When was the last time you had a wildly expectant vision for a future possibility –
And then reality outshone it?
I had a dream for what 10 days in Georgia could look like, fully aware that I was asking for a lot and hoping that select moments throughout the week might come close. However this incredibly group of people and this lavish God showed up and stayed present for 240 straight hours of laughter, tears, worship, vulnerability, gratitude, honesty, encouragement and truth.
Now I am home with a stomach still sore from laughing, eyes dried of tears and a mild case of laryngitis from all of the praying, singing and sharing that this introvert usually avoids! In reflecting on the entire experience and after finding each other on every social media site possible, our whole squad can relate to the final scene of How the Grinch Stole Christmas (No, Nov 1st is NOT too early for Christmas movie references), in that all of our hearts grew approx 46 sizes larger last week.
We may be physically apart but we can breathe easier because we found our tribe, we found our home.
It may sound impossible from the outside, but together we experienced true JOY. There were freezing nights, missing possessions, mystery meats, filled up porta-potties (bless the man who cleaned those out), bone-deep emotional exhaustion, physical fitness tests, intensely dark spiritual attacks, and hard conversations about guilt, shame, forgiveness, and sin.
But the memories of generosity, dance parties and laughter outweigh those of discomfort a thousand times over. As one of the leaders pointed out, joy comes from love. The deepness of our Joy came from deep Love because we are all connected to He who is the unlimited source of both.
One thing that became exceedingly clear during the week is that this squad of men and women is not random. God stitched together 46 lives from 3 continents to form our family unit. He created diverse images of Himself that are being woven into a beautiful tapestry of potential that will change the world. God does not promote independence and individualism the way America does. Instead, He understands how much stronger we are together. He plucked each of us out of our comfort zone and began weaving strengths, weaknesses and personalities to form a net that will be cast into all corners of the globe as we become fishers of men. He plants and promises His gifts in each of us that create the fibers of a rope that will pull His children onto solid ground. He prompted our union and gave us all a sample-size taste of the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth. He tells me that 2017 will be sweet because of them, not despite them.
I could ramble on about each person and their wonderful qualities (and I do plan to) but I want to remember that my heart is full because of how each person continually pointed me back to their own designer, creator and redeemer. As a family, we have the opportunity to shine like the moon as we reflect a light onto the world that originates from outside ourselves.
“In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind” John 1:4.
Having had a taste of God’s perfectly designed community, saying goodbye and heading our separate directions was hard. In the next two months we will each miss opportunities to share Jesus, we will mess up and curse and feel discouraged because we are back in the broken world. These emotions will creep in on us but that’s okay because this is NOT about us!! God didn’t reveal his community so that we could figure out how to have it for ourselves. He didn’t show us grace and joy so that we can manufacture it independently.
When we mess up, we can come back to the King who loved us first and remember that we have a new family of almost 50 members (leaders included) that are invested in us, and who are continually wondering ‘Can we launch yet!?’
The Fam
Team Manna
THANK YOU to everyone who donated and helped me get to Training Camp! I will send details about the next fundraising opportunity soon!! xo Hannah
