This is a post by one of my teammates, Sheila Yoder. I thought it was awesome, and completely accurate. You can check out her blog at: http://SheilaYoder.TheWorldRace.Org
At training camp my biggest fear was that I would get put on an all-girls team. I had many reasons prepared if perhaps I was given a choice.
Extremely important ones like:
guys are cute,
guys are fun,
girls have drama,
guys are helpful in killing critters,
girls scream a lot, and
guys won’t borrow my hair products.
And of course the real, underlying ones like:
maybe I’ll marry one of them, and
I need good Christian men in my life.
Anyway, my list of reasons weren’t needed and I ended up having awesome guys on my teams for 8 months. I am not marrying any of them, however. Still single in case you were wondering, but I digress…..
It was funny that, during month 8 when we became Team JUGS (Just Us GirlS haha), I
actually looked forward to it. Not that our guys weren’t awesome, but I realized that there’s a certain connection and openness an all-girls team can have that a mixed team probably can’t. One of my worst fears became one of my biggest blessings. And it couldn’t have become such a blessing without each one of my awesome sisters. They’re such an awesome mixture of strength, vulnerability, honesty, beauty, humility, gentleness, and determination. We have pushed and pulled each other. Feedbacked and encouraged each other. Punched and hugged each other. Laughed and cried with each other. We are sisters. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
You see, being around girls all the time makes you more aware of guys and through this we have learned an alarming fact: there is an astonishing lack of real men on this earth. Now, I’m not talking about the hunting, outdoorsy, sports-playing, body-building, beer-drinking, no-shirt-wearing men either. That has nothing to do with it. I’m talking about REAL men. Men of God. Men who take responsibility for themselves and those in their care. Men who care more about pleasing God rather than anyone else around them. Men who lead with courage and don’t wait for someone else to take the first step. Men willing to pursue and fight for what and who they hold dear. Men who value and uphold themselves with dignity and honor. Men who are sure of themselves and don’t remold to fit into a relationship. Radical men who do what God wants rather than what looks good. Men who don’t have to prove to anyone that they are men. They just are.
In the past 11 months, God has annoyingly done some work on my standards for men. It’s annoying because He has shown me that real men do exist but He has also revealed that there are so darn few of them. He has told me not to settle for just anyone but if there aren’t many men who meet God’s standards, am I just supposed to become a nun? You can see the predicament.
