This weekend we were able to head up to Atlanta and spend a little bit of time with 14 of our squad mates. It was amazing, and there’s so much I want to share about it, so I’ll just dive in, but I apologize beforehand if it’s jumpy.
~We’re not super weird and/or excluded because we’re married. Y’all, I know this sounds silly, petty, and high-schoolish, but I’ve had this anxiety about Jonathan and I not being able to “fit in” with the rest of the squad because we’re married. I mean, we’re definitely the minority in this category; there’s only 2 married couples (us included) on our route. So with the 53 of us that are currently on the route, we are in the 7% married group. I’ve been a nervous wreck that we would seem unapproachable or uninterested in things with the group because we’re our own group of sorts. Please do not read into this that I’m not excited about doing this trip being married because I can’t imagine it any other way! But no mas Satan! You can’t convince me that my squad doesn’t love me as Mrs. Carothers, Jonathan’s wife as much as they love me as Devon, daughter of the King searching for her place in the world.
~Groups of girls can still be scary, but… Seriously, as a girl I feel like I can comment here with conviction that groups of girls, no matter the ages, can be fierce. Fierce can be an amazing thing, taking the challenges by the horns and not backing down on the things we feel passionate about (because we’re passionate people). But fierce can also be described as ugly, snide, snotty, and sometimes just ugly to the core with each other. I don’t know what it is about girls that sometimes make us like this, but I DO know that God has brought together an amazing group of His daughters to encourage, uphold, push, and stand with each other. I got to get a glimpse into the personalities and hearts of a handful of the girls this weekend, and they are beautiful from the inside out! I can’t wait to see the friendships that continue to flourish and the new ones that are created. I know that the Lord is going to use us mightily within each others lives.
~It’s ok that I’m older than the vast majority of our squad. This is also something that I’ve been struggling with. My personality is naturally one of mothering and protecting and leading, but I’m not everyone’s mom. I don’t want that to sound harsh, but it’s something that I’m telling myself sternly. A couple of the other girls and I were talking and we all said that because of our personalities, careers, or age, we find that we naturally worry about and feel the need to corral the group together. These tendencies aren’t in themselves aren’t a bad thing, but we just have to remind ourselves that the entire squad is made up of adults and sometimes we don’t need to interfere or “help”.
~We’re all in different seasons of our life, and the Lord knew that when He orchestrated this squad. Some of us have had careers while others are still in school. Some of us have been in a relationship with Jesus for most of our lives while others are more recent Christians. And we’ve all gone through different experiences and trials, and when we are vulnerable and open with each other about that, we are a fortified group that stands strong and firm. It’s beautiful how ours stories are being written individually and as a squad as the Lord continues to write in portions of each others lives into our own story.
~We know how to worship! Saturday evening we all piled into one hotel room (don’t tell the fire marshal) and we just let our guards down and our hands up as well poured out our hearts with thanksgiving to the King of Kings. It was an absolutely beautiful time that continued to solidify our unity.
Overall this weekend was a great opportunity to focus on the people and the relationships portion of this journey and to take a break from the logistics and the fundraising aspects of it all. We spent some time enjoying the outdoors and played some games at Piedmont Park. We also took an epic trip to REI where we spent hours with our squad mates trying out different gear. There was also an employee who recently returned from the World Race; not only did we get to pick his brain on gear and packing questions, but he spent time encouraging us and even prayed over us. (Side note: The Lord is everywhere and is constantly providing us with blessings if we take the time to appreciate them.)
If you missed our Facebook Live videos (which are pretty terribly funny), they are on our Facebook page along with some other pictures at https://www.facebook.com/TheCarothersWorldRace/, so check them out. We love y’all, and are so thankful for your support. We have made it past our $10,000 goal and are working hard to reach $20,000 by May 15th. If you’d like to help us meet that goal, you can hit the “Donate” button above, or follow our Facebook page for more information on upcoming fundraisers including our Silent Auction and Dinner on April 1st.
-Devon
