Picture a warrior.
Picture this warrior on a horse, with a bow slung over their back, arms strong, with a shield firmly planted, and jaw set.
Now (if you didn’t before) picture this warrior as a woman.
She is the epitome of fierce, but also loving.
She is dangerous, but she is good.
She has been called to protect orphans, slaves, widows, and the unloved.
She shields them from the enemy and casts out evil with her arrows.
She moves when God says to her, “It is time to go, you are finished here.”
She does not wander when God says, “Stay.”
You might be wondering what bible story this is (unless you’re a seminary pro, in which you’re offended that I would even suggest). This is not a story from a book. This is not a story from the Bible. But it is a story of the Kingdom. This is our story. This is Team Ransom.
When they grouped us together and put us through a communication exercise, we annihilated it. We were so pumped that we got it together so quickly. The big-picture seers were doin’ work and the ones who had absolutely no clue what was happening were still describing their pictures in such great detail, aiding us in a way I’ve never witnessed before. It was awesome, y’all. However, When they sat us down and asked how we would feel if this was the team we had to travel the world with, our happy pride balloon suddenly deflated. I personally sat around and in my head kept saying, “What? Really? What?”
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My biggest fear about my future team was that it would be an all-girl team. (Thanks, Big Guy)
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Only one of these girls had been on any of my team-building exercise teams. (SURPRISE!)
To say the least, I wasn’t stoked on this new Ya Ya Sisterhood team. And I wasn’t the only one. All of us were apprehensive of being on an all-girl team and all of us had even deeper feelings unsettling us. Even though we tried so hard not to have expectations, even though I didn’t think I had any expectations at all…..those expectations magically materialized and all of a sudden weren’t met. And while this was all happening Bill Swan’s voice kept saying in his sarcastic, yet serious tone: “This is not your race.”
We discussed our fears and then our squad leader Erika reminded us that we were put together for a reason. We were put together to sharpen each other. And as she made a sharpening motion with her hands, she explained that the act of sharpening means you’re taking something away. She explained that all the dull edges rub against the others and they take things away from each other to become sharp. She was reminding us that while sharpening is the best option, it’s not really fun for the knives. Yeah, Erika is like super wise, so we kind of all had to nod our heads and shut up.
After discussing even more fears and asking more questions while a few of us talked to our stand-in squad mentor, we sat down together again. I had been staring at the dirt because I was tired of looking and I was tired of talking and by this day I was just tired of people. That’s when the Holy Spirit told me to look up and to look at these WOMEN (not girls) again. He told me, “This is it! These are them! You should be rejoicing!” I kind of tried to argue back by saying, “Yeah but….I’m gonna have to cry in front of these girls. These are the girls that wil get on my nerves. These are the girls that will completely piss me off when they call me on my crap.” And the Holy Spirit responded, “I know!!! Isn’t that AWESOME!?!?” And the more I looked at these women, I realized that it was. It was awesome. It is awesome.
By the end of the day we were laughing and it just felt, right. We took hot showers together (contrasting the cold showers to come). We ate together. Three girls got pierced, ya know, #justgirlythings. Yet we still needed a name. Something that meant something. Something that described us.
The first thing that came to my mind was a band of woman warriors and it was confirmed when our team leader (shout out to my Bethany, I love you) saw a picture of the warrior I described at the beginning of this post. We knew that that is how God sees us. We are warriors shielding the nations and caring for those God gives us. And after lots of searching, we found Ransom.
Ransom is an Old English name that means “warrior’s shield” or “shield’s son (or daughter)”. It also alludes to the way the term is used in the Bible that can be defined as “an act of grace” or the ultimate act of grace in which Jesus (a SON) paid our debts and set us free (SHIELDing us from wrath).
The name fits because every woman on my team is gracious. Every woman on my team is capable of shielding me and anyone else that they come into contact with. Every woman on my team is a warrior and is empowered and is bold. Why? Because, greater is He who is in SHE, than he that is in the world.
Ladies, this post is dedicated to you.
Everyone else, please pray for our team and continue to encourage us as we start the sharpening process and as we continue to answer God’s call on our lives.
These are the women that will call me up and out.
These are the women that I will gladly ride into battle with.
