That being said, it has been bittersweet saying goodbye to my first team, More Amor. The other night we sat in our hostel room, ate pizza and beer for dinner, and reminisced about the last four months. We talked about how we have seen each other grow over the months since we first landed in Colombia. This team has been so special to me, and have allowed me to feel safe enough to open up about some of the darkest moments of my life allowing light and healing to flood into the dark places.
The other night my teammate challenged us to write a blog of appreciation of our teammate that was sitting to our left. I got super excited because sweet Jenny Jen happened to be to my left. While Jenny isn’t technically part of team More Amor, it sure feels like she is. She is one of our Squad Leaders (SQL). SQLs stay with world race squads for the first 5 months of the race, spending each month with a different team. After 5 months they raise up new squad leaders, and return to the States. Last month, in Bolivia, Jenny spent the month with us, and it was incredible. It felt like our team was finally complete. She is such a blessing.
Here’s Jenny front and center in the middle of our 10 hour car ride to Apolo.
Jenny Jen is one of the most genuine and pure souls I have ever met. I am not exaggerating. She is an absolute blast, but has a calming, soothing presence. Her laugh is SO contagious. She smiles and laughs with her whole face. Ya know the kind of smiles when your whole face crinkles up, eyes all squinty, nose scrinkled up, and all your beautiful teeth out and shining?! That’s Jenny every time she smiles. When she laughs it’s the same but her mouth is wide open and her head is flung back in a deep belly laugh. I freaking love it. You can’t help me crack up laughing too.
There is also a lot of depth to dear ole Jenny Jen. She opened up her second night with us while sharing her testimony. She has been through a lot, but her faith in God is incredible. She’s not afraid to dive deep into the hard conversations, and is good at reflecting on the past, connecting dots, learning from past mistakes. That’s something that I struggle with a lot, so our conversations were awesome because she wasn’t afraid to press me with hard questions helping me to think about my own past, connect dots, and see patterns.
Exploring the Salt Flats!
She has a way of pointing people back to Christ while not ever seeming “Holier than thou”. Like I said, she is so real and genuine. She’s got the wisdom and sage advice of an 80 year old woman who has seen some things, and yet she’s just a young pup at 25. ALSO SHE’S SINGLE AND I DON’T EVEN UNDERSTAND HOW BUT ANY SINGLE BOYS OUT THERE…PAY ATTENTION.
Her favorite food is French fries. She could eat them all day ereyday…dipped in ranch of course. She lovingly made homemade french fries for our team for dinner one night and they were DELISH! She also loves ice cream and every time we saw an ice cream shop I’m pretty sure she got some.
She loves morning snuggles, and would happily snuggle me whenever I need some physical contact lol. She has some bomb playlists on Spotify that she let me listen to on long car rides.
She has a degree in political science….I barely know what that means. She’s super smart, but she’s not annoying about it. She’s super interested in advocating for those who do not have a voice and depending on what God says, she may begin pursuing her law degree when she goes home! So cool.
This is the best thing about Jenny – On her 23rd (I think?) birthday she went to a For King and Country concert by herself. She just does that. She ain’t afraid to go do what she wants by herself and has a blast doing it.
Jenny – I am so thankful for the time we got to spend together. Thanks for challenging me, and all the wisdom and advice. I’m gonna miss you terribly when you leave after Argentina. I’m praying for God’s plan for whatever is next in this life of yours. You are a serious gem of a human! LOVE YOU!!
Jenny and I perfecting our Bolivian greeting (how the men greet each other). It was so hard not to laugh. They shake hands, pat each other twice (one hand on their shoulder and one hand on their side) and then shake hands again. It takes a lot of coordination!
