Training camp, oh training camp. Never could I have ever imagined just what you would do for my heart. 10 days. 48 people. 1 God. And so much love.
In order to not write a novel, I have decided to share 11 of the 1,000 things that happened this last week.
1. There will always be something more.
I spent the first few days of training on cloud nine. Rejoicing in the fact that the Lord had all ready worked through some dark places in my heart. But I yearned for more. I yearned for God to show me what else needed to be brought to light. And boy howdy, He did just that. He revealed to me that jealousy was the root of many of my problems. That I suppressed who I was because I didn’t want to cause jealousy in the hearts of others. However:
2. Being me is the best gift I can give.
All these years I have been subconsciously telling myself that I need to suppress the person I am in order to make others feel better about themselves. But the Lord told me that I need to be me so that others can be them. I found so much freedom in this truth. Building others up is most effective when we are ourselves. The Lord whispered my identity over me. As He would give me a word, I would say it was a lie and not write it down and ask for a new one. But the Lord wouldn’t give me a new word until I wrote the other one down. When He tells me who I am, I will choose to trust my Creator and boldly claim it.
3. Bats and spiders ARE NOT my jam.
In the forest one night I was being brave and decided at 2AM to gather some more fire wood. As I was scavenging I was thinking about spiders and snakes and scorpions. In the corner of my eye I thought I saw something. But I quickly dismissed it because I thought I was making it up. However, I figured I should just be safe and make sure. Welp, when I turned my headlamp to check, sure enough. There was a bat swooping at me. Of course, I began screaming and flailing my arms. I turned my headlamp off and ran in circles thinking it was a good tactic. Then I realized bats use sonar and are nocturnal so it was more beneficial for me to have the light on so I could see where I was going. Thankfully I did find my way back to camp after waking many of my squad mates up and the bat didn’t win. I guess. Safe to say, I did not return to the forest. Later that night, I had a huge spider scurry across my leg…but that’s a whole different story. Ask me about it and I will gladly tell you.
4. Falling in love is easy.
When Christ rules in your heart loving others is so easy. I am so blessed to have the privileged of traveling the world with some amazing followers of Christ. They are encouraging, beautiful, gracious, fun, and accept me for who I am. I can’t wait to deepen our bonds as we proclaim the name of Jesus to the nations.
5. Boldness brings beauty.
I am not the type of person to confess things to people that have to do with fear or feeling hurt from words or actions. This week I saw God working in my heart to be open and honest about my feelings. Instead of holding on to things I got to experience the healing that comes from bringing things to light.
6. Southern drawls are my favorite.
Enough said. I definitely came back with a little drawl myself.
7. My hands were made for healing.
God has been working miracles through my hands. I would love to share the stories with you, but there are too many to list here. My last name wasn’t an accident. God knew what He was doing 😉
8. The Lord is a visionary.
While sitting in the presence of the Lord one day He gave me this vision:
I was walking down a long bridge. At the end of the bridge was only darkness. A black hole. I turned around to started running in the opposite direction. However, as I turned the Lord was there and He said, “It’s ok. I’m with you.” I turned around again, but this time running into the darkness. As I turned, Jesus was running in front of me. He was on my right riding a white horse wearing armor as my Knight in Shinning Armor. He was behind me, strapped to my backpack kicking away anything that tried to get me. He was to my left as a lion. And we charged as one into the darkness to bring forth the light.
This is what T-Squad will fulfill. With the Lord surrounding us, we will be running into those dark places to proclaim the name of Jesus.
9. I love dance parties.
I’m crazy. I like to wiggle and shake and bobble my head. We danced so much this week. And I LOVED EVERY SECOND. That’s all.
10. I hunger for the word of God.
The Lord ingnited a new passion in my heart this week for His word. I want to gobble it up like Thanksgiving dinner. Mostly like pumpkin pie with cool whip. Moral of the story is, I’m hungry for the Lord. And He is faithful to satisfy that hunger.
11. I AM NOT A BURDEN.
For so long I have believed that I am a burden to everyone. Get away, Satan. I AM A BLESSING TO OTHERS AND TO GOD. I WILL WALK CONFIDENTLY IN THAT.
Thank you for taking the time to hear my heart and what the Lord is doing. As an update for fundraising I am over half way there! Thank you so so much for believing in the work God wants to accomplish through me! My prayer is to be fully funded before I leave. If you feel led to partner with me, just click the support me tab and it will walk you through it. God bless each of you with His presence and revelations about who you are in Him and who He is to you! Loves, hugs, and more hugs.
