Last night I came home from World Race gap year training camp- and man was that a B-L-A-S-T. What is training camp? An action-packed 11 days of constant fellowship, spontaneous dance parties, growth in Christ, and learning how to fully be Jesus’ hands and feet.
It wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination. I learned how to be vulnerable with my squad, and tell them the parts of my past I would rather forget. I had moments where I felt broken, and where God revealed things to me that I didn’t really ask for. I cried my eyes out as I had to say goodbye to new friends way too soon. It was hard. But nothing easy is ever really worth it, amiright? For every low point I reached, I hit one even higher. I may have cried, but I laughed even harder. I may have felt broken, but the Lord filled that brokenness with His presence and peace to the point I felt like I was going to burst. He taught me so much about community, mission, fellowship, and the bond of family through my squad. And He showed me in so many ways that this is the exact place he wants me to be.
The thing God taught me the most was the importance of stepping outside of my comfort zone, taking a leap of faith, and being “all in” this next year, and He showed me that in big ways in little ways. He showed me that through a spoken word of a team leader, by situations that found me on a new team, and through challenges like eating crickets and chicken gizzard for breakfast. (It actually wasn’t too terrible!) Growing up, I always loved the quote “live life at the end of your comfort zone”, but actually putting myself into situations that are uncomfortable is not my go-to. Actually I try to avoid it. But reality is that I am about to embark on a 9 month journey of discomfort. I will be put in situations that will test me and my faith, and even though that makes me nervous, I know that through God He will give me the strength that I need. My team chose the verse 2 Corinthians 12:10 as our theme verse which states, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Which is exactly true. No matter the hardship or uncomfortable situation, as my squad leader reminded me, God will never give you more than you can handle. He will always provide the strength we need.
(More Training camp blog posts to follow!)
