How in the world do you prepare to leave the country for 11 months, traveling to 11 different countries, partaking in various types of ministry experiencing things that you can only imagine and probably some you couldn’t even dream up?
Well, beside the past 23 years of life I have under my belt and all the experiences that has included, I attended The World Race Training Camp.
Just under two months ago I boarded a plane for Atlanta, GA to spend a week camping with 200+ strangers in hopes to be better prepared for the race: receiving teachings from great speakers, getting advice from past racers, meeting the people that I will be traveling the world with and serving alongside, and encountering scenarios that are bound to come up over the next year.
Heading into this week, I had little knowledge of what to expect. From the information I could get from past racers, I had really only gathered that I would probably be eating some weird food, it would be an exhausting week, and I would probably be uncomfortable on many different levels.
And that was all right. Some of the food was definitely weird, I got little to no sleep, and I was stretched in many different ways. Training camp at times was hard. There were times when I didn’t want to be there, when I questioned whether this was what I was supposed to be doing, when I didn’t want to work through things from my past, when I just wanted to be alone, but did not have that option, when I wanted to go and take back my easy, comfortable life and all of the luxuries that come with it.
But again and again, I heard God telling me to let go…
To let go of the comforts I have always felt entitled to,
To let go of the lie that I am unworthy, unwanted, and useless,
To let go of the identity I find in what others think of me,
To let go of hurt and disappointment I had experienced through past relationships,
To let go of rights and freedoms I cling so tightly to in this world, which are actually neither my rights nor freedoms,
To let go of the box I had put the God of the universe in,
To let go of any and all preconceived thoughts or expectations I had for this next year
And although letting go is almost never an easy thing to do, there is something so beautiful that can come from it. After being completely broken down, I was at the perfect place for God to build me up, to build me up closer to Him, closer to the person He wants me to be. Allowing him to give me his eyes to better see the world as he sees, to better see people as he does, and to better see myself as he sees me. He has reaffirmed that this, here in this place, fully relying on him, is where he wants me to be. He has allowed me to see the beauty and truth that can come from allowing people into my life. He has given me the confidence that comes with knowing that God chooses to use us and will more than equip us to accomplish his will.
And all this, in just one week. It is amazing the work God was able to do on my heart in just the week of training camp. I cannot wait to see what is to come over the next 11 months and the transformation He will do in and through my life.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
-2 Corinthians 5:17
