When I applied to the World Race, I knew I was would be giving up what I knew to be comfort and luxury items. I had no idea that God would teach me the lesson of abandonment beginning on day 1 of training camp, there was no easing in to this lesson. Some lessons are learnt best when you are caught completely offguard and you just have to live through it.
I arrived at Atlanta Airport awaiting to meet my team as soon as I claimed my luggage. I stood at the carousel patiently, but 15 minutes became half hour, then an hour. My bag had not shown up. The agent assured me that likely my bag would arrive on the next flight. I tried to stay calm and went ahead to meet this group of new people that would soon become my community.
I do not like to burden people with my problems, It normally takes me a substantial amount of time to know someone before i ask for their help as I always try to deal with my own issues without troubling anyone. God taught me that to live in community, my attitude of solitude would not get me far. The experience was humbling, many of the girls in my squad offered me clothes almost immediately. The first 2 days, I resisted still fighting that I could live on my own without having to trouble them. It didn`t take longer than 2 days for me to realize it`s not possible for me to do it on my own. Wearing the same clothes for 3 days in hot weather btw, is a humbling humbling experience that i will never forget.
In my carry on bag, I had not carried any change of clothes or toiletry items. I had my bible, journal and my netbook and water bottle. I was confident my bag would be returned to me in the next day or so. One day became 2, then 4, then the whole week of training camp had past with absolutely no leads from the airline agents where my bag was. My optimism would fade each day, especially after speaking to the agents who were less than helpful and assuring, but God showed up and showed me how He would provide for me with what I *really* needed. The girls lent me clothes, my coaches Mama C and Selena brought me a towel and some pants from their home to use, AIM staff did a toiletry run for me to get me the necessities for the week as well as finding an extra sleeping bag for me. As it turned out, everything in my carry on bag were exactly all the basic things that I truly needed for camp. Everything else that was in my pack that had not arrived, were nice to haves. It may not have been my comfortable things but God made it clear He would provide for me. As I eagerly hoped for the return of my bag, Mathew 6:25 kept going through my mind but I continued to struggle to find peace in it. I say this because I had such conflicting emotions when talking with the agents, lashing my frustration and anger toward them. I was of litttle faith.
Matthew 6:25-30
25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life<sup value='[b]’>[b]?
28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
I am back home today, my bag was delivered to my home yesterday. The way that the bag was found was a complete fluke, with God`s hand all over it as well. I was getting no where talking to the baggage claims agents, so I started calling every AirCanada number available on their website and by fluke stumbled on a reservations agent that went above and beyond his role and singlehandedly tracked my bag down within an hour. What had happened was that both the destination luggage tag and my own personal luggage tag were somehow snagged off. There was no way for them to identify who the bag belonged to or where it was suppose to go. God clearly did not want me to have the bag at training camp and blessed me by returning it to me even though the bag had no identification on it.
Lessons Learned:
1) I was overwhelmed by the fact that we had to pack for 11 months in a backpack prior to training camp. Even packing for training camp was huge planning on my part: I had prepared for warm, cold, dry, wet weather but God showed me otherwise. This experience has shown me that God truly provided what we need, and I no longer feel any stress about what to pack or whehter i will have enough clothes because he is a God that will provide faithfully. Abandoning my luxuries will now be significantly easier.
2) Living in Community doesn`t just mean giving but receiving also. In my pride, I thought I could be self sufficient in any situation. I`ve been humbled to ask for help when neeeded. A relatively simple concept you would think, but how awesome that God breaks us down of our bad habits that prevents us from forming true community.
Thank you God, you continue to show me you are my true provider!
