I got home from training camp yesterday, and I am honestly still processing everything that happened. God worked in me in ways that I never could have expected; I can’t believe how much spiritual growth took place within me during those wild, unforgettable 10 days. To explain all that went on, I would need to write 10 blog posts, so I’m just going to sum up my experience in a few quick paragraphs:
I truly understood what it meant for God to let me fall apart before He could build me up. A few nights into training camp, I stood in the middle of worship, crying my eyes out because 3 years of suppressed pain decided to remind me that it had set up camp in my heart. For anyone who knows me well, you are aware that I absolutely despise crying, so you can only imagine how I felt when I started bawling my eyes out while surrounded by people whom I barely knew at the time.
I allowed myself to fully delight in the Lord and His beautiful masterpiece that is our Earth when I spent an entire night praying and worshipping with my squad mates under the stars from 1am to 6:30am.
I learned what it’s like to hardly look in a mirror for 10 days, and to rely on the beauty that God has created within me rather than the external beauty that is so often focused on.
I found out what it takes to rely completely on the Lord’s strength when I was hungry, sore, sleep deprived, and sick, all while having to deal with the insane Georgia heat and the inability to escape it most of the time.
I had to force myself to look at things from God’s perspective when he placed me in situations that I did not think I could handle. I had to remember that there is more to life than having a delicious meal – or even just a normal one, for that matter (gotta love eating crickets) – when I had no control over what I was eating.
I saw the incredible power of God through His healing of myself and others – both physically and emotionally.
I felt chains fall off of me that I thought I would never be free from.
I saw the beauty of being surrounded by imperfect people who, although come from very different backgrounds and walks of life, all joined together to pursue the incredible plan that God has for them.
And most importantly, I felt the love of God more palpably than I ever have before.
During training camp, the high points were the highest they could have possibly been, and the low points shook me to my core. I know that it was only a tiny peek into what my 9 months in Ecuador, India, and Zambia will be like, but it has made me more excited than ever to launch in October. I have realised what a privilege it is that I will be able to spend 9 months travelling, serving, and doing life with the amazing people on my squad, and more specifically, the 6 lovely people who are on my team. I know that God is going to stretch me further than I can even imagine, and it will probably be one of the hardest things that I will ever do, but I am unbelievably stoked to surrender myself to God and let Him use me to do His will.
In order to go on this amazing adventure, I still need to raise quite a bit more money. If you are able, please consider donating. Any amount helps!
