And All the People Said “Selah” — Meet My Team!

The past 3 months I’ve had the joy and challenge of being on an all-girls team called Selah. 

Selah is a word we see throughout the Pslams, and though the exact meaning of it is debated, the generally accepted understanding is that it’s a musical direction indicating a pause or breath in a piece of music. 

When we received our team at launch, we prayed about who and what we wanted to be together and decided that we wanted to be a pause and a breath of fresh air to each other and the people we met. 

After 3 months learning and growing and exploring and laughing and contemplating and ministering together, I’d love to introduce you to Team Selah!

Here we are in front of the cutest “I love Ometepe” sign we stumbled upon last weekend!

Starting from the left, our team leader Alayna!! As a TL, she has completed the World Race before and is here for a few months to start our squad off well and show us the ropes. She is very thoughtful and prayerful. She likes Marvel movies and can smash a Rubix cube like nobody else. She remembers the little things about people and always seeks to love people intentionally. My favorite thing about Alayna is her prayerfulness in her decision making–she always asks the Lord what He wants for her, even if it’s just for the next 15 minutes of her day!! 

Next is Madison, our team’s treasurer and resident comedian. Madison tells the best stories and is always laughing about something. She loves writing poetry and teaching people her favorite card games. Madison’s heart is bigger than most people I know, and she is a prayer warrior (if you’ve ever met her, she’s probably prayed for you, and if you haven’t met her… she’s probably prayed for you too)! When she gets excited about something, she jumps around a little as she talks about it. Madison’s personality is like if sunshine walked around on two legs! My favorite thing about Madison is that she’s the easiest person to be laughing in one minute and 10 seconds later be in a very deep and thought-provoking conversation.  

Then there is me, who you probably know, but if you don’t–hey! Nice to meet you! My name is Emily and I’m a logistics coordinator for the squad. I like black coffee and the color green and quiet mornings. Lately I’ve spent my free time reading or playing Bananagrams with anyone who will say yes to it. My favorite thing about myself is my curiosity—I love to learn so I’m always observing and reading and wondering… now back to my team. 

Next we have Sarah, our health coordinator and everybody’s accountability partner. She is a seemingly never ending well of talents and likes to randomly pull them out and surprise us all. She loves dogs and making charts, and is pretty wicked with a machete in her hand. She is creative and fun and deep and powerful. She asks the best questions and is also the best team fitness instructor (pre-Race she was a kickboxing instructor!!). My favorite thing about Sarah is her consistent pursuit of the Lord and desire to know Him more–in my head I picture Sarah running as fast as her legs can carry her in the race set before her, eyes fixed on Jesus. (p.s. Sarah wrote a hilarious “meet the team” blog, if you’re interested in knowing about us from a different perspective, you can click her name above and find it!)

Next to her is Emma, our prayer coordinator and Disney superfan. You’ll more than likely find her singing along to Disney music, making friendship bracelets for people, or sitting with her Bible open in front of her. She loves movies and The Office, and 80% of the things she owns are turquoise (you’d never guess it’s her favorite color!). She is bubbly and loud and caring. When Emma gets hyped about something, her eyes get really big and her words come out really quickly and we all nod along until the end, when she’ll more than likely say “wow that was a lot!” My favorite thing about Emma is her deep desire to continually learn and grow–she applies what she’s learned in the past while simultaneously seeking to know more and expand her understanding. 

Finally, we have Naomi, a worship coordinator for the squad and our team’s abuela. She asks deep questions and is always seeking to understand people better. Our team calls her abuela for her tendencies to not understand technology, but we appreciate that she can always be counted on to takes photos of all the important stuff! You’ll more than likely find Naomi journaling or listening to early-2000s worship music. She’s always thinking about stuff and often shares deep and insightful wisdom about a specific topic, and ends with “but I’m still trying to figure it out.” My favorite thing about Naomi is that she is keenly observant to the people and things around her, and she doesn’t hesitate to ask clarifying questions when she wants to understand something better. 

Together, Selah is a powerhouse, a force to be reckoned with, and a group of women after God’s heart. We have seen the beauty in our similarities and in our differences. We have laughed together and cried together, and have “just tried to figure it out” together. We’ve endured together and celebrated together. My favorite thing about Selah is that we were each other’s first team, and that we got to stumble and fall and figure out how to do this World Race thing side-by-side. 

Here’s to Selah, my first team, a sweet and beautiful and growing experience. 

Prayer requests: 

• For our new teams–people we are excited to know and grow with! That our next teams would be quick to listen and slow to speak, and in all things most glorifying to God. 
• For the squad’s travel to Costa Rica–we’re traveling on Thursday! Pray for favor as we cross the border and for safety as we go. 
• For all of our eyes to be open to every opportunity to share Jesus with people. If we are living with a right perspective of eternity, we should be living with a sense of urgency! The King is coming again and we want to be a people ready for His return.