when I realized that they had truly become my family. So, this is what my new family members are like.
Abby Fillman: Abby is always laughing about something. We don’t always know what she’s laughing at, but her laugh is beautiful and infectious. Abby has a heart for children. She’s always the first to make friends with the kids wherever we go. Abby’s relational personality makes it easy to feel loved by her.
Rachel Crandall: Rachel is a spiritual powerhouse. She jumps head first into whatever we’re doing, praying, worshiping, reading her Bible, and she recently preached for the first time at a youth group. Rachel’s understanding of just how much God loves us is inspiring. She’s always the first to speak out on it. Plus, she gives really good hugs.
Hannah Bolitho: Hannah is probably the funniest person I have ever had the pleasure to meet. She’s also one of the sweetest. She does little things that just make you feel loved, like writing sweet notes. She is a very patient person. Hannah has a wisdom about her that makes you feel loved and understood.
Malia Williams: Malia has an amazing musical talent. Her voice is absolutely beautiful, and she is a great guitar player. Malia wants our team to be the best that it can be. She’s always quick to lovingly point out where we can improve. Malia is a friend that is great at understanding what you’re going through or trying to say.
Rissa Martin: Rissa is a leader in the making. She is good at taking the lead in a situation we don’t know how to deal with. Rissa is naturally inquisitive. She’s not afraid to ask the hard questions, and she wants to understand the answers. Her obedience to God is amazing. She just finished fasting for over 24 hours praying for the Racers’ parents because she felt God putting it on her heart.
So, that’s my new little family. We’re all equally different and unique. God put us on the same team to learn and grow from each other. We love, encourage, and occasionally argue, and at the end of the day we’re all proud to be on team Agape.
