To start off, I wanted to give you a fundraising update because I am asked about my fundraising progress quite a bit. I am currently 59% done with my fundraising goal of $14,951. I just recently did a T-shirt fundraiser and it was far more successful than I imagined. I sold 93 shirts, raising over $1,000 dollars for my trip! Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who participated in this fundraiser and to everyone who has donated to me at all. I’m feeling excited and hopeful that I’ll be able to leave fully funded in September!
In TWO DAYS I will be leaving for training camp—that is a fact that does not feel real to me yet. I’ll be spending 10 days in Gainsville, Georgia prepping in all kinds of different ways for the real deal that is coming in 2 months. I will get to meet my squad mates (there’s 40 of them at the moment), and I am confident they will become family to me by the end of those 10 days, and for that I am SO excited. There will be worship services, dance parties, lots of growth and heart work, competitions between all 6 squads called “squad wars,” bucket showers, living in our tents, community, hard times, good times, and probably much that will come as a surprise to me. My world is about to open up, and my life is about to change—I can just feel it!! God has shown Himself to me in the waiting, and it has been hard and beautiful. But that season of my life is coming to an end quickly, and man, I cannot wait for what’s in store.
So I want to give any of you willing to be praying for me specific ways you can be, as a lot is fast approaching for me:
- MY HEART. This is what I need and desperately want prayer for the most right now. I want my heart to be wide open while I’m spending this time at training camp. I want a heart that is willing to be convicted, comforted, and changed. I’m having a hard time with trying to let go of some things right now, and I’m having a hard time hearing God’s voice right now too. I’m also struggling with fear and with a lot of Spiritual attacks that I’ve been able to recognize. In all honesty, I haven’t had the best few days and I feel as though I’m falling apart. So please pray that I will receive the strength to let go and give the big things to God, as well as the little things. Pray that I would feel God’s presence and that I would be able to find rest in that. Pray that I will cling to what is good and what is true. Pray that God will wreck me during these next two weeks, and that my heart will learn what it needs to for the Race in two months.
- PACKING. Right now I’m scrambling to get everything I need purchased, and trying to figure out how I’m supposed to pack everything in my pack that I have. This has been pretty overwhelming for me, but shout out to my Aunt Melissa for making it a whole ton easier by making lists and keeping me constantly on task the last couple days. I need it 😉 but I also feel like I need prayer for it too.
- MY SQUAD. Pray that we will win squad wars. Haha just kidding…but no, really though. I would actually just love if you would pray that my squad and I would gain a special bond, and that it would form quickly. That we would all be unified in the Spirit and bear with each other in love. You can pray that I would be able to open up to this new family of mine, because opening up is often something very difficult for me to do.
- FUNDRAISING. I need $6,151 more to raise in the next two months to be fully funded before I leave. Please pray that God will lead people to give to me. And perhaps pray about whether or not you yourself should give. I am working hard with 3 jobs, but I can’t do it all on my own.
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR PRAYERS AND SUPPORT AND LOVE! I COULDN’T DO ANY OF THIS WITHOUT YOU GUYS.
“For God has not given us a Spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7
