~Proverbs 27:17
The
following excerpt was from one of my first journal entries on the race.
Did she
really just do that?? The exclamation takes places in my mind. That girl just
took my spoon out of MY cereal and used it in her own Cheerios. Creepy. She
doesn’t even know me. I could have some kind of disease. Whatever. Gross. I
don’t understand these people.
FLASH
FORWARD -> -> -> 10 months later
We arrived
in Moldova in the middle of the night last night, making our primary agenda this
afternoon sleep. Due to “wars” in
various Ukranian locations, we’ve had to dodge certain train stations. Thus, we’re
all sitting around waiting for our train that takes off in another 12 hours.
So, I’m
leaned up against the wall of a Moldovan station listening to the familiar
snores and heavy sighs that resonate off the vaulted ceilings of our current
resting place. I’m overwhelmed, thankful, and amused at how dear those sounds
have become to me over the last ten months. In January, I couldn’t even sleep in the same room with these people
out of fear. Stupid? Maybe. But sleep
is so intimate and requires feeling safe before you dose off. It leaves you vulnerable.
The toughest woman alive can look as gentle as she
truly is when she sleeps. Unknowingly, you let people know that you’re not as tough as you think you are. So, in month one
that was definitely not a game I was willing to play. There was no sleeping in public.
Well, I’m
beginning to see how much the Lord has changed this insecurity within me as my
squad mates are piled up across the station, sleeping on one another’s packs
and pillows. I’m no longer surrounded by strangers, but alongside 51 people that know
more of my embarrassing idiosyncrasies and quirks than most people ever will.
We all know who talks in their sleep, who snores, who drools, and who has a
shopping problem. I know guys turn into babies when they get sick, I know who
doesn’t shower, and I know who claims not to be a picky eater but is the
biggest diva I’ve ever met. (You
know who you are 🙂 )
A typical
day has me sharing silverware, wearing a teammate’s clothing, and using the community chap stick when my lips are
dry. Quite the transformation from January, isn’t it? 
So, as I
watch Jenn Myers curl up in a little ball with her Eskimo jacket, and
Tim flopping from side to side on a sleeping mat like he isn’t an enormous, 6’4
giant, and powerful leader, I’m overwhelmed. I am so
thankful for this unexpected family. If I never saw these people again after
this 11-month journey, my relationships
with them would never have been wasted. For a short while, the Lord used these
51 men and women to encourage, empower, and challenge me. I’ll be forever
grateful.
But in the
meantime, I let the exhaustion from my overnight bus ride get to me, and drift
off to sleep alongside my squad mates.
