Sawasdee Kha!
We are in Thailand, and this month is manistry/womanistry month for A-squad!
What does that mean?
Well, first, it means we’re in Thailand…obviously…
Second, it means all the men of A-squad are together in Chiang Mai for the month, and all of us women don’t have to be bothered with them all month!
my womanistry month team, Team Naked, explained HERE
It also means that we are blessed with new all-women teams just for this month.
This is my third team on the race and my second team of all women…and I’ve got to be honest, over the past four months, I have been losing hope in the beauty and grace of women.
Women talk a lot.
We can talk about nothing for hours, but we rarely talk about what matters unless we decide to – the way we relate to one another, what we’re really feeling, how we perceive one another.
On the world race we do “feedback” daily. In feedback, we tell each other how we see each other looking like Jesus – where we see each other growing. We also tell each other where we might want to refocus, or where we’ve been offended by something, how we could look more like Jesus.
A teammate on a previous team equated it to being informed that your skirt is tucked into your underwear. Yeah, it’s going to be mildly embarrassing or maybe difficult to swallow when someone tells you that your skirt is tucked up into your underwear
…but would you rather someone tell you, or would you rather walk around all day showing everyone your you-know-what?
So…if I’ve got my skirt tucked into my underwear, I’d prefer that you tell me, and even if you don’t tell me in the best way or at the best time – I know you’re helping me to not make a fool of myself or offend someone else, so I’m going to say “thank you.”
When you live in constant community, the ugliest sides of your personality inevitably come out: vanity, selfish ambition, arrogance, pride, insecurity, defensiveness, entitlement, anger, victim-mentalities, etc.
Feedback is what the world race gives us to be able to tell each other when we see those things in one another, encourage each other to be what and who God says we are, and give each other specific examples of how we can grow toward that.
this is not definitely, but likely, a photo of Bri about to tell me what's up.
According to His word, those things are our flesh and those personality traits are put to death with our “old self” as we die to sin and are made alive to God in Christ. Our spirit is to be partnered with His Spirit, giving us the same character that He has – loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, gentle, and self-controlled.
His word calls His daughters – every one of us – flawlessly beautiful. His word gives us the key to all wisdom (asking for it). His word empowers, enlightens, liberates, and charges us with the privilege of living for His Kingdom – and it tells us what His Kingdom is! What it looks like!
His word is truth, our self-perceptions are not, and that is what community is for.
