“Not by might,
Not by power,
But by your spirit God.
Send your spirit God.”
These are the chorus lyrics to the song “Your Spirit” by Tasha Cobbs Leonard featuring Kierra Sheard (two of my FAVORITE gospel artists). This was also the worship song that helped me make it through training camp.
Training Camp my friends was STRETCHING!!… It was stretching mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. However, the Father is soooooo good and without his might, power or spirit, I would HAVE NOT made it to the end.
Coming into this, I definitely had my reservations. If I must be honest, I was worried that being the oldest person on my squad and also the only African America, that I wouldn’t fit in. Of course the devil tried to tap dance on my mind and emotions with those exact thoughts, but with the LOVE and SUPPORT of my AMAZING squad mates, squad leaders and a WR Alumni, I was able to take those thoughts captive and remove those barriers with the TRUTH found in his word.
I had a fear of sleeping outside in my tent because lets be honest here, I DON’T (well I DIDN’T) HAVE ANY experience with camping nor spending significant amounts of time in the outdoors, but the Lord always provides a ram in the bush. Before camp, I prayed that I wouldn’t have to sleep alone the first night. Well, one of my squad mates tent broke and she didn’t have one for camp, so I allowed her to share my space with me. As a result, I didn’t sleep in my tent alone the first night (Talk about God provides!). By the end of training camp, I was totally comfortable with setting up my little tent space and spending time in it alone.
Sleeping outdoors in cold weather, cold bucket showers, baby wipe baths, a 2.2 mile pack hike up hills before sunrise, and a porta potty as my only means of a restroom, definitely stretched me in the physical realm. One thing for sure, is the Father definitely provided peace, strength and a different perspective through it all.
Freedom, Redemption, Forgiveness of others, Beauty for Ashes and an OVERWHELMING amount of LOVE are the major emotional and spiritual take-away’s of my experience. Through the various sessions, team building activities and significant amount of time spent with my AMAZING 30 new brothers and sisters known as the “Blue and Boujee E Squad” (inside squad joke!), camp taught me how to let go of expectations and helped me relinquish just a little bit of control (Hey! He’s still working on me in this area).
Most importantly, I learned what it looks like and what it means to truly dwell in and live in community and how important it is for the body of Christ…I can’t believe that in just a matter of 76 days, that I’ll be leaving on this AMAZING journey that the Lord has entrusted me to embark on. Not only that, but that he would surround me with such a wonderful group to do it with. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE my team and our leadership. God definitely exceeded the small amount of expectations that I did have. Can’t wait for him to blow my mind for what he’s going to do on the field.
-xoxo
Ramesha Nicole
P.S. My next fundraising goal of $10,000 must be met by December 18th. I currently need a little over $2,600 to meet that goal. Please spread the word to anyone you may know who you feel would be interested in donating, as well as partnering alongside of me on this journey. Remember, it’s NOT about me, but about the Kingdom.
