It all started back at Passion Conference in Atlanta during the winter of 2014. Lauren had posted on our K squad Facebook group that she would be at the conference and wanted to see if anyone could meet up. I was going that year too so we exchanged digits and had a rendezvous outside of gate 24C of Philips Arena. I wish I could tell you there was a spark. I wish I could tell you we hit it off right there and were instant friends. For us, that just wasn’t the case.
We were friendly and afterward exchanged a few emails about pre-Race tips (Lauren will tell you my emails were less-than-friendly), but that was kind of the last of it until we met again at Training Camp. It was nice having a familiar face amongst a sea of strangers in the foreign land of Gainesville, Georgia, but we weren’t exactly jumping at the bit to be tent buddies on the night half our gear got “stolen.”
We were blissfully going our own ways on separate teams all throughout the beginning of the Race until one fateful night at the beginning of month 5 in Cambodia. Boom. Team changes. LaCava and Veker locked away in a small church in the middle of no where Cambodia for 30 days with no internet and nothing to do but watch Modern Family in our tents and go running on endless dirt roads. There the magic began…
Despite Lauren and I being opposite in every category imaginable, we got along great. I’m a morning person, she’s a night owl. I’m type A, she’s type B. I love the village life, she’s more of a city girl. I’m prompt, she tends to be the person that needs to be told we’re leaving 15 minutes earlier than we actually are. I prefer my personal space, she’s all about that physical touch. But something about our eclectic combo just worked.
When told we were having a chalk fight on the roof of Courage Home in India, we had opposite reactions. Me: “Awesome! Sounds so fun, I’m in!” Lauren: “Nooo, I just showered this morning, I don’t want to get dirty, can I take the camera?”
One of the ways I feel most refreshed on the Race is by working out. Whether it’s a long run or an Insanity work-out, you get me breaking a sweat and I am a different person that day. LaCava on the other hand is more of a socializer. Whether it’s right after rolling out of bed, or into the wee hours of the night, Lauren is always down for “real talk” (in fact, she begs for it).
Even though she’s a brunette, 5’3″ and a girly girl and I’m blonde, 5’11”, and a tomboy, God has somehow made our differences the most beautiful part of our friendship. I learn from Lauren how to be more laid back and go with the flow. Lauren learns from me how be more prompt and attentive. We complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
However, I have to be careful not to compare myself to Lauren too frequently. It would be all too easy to see some of her great qualities and start to become insecure in who I am and want to be more like her. Jesus never lets those thoughts run away too quickly without immediately reminding me that no, however great Lauren is, she’s not perfect and she’s not ultimately who I want to look like. Jesus is. Until I find my identity completely in Him and walk confidently in who He created me to be, I will live in an endless cycle of comparison and disappointment as I fail to live up to the standard of another person who was crafted utterly and completely different from me. If every hair on my head is numbered, I can pretty safely say every personality trait and every odd quirk is purposely designed and authored by the same God who knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Jesus had a funny way of picking unlikely people to be His disciples. In the same way, I think Jesus is still in the business of calling unlikely people together to be His disciples in community within the church. And so it goes for me and Lauren. While we might not seem like the most likely of friends on paper, our friendship defies modern logic, and God has created a beautiful bond between us that will last long after the Race comes to an end.
Forever His,
Grace
