Meet Team Grafted

My sisters. My supporters. My inspiration. 

These are women of God. They know who their Maker is and who He has created them to be. They’re fighters and Kingdom chasers. 

When I signed up for the Race, I didn’t realize that I was “getting married” as Margee likes to put it. I laughed when she first said that but now I realize just how true that statement is. The whole idea of love has been redefined for me. These girls have redefined it. 

So what is love? Love is not just a feeling. Above all else, love is a choice. In fact, in the Kingdom of God, love often comes before we actually even like someone. We are called to love and sometimes that means loving the “unlikeable” or the people that we have a hard time understanding. 

Of course when you get married, you typically also like that person (that’s the goal at least) but on the Race “marriage” looks a little different. We didn’t get to choose our teams, but we DO get the choice to love them. 

Some days it’s hard. When you live with people 24/7 it can get frustrating. BUT love is a verb and so by that definition, love is also a choice. 

So here’s a little bit more about the girls who are all the things mentioned above + MORE!!! 

 

Kirsten Caswell 

Kirst loves taking selfies on my phone, thus the beautiful photo here. She is a woman of wisdom. She is kind hearted. She is silly. Seriously… this girl has some of the best puns that come from her quick thinking and whit. She loves the Lord deeply and fights to know Him. 

 

Jaynna Strong 

Bean loves adventure. She is so caring and generous. She has an intimate relationship with the Father and has so much perspective and insight into His character. Everything she does is done for the Lord. I love her motivation and eagerness to learn and grow. 

 

Gracie Cottrill 

Or Crazie as all the Khmer people would say since they think that’s what she says when she says her name. Gracie knows the Word and has such a hunger to understand God’s character through the Bible. She has a hilarious sense of humor and always wants to know how she can grow. She walks in freedoms of who she is. 

 

Margee San Martino 

Marg has such a sweet passion for God and His children. She has a heart that is on fire for the Lord and she inspires me every day. She loves to dance and meet new people. She makes some really amazing connections with the people we meet. 

 

Kae Blowers

Kae is just about one of the strongest people I have ever met. This girl defies all odds and she fights to know the Lord. She has such a kind heart and loves to laugh. She has an amazing voice – I love listening to her sing! I love it even more when I sing (since I love to sing) and she makes my bad voice sound somewhat appealing to listen to 🙂 

 

Amber Pelican 

Ambs has such a pure servant heart. She knows what it means to love others really well and to show them that she is reliable. She is a little piece of home for me (yeah Colorado!) and always seeks to make sure that I’m okay. She seeks to find truth and beauty in the world around her. She loves like no other. 

 

Rachel Driscoll 

Our fearless team leader. She walks in wisdom, kindness, strength and humility. She loves us so well. She is steadfast in her reliance on God. She takes everything to Him first and also gives Him the final say. She is obedient in her callings. 

 

So this is just a little snippet of who these girls are to me. I have seen them grow in miraculous ways already and I’m so excited to continue this journey with them for these next 7 months. Team Grafted will forever and always be part of my heart. They are my sisters.  

Our name Grafted came from our desire to be united together in our many different backgrounds and personalities. Grafted means not only being grafted into the body and adopted into the family of God, but being grafted together. When shoots from different plants and flowers (us) are planted into the stem (Jesus) they grow together to form a new flower – a new creation. We each bring something so unique to the team and are a different shoot but we are all grafted together in Christ to be one. 

 

This is the grafted tree at the hospital we worked at in Battambang. We found it and it reminded us of how there are a bunch of stems all woven together into one. 

 

-Elena