I can’t believe it is Tuesday already. I seriously woke up this morning and thought it was Monday. Someone had to convince me that I was wrong! These first few days of training camp have been a rigorous process of “unpacking” ourselves so that we can surrender what needs to be surrendered and receive everything the Lord wants to give us in preparation for The World Race. We have learned from incredible teachers and participated in various activities to help us unpack.
One of those activities was writing a grief journal. A grief journal is basically giving yourself a time and space to grieve the losses in your life. Most people do not take the time to grieve. Personally, I found that there were some things in my life I had grieved but others that I had just ignored and not taken the time to bring to Jesus. It was amazing how taking the time to grieve even the smaller things like not taking dance classes anymore or not having the comfort of my bed for a year released me and gave me so much more joy and freedom. One of the teachers explained a concept I know well in my own life and have seen in others lives: we can’t shut down the feelings of pain that loss brings us without shutting down feelings of joy and peace on the other side. Numbing ourselves to our pain cuts us off from the peace God wants to bring us. When we choose to be courageous enough to face our pain and bring it to God, he grants us a joy and freedom that makes us wish we had done it a lot sooner!
So far Training camp has been an enriching, difficult and rewarding process. I thank Jesus for the work he is doing in me to prepare me for The World Race. Through the next few days we will begin doing more team building and cultural training to launch us into our ministry. Our constant prayer is “Lord, I give you permission to do anything you need to do in me so that you may do everything you want to do through me.”
To see a video of our accommodations here in Georgia that Brandon, one of my September teammates, made click here. I was excited to find new cabins that weren’t here in April, so no tents!
