Training Camp….WOWZERS!!!
Alright, here are some key words:
fanflippintastic! eye opening
a blessing
tiring
empowering
challenging
It’s sooo hard to put into words everything I’ve experienced this past week. The people I met, the things God showed me, the things I learned…the foods I ate. And while I don’t want to completely give everything away, I will share some memorable experiences.
This past week at Training Camp I….
gained 43 new family members :),
camped in some “interesting” locations/conditions,
lost my voice,
experienced the beauty of Georgia’s woods and red dirt 24/7,
danced freely and unashamedly,
had someone lick chocolate off my fingers out of sheer desperation,
talked openly and honestly about bowel issues with both females and males,
had a worker at Wal-Mart tell me my passport photo looked like a mug shot,
was deeply humbled and encouraged by my squad mates’ perseverance despite the things that have occurred in their lives,
was reminded of the fact that there is NOTHING I could ever do to make God stop loving me,
on the flip side, was reminded there is NOTHING I could ever do to earn that love,
witnessed people prophesy and speak truth over others…for real! (I’ll be honest, I’m still processing this one…),
had to give up any sort of expectations I had (and still may have) about the race, including my route and teammates,
and experienced so many other things that both encouraged and challenged me.
This was one of my perceptions of the Holy Spirit prior to Training Camp…
Although I am very grateful for the education I received the past four years at Olivet, I feel as though I became a tad bit cynical towards the end, regarding God’s power and abilities through the Holy Spirit. I find this ironic, because it was at Olivet that my relationship with the Lord began to grow deeper and deeper. Learning about Him and His word enriched and edified my faith. While this learning was never intended to be a hindrance, though, I found it sometimes became one. I was often skeptical when people claimed, “God told me this…God showed me that.” Now, I do not believe this is because of Olivet or the professors there; they truly are wonderful men and women of God who are led by the Spirit. Perhaps this is simply a consequnce of gaining knowledge and having one’s eyes opened. Who knows…
After witnessing people speak truth into the lives of others without having prior knowledge of their situation (or who the person even was!), I don’t ever want to doubt the Holy Spirit’s power. I don’t want to leave situations in life to chance or random coincidence. If I had to pick, I think I’d rather err on the side of claiming God’s activity in the world too much rather than make Him out to be a God who doesn’t interact with His beloved creation – His children. To make a long story short: I don’t want to say what the Spirit can or cannot do in one’s life.
About the people who are on my squad: they are some of thee most down to earth people – ever. I’ll admit, I was a little nervous at the beginning of the week about meeting so many new people. In all honesty, though, they are SO great. I don’t know what else to say about them other than I am so excited and blessed to call them family. I look forward to spending the next 11 months with them. (And yes, I’ve been forewarned that I will probably loathe them at some point in time, lol. But ya know, that’s part of being in a family!).
Meet C Squad!
“C what?!?! C SQUAD!!!!” (btw, throughout the week there were squad competitions between C, D, and E squads…and C totally dominated) 
About the people who are on my team – Team Monarch. They are the bomb diggity. Each person is so wonderfully and uniquely made, it would not be whole if one were missing. I cannot wait to do ministry and live life with these six AMAZING men and women of God. Here’s a picture of Team Monarch. If I may say so, that is one good lookin’ team!
To my left behind me are: Jesse Morris, Sam Walter, and Justin Orr. Next to me: Leah Malone, Candice Yates, and Meagan LaFoy. Feel free to click on their name and stalk their blogs, too. 🙂
Thank you all SO much for your prayers and for reading my blog. It means the world to me! And I know I say this a lot, but I really would not be able to do this without y’all lifting me up to the Lord. Until I write next time, peace and blessings! Love you! 🙂
PS~…..the red brick. 😉
