At the very beginning of my squad being a squad, we came up with a rallying cry: “S Squad Best Squad.”
Even at training camp, we were told that there were BIG and HARD things in store for us as a squad.
And I think, honestly, biasly, S squad IS the best squad.
Let me share with you why I think so.
1. We have three amazing squad leaders. Squad leaders are alumni Racers who travel with a squad for the first 5 months mentoring us. Our three Sql’s, Lo, Tammy, and Amanda, are freakin’ awesome and powerhouses for the Lord. They walk with such confidence with the Father, all have so much wisdom, and they each have individual giftings that are a blessing to us. Lo is all about prayer–brings things to Him right away and encourages us to do the same. Amanda speaks the truth even when it’s hard to uplift us. Tammy is a listener–she is a safe place for us verbally process things. Also, though, the three of them love each other so much and work as a team. How much they love each other flows into how they love us. They also have amazing laughs, quirks, and personalities. You should see and hear Amanda laugh–you know we got her really laughing when she puts two hands over her mouth. Everyone on the squad knows her laugh. Lo has an epic top-bun on top of her head that has a mind of its own. Tammy laughs easily at us when we are being goofy. And all three of them are sassy.
2. Dani!! Y’all, I wish you could meet Dani. She’s freakin’ awesome. She came to us in Nepal as our “squad content manager” which was a new position to encourage our squad to blog more (a couple other squads got an SCM also–it’s a new position they are trying). She traveled with us for three months (too short, if you ask me) to encourage us to blog twice a week (which we HAVE!) which is pretty unheard of. Over the past couple years blogging has gone down which isn’t good because the more people blog, the more people hear about the Race and less money future racers have to fund (something to do with numbers and stuff). BUT, Dani was this tiny, colorful person who was so excited for us with the little things and big things. She changed the trajectory of our squad with just who she was. She listened to us. She provided the fire we needed and was a needed breath of fresh air in all things, not just in blogging.
3. Our squad mentor Beka. Beka is back in Georgia, but comes every couple months to see us. She does a lot to encourage our leaders on our squad so that they can better encourage us. She is rock solid in her faith and in God. She is always talking about the vision for the squad and she is always praying for us. She also has incredible wisdom. When she comes to visit us for a debrief, she loves us all well.
4. Squad coaches. These are, for us, an older couple who come to visit our squad every couple months to breathe life into us, but also do so much for us while they are still in the US. They pray for us, somehow follow all 51 of us on Facebook and our blogs, and when they come to whatever country we are in, they bring us candy and a book for each team. (And when you are on the Race, you LOVE having a little candy and a new book to read).
5. Our squad has endurance. We don’t give up easily even when the Race and life gets challenging.
6. Even though we are a squad of 51, I think we do a great job of LOVING each other. At LDW’s and debriefs you can see people pursue others on the squad to catch up on how they are doing and how their month was.
7. In month 1, we started diving into some hefty things such as spiritual warfare. Our squad pursues depth and meat, not just milk.
8. We are a squad of leaders. At training camp it got a bit dicey because there were “too many cooks in the kitchen.” HOWEVER, now we know what is going on, everyone leads in their own way. Some have the title of team leaders, but we all lead our team and squad in our giftings.
9. We have two married couple on our squad. Yes, two! And it is such a blessing. These couples love each other and love the Lord so fiercely. We love seeing their example of a healthy, Christian marriage.
10. Our squad loves the Lord and wants what He haves for us. We are all genuine. We love to worship together. We love to encourage one another. We all come from different journeys in life–but we all come together as one family. We are the church growing stronger daily.
S Squad, Best Squad in Nepal
