Hello World,
A lot has happened since I last posted, one of the most significant being that I’m approximately seventy five percent funded! God is so good.
More importantly though, Training Camp happened. This is a ten day crash course designed to exhaust racers emotionally, physically, and spiritually. And man, does it work. The general outline to a day includes a thirty minute workout, an hour of personal time, three meals, and the same number of sessions (lecture style for the most part.)
I was skeptical at first, I mean, they’re sending us around the world to do missionary work, but sometimes I forget that there’s a little more to this journey than just me and God.
Shortly after arrival, we had the opportunity to meet our Squad, a group of 20 women total ranging in ages from 20-30+.
Side note: I have been in several church settings and gone through being the new kid more times than I ever want to (let’s be honest, once is enough for just about everybody), so I know that in most situations, my strategy is to hold back a little until I have a bit of understanding of the group dynamics. There’s a lot more behind that thought, a lot of hard-learned lessons in shame and acceptance, but more on that later.
All that to say, I have never felt so welcomed, so loved, so wholly accepted so immediately. Bar none. It was so easy for me to slide into the group as a whole and to find my little niche. How do I describe how quickly all of us seemed to fall into place, even now it is incredible to me. In Colossians 3, the author talks about how to work in unity and how to love each other well as the body of Christ. Those are the only words I can put to this experience. Like now, for the first time, I’ve caught a glimpse of what it means to be a part of the body; no more and no less than the person beside me. The playing field is finally leveled and everyone there is as passionate in their pursuit of the Lord as I want to be. We have this common ground where we don’t need to compete or compare, but simply do everything in our power to find our strength in Christ and to love each other.
Near the end of camp, our leaders had us sign a covenant. It’s just a piece of paper. A piece of paper that outlines just how much of a commitment this upcoming year and beyond is going to be. This is a promise to my squad, my team, my sisters, who are to be my family this year. We committed to love each other, to always fight for each other, and to do a lot of other things that will only be remotely possible with God’s help. But I cannot tell you how much I’m looking forward to truly entering into this journey with these 19 women.
It’s going to be crazy and wild and wonderful. I can’t wait for every second!
More to come in the near future as this adventure continues!
