Posting this way after the fact, but you need to know…so here:
Debrief arrived and some rumors had been floating around about team changes. None of us could really be sure, but most of us were relishing in what we thought were the last days of the teams that God had knit together in the past three months.
Finally on Friday night of debrief it was confirmed, we would be doing team changes the next day.
I would be lying if I wasn't upset, because God has done a lot in the three months with my lovely Grow Freely Inc Team! What a beautiful gift of sisterhood God placed in us and what an example of carrying each others burdens!
There is this rumor floating around in World Race culture about how bad girls teams can be, and I just want to call that rumor what it is, a straight out lie. I've never felt more protected in this setting, its also one of the safest places to be who God created me to be! All girls teams are a blessing! They are so full of life and love! I cannot explain completely, but its soo good!
So, let me get back to how all of this went down.
Saturday morning, Grow Freely Inc sat down for a final team time you could say. We talked about what God has done and what we hope for in the future.
My teammate Christel told us she felt like she was going to be on another all girls team, as soon as she said it, I felt I would be too. But I didn't voice this, I just told my team I'll see what the Lord does.
But I knew that God had been stirring a passion in me to work with women in ministry over the past three months. I know that after the race I wanted to go to school because I want to do humanitarian work with women. This is a whole other blog in itself, but God had been stirring my heart for women and their struggles, and I knew that He would place me in a setting to grow that!
So Saturday afternoon we headed to the beach in Capetown and celebrate what God had done and seal, declaring and walking over a sand dune in the natural, to signal that we are crossing over into a new season.
We then were requested to stand in a circle facing out and prepare ourselves for what the Lord has for us in this next season. As we did, the squad leaders went around and placed the list of our new teams. We were not to open them till we were told.
Once the list was in my hand, I cried a little bit, I was stepping from a very good season. I was trusting God, but its hard to trust when you know that change is happening and you have no control over it. I had found my space in my team, a home, and now God was asking me to give that up for His next best thing.
We were then told to open up the list and not say anything for five minutes, taking the time to prepare ourselves for it.
I opened the list, as I read over each name, I realized that God had put me on another all girls team.
I had mixed emotions, all these names were of women I had come to highly respect on my squad, but only one was from my old team, Christel.
The full reality was that I now had to release my old team. As I stood there, staring at the gorgeous beach, I got a picture of me holding a bunch of flowers, each one representing my old team mates. I saw my hand releasing them to the wind and realize that I needed to let go in order to fully embrace the new team that God had for me.
As the teams were announced, I rejoiced! Even though my heart was breaking a little, my spirit rejoiced in the new things that God was doing!
As I am now living in this team and growing in this new team, I realized that God really needed to me to move in order to grow…not that my old team wasn't conducive for that. But these women on my team now bring out new things in me that I didn't know I had.
My new team's name is the Wildflowers!
We fully are embracing our name as representing what God has for us! Our verse that we got our name from is Isaiah 61!
We fully believe that this next season is the best yet!
I realized that the last three months I've been on a team called "Grow Freely Inc" and now I am on a team called "Wildflowers." I needed Grow Freely to grow into my new team as a Wildflower!
I was so blessed the past three months with Grow Freely! But I am so thankful for my new team!
So now let me present all the lovely ladies I am blessed to be on a team with!
I have been so thankful to spend the past three months with this amazing girl on my team! When I found out that we would both again be on a team, I pretty much wanted to scream! She is such a wise woman and the strength she carries is such a picture of her daily commitment to hear what the Lord is saying to her!
She's going to be a squad leader after month five and we are so thankful our team can be blessed with her funny stories and amazing finger dancing talent! I love this girl and am thankful I get to know her more!
Alison and I have spent some time in the past three months, since our teams have been together all three of the months, and I just love her easy going nature! She has such a servant's heart and will be serving our team as a treasurer! She's also a pretty good coffee date! 😉
This girl is power! God uses her in mighty ways! We also shared a tent at training camp, were we bonded right off the bat. She is one I really hoped would be on my team the first time around! She is so full of live and all one word I would use to describe her is VIVACIOUS!
What can I say?! SO MUCH! This girl and I have spent the first three months together also, since our teams were paired together! I didn't really get to know her till last month and man I cannot describe the love she has for people, its stroooong! I remember telling her last month that if we did do team changes I hoped to God she would be on mine, God does answer prayer! We also tend to laugh a lot together, it's just a natural thing for us I guess…hahaha!
Last and very not least, since she is our new team leader, JANUARY! She is the first person I met in person on my squad, we sat next to each other on the bus ride from the airport to training camp in October. I blabbed my whole life story to her, and she listened very nicely! She's such insightful person and her relationship with God is very unique! God has so much for her and I cannot wait to see how He fully unfolds the things that He has placed in her!
And there you have it my friends, my new team, the WILDFLOWERS!
