I’ve been home a little over two weeks and when someone asks, “How was training camp?”, I’m still not sure how to respond. Mostly, because that question doesn’t have the easy one-sentence answer they’re looking for. “It was good” or “it was really hard” don’t really begin to scratch the surface. Training camp wasn’t quite what I expected. I expected the heat & humidity, bucket showers & porta-potties, and I expected to be stretched, but not exactly like this.
I’m still processing and understanding everything that happened, but here are a couple of my biggest takeaways:
“I am loved by You, it’s who I am.”
Read that line again.
During worship on the first night of training camp, we sang a song called Good, Good Father. By the third time through, I just stood there and let the room sing over me.
If you had asked me who I was, my answer would have had something to do with the titles I held, roles I filled, or things I accomplished. I doubt my answer would have been a beloved daughter. But that’s exactly who my Father says that I am.
Training camp was hard because again and again, the Father kept showing me where I found my identity and it wasn’t in him. I based my identity largely on my performance or how well I did or didn’t do things. The truth is I can’t ever be good enough, perform well enough, or anything enough to fix me. Layer by layer, he’s stripping those things away, until I’m left with a bare foundation of being fully known and loved by Him.
I am loved by a Good, Good Father. Not because I’ve been good enough or I’ve earned it, but because it’s who I am. Oh, what freedom that brings.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
I know my Father’s voice.
We had several sessions in which they talked about being still and learning to hear the Spirit. And holy smokes. When I was still, I did HEAR him. You know what I realized? I have been hearing him, but I didn’t know to call it by that name. When I was quiet before the Lord, he answered. He spoke truth over me and told me that he is pleased with me, that he is satisfied with who he made in me, and that he delights in me.
Y’all, you can’t even begin to imagine the freedom given in that.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. John 11:27
One evening at training camp, we had a squad camp-out/bonding night and shared our testimonies and prayed over the next year. One of our squad leaders said she felt like the Lord had given her a word to speak over us for training camp and our Race. Wanna guess what it was?
Freedom.
Thinking back over the last several seasons of my life, the Lord has usually given me a word or a theme about what he wants to do or teach me. I have a feeling that training camp was only a small taste of the freedom that the Father wants to give in the next 11 months. Freedom is the word.
If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36
I report to Atlanta on September 5th for a few days of training before we launch.
Here are some things you can be praying for me, my team, and my squad (a blog to come soon on who they are!):
- Pray that we would finish our time at home well; that we would be fully present now, so that we can be fully present on the Race.
- Most of us still are not fully funded. Pray for us to be diligent with fundraising and for the Lord’s provision.
