It's the last night of month four debrief. WILD, right?! In classic World Race fashion, I finally unpacked my pack completely and only today found the best spot in town for a flat white; now we re-pack and move along. Tomorrow morning at 7 am, Y-Squad will leave on a 23-hour bus to Zimbabwe for another month of African ministry.
(To anyone back home, this means that for the next two days, all mild situational inconveniences and complaints of traffic on I-96 will be met with an eye roll so hard that you will not survive.)
Say a prayer for us!
After a few days of learning to settle into our newly assigned teams, Team Eurocreme (or, perhaps better known to you as our Squad Leaders, Heather and Benita), asked each team to creatively unveil their new team names to the squad at our final session.
It should be noted that all credit to this manifesto belongs to the flawless Kayla Garrison, who suggested we write a spoken word piece as I was fretting and brainstorming possible interpretive dances and a round of Jeopardy.
She knows me. And I'm really grateful that our women were cool with letting me step up and contribute to the group in this way. My favourite way.
So, without further ado......
________________________
Loneliness was the first thing God called "not good".
You and I were not created for solitude. The need to be known runs deeper than any fault line, as we search for community and acceptance in other individuals the way a college kid searches for their car keys when they realize they are ten minutes late and low on gasoline.
No two of us are exactly the same, in spite of what personality tests or clothing tags may say. There is no combination of letters or numbers that could add up what it meant for the creator of the solar system to sit down and dream about giving you breath.
When you look at me, see the love that it took to create me.
I was thought of apart from you. I was thought of in relation to you.
And now, seven of us have been gifted to one another. The question at hand is a gentle request for three months of insane courage: will I let myself be seen?
There is no mold, because there is no requirement. There is no timeline for growth, because growth doesn't bow to a schedule. Instead of the burden of expectation, we wrap one another in a mantle of grace. There is no fear in love, because perfect love casts out fear.
We ask hard questions, provide honest answers, and never assume.
We are willing to make mistakes, to try and fail, and we provide the space to fall. We take a sledgehammer to the culture of perfection, and we lay down our armor as we dare to live this life fully alive, fully known, and fully....human.
Introducing Team Human. :)