Just Kidding! I didn’t go to boating school. I went to TRAINING CAMP!!! And it has been exactly 9 days, since I left my squad back in Georgia and I miss them so much, which is so crazy to me. 10 days is not enough to get to know everyone, but it is enough to realize you love them all and can’t imagine life without them.
Training camp taught me a lot, but I’m not going to share everything, because that would be a VERY VERY VERY long blog. Trust me it would be long, so instead I will share just 6 things that I learned.
1. YOU REALLY CAN LIVE OFF OF LESS. Now many people have told me before, “You don’t need a lot to live this life,” but those 10 days really showed me that I could live with less. I found that the Lord provides what you are lacking. “So don’t worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ’What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:31-33) Some nights we had to share our tents and no one complained, instead we were grateful for the warmth of another body during those 30 degree nights. Which reminded me that I don’t have to worry, He always provides what we need.
2. SHARING YOUR SHAME SETS YOU FREE. “The Lord can’t heal what you don’t confess.” Okay, so the deeper you go with the Lord the more He begins to reveal to you. He shared with me that though the chains had been broken from past addictions, I was still walking in shame because of what I’d done. There are things I shared with my team that I have never shared with anyone. The Lord set me free from shame and let me tell you, it was not easy sharing the ugly truth of what I did with my team, but it is amazing to know that I no longer have to hide behind the veil of shame, but can walk with my head held high in FREEDOM.
3. SOUL TIES KEEP YOU FROM HEARING GOD AND DOING HIS WILL. Soul ties, never heard that term until training camp and man did I have some letting go to do. What is a soul tie you ask? Well it is a “spiritual connection between 2 people who have been physically intimate with each other or who have had an intense emotional/spiritual association or relationship,” that right there my friend is a soul tie. When you have soul ties, you put that person above God and that’s when you lose sight and begin to but the Lord aside to please the other person.
4. BEING HEALTHY IS IMPORTANT FOR MINISTRY. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 3:16) Being healthy is super important for ministry. Never in the Bible do we read about Jesus or the apostles being sick. They were healthy. Our bodies are the Lord’s. He gave us this body and we show our gratefulness by the way we treat it.
5. SPIRITUAL GIFTS ARE FOR EVERYONE. “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-6) Before training camp I was aware of spiritual gifts, but I thought that only some could have the gift of healing, prophecy, or speaking in tongues. But it turns out we all can have them! And it makes sense; when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within us. The same Spirit that lived in Jesus now lives in us, which blows my mind by the way. He has entrusted us with His Spirit and He will entrust us with His gifts. But of course it is a matter of how deep we are willing to go with the Lord. The deeper you go, the more He teaches you, and the more you learn.
6. “YOUR STORY IS A GIFT.” Your story/testimony is a gift from God. Sharing what you have been through and overcame is a story that must be shared. It does not matter what happened, don’t omit anything. Your story can be the story that sets someone free. Your story truly is a gift.
There is a lot more that I learned and I whole lot I am still trying to process from training camp. I feel like every day I look back and realize something new. Something I didn’t see then, but see now. In the midst of all the crazy scenarios, training camp was good to me and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I learned so much and I can’t wait to continue to grow and learn more. Thank you to everyone who supported me and made it possible for me to go to training camp! 😀
