The Lord taught me so many things at training camp; physically, emotionally, spiritually. To tell you all of it, I’d have to write a novel. To alleviate your eyes and shorten the time needed to read that long of a post, I’ll just tell you about the body I found. Yep, you read that right.
Training camp was an experience too overwhelming to place into words on a page. It felt like we were there for a month, which my squad and I joked about multiple times throughout the course of the ten days! The first few days were actually kind of difficult for me for a number of reasons. I felt disconnected from The Lord, and to be honest I still can’t confidently tell you why that was. I think Satan was trying to deter me from believing that this is what God has for me. I felt inadequate, I felt like my gifts didn’t bring enough to the squad, and I felt like my introverted personality wasn’t benefiting anyone.
B-Squad, let me tell you. This squad is made up of an amazing group of men and women. I loved finally getting to meet everyone and see their hearts for God. They are truly amazing people. All of the things I lacked were things I saw in these people. I found myself in a comparison war, envying gifts that others had. Envying their discernment and their words from God. It seemed like everyone else was hearing profound things from The Lord, and my thoughts were just trailing during times of singing worship. Why were my thoughts focused on an activity we just did, or what was next on the schedule? It made for a frustrating first few days for sure.
On our third full day at camp, we had to complete a 2.2 mile hike throughout the campus within 38 minutes. Putting the to-do on paper doesn’t do it justice. It didn’t seem hard initially, but I quickly realized that the campus wasn’t flat, and we had to finish the hike with our pack, aka all of our possessions for the whole year (mine was 44 lbs. to give you some perspective).
We were released to start the hike with our teams. My team has four guys (Jonathan, Zach, Mack, and Ethan) and three girls (Jessica, Melanie, and myself). We weren’t required to stay together during the hike, but we did. The guys could have easily left us girls in the dust and completed that hike in less than 30 minutes, I guarantee you.
But they didn’t…they stuck with us. They pushed us to run almost any time we were on flat land. They encouraged us. We encouraged each other. We finished the hike with more time to spare than I could have ever done on my own. It was a beautiful glimpse into what the next few months could be like when we face challenges.
As soon as we finished, we threw our packs off and went back out to the trail to cheer others on. I sat at the finish line for a bit, catching on to others’ names from different squads and joining in to encourage them as they crossed the line. There was a small hill right before the finish, and as I yelled and screamed for people attempting that last little hill, I witnessed teams literally pushing their teammates up and across the line. People who had already finished the hike were exerting any ounce of energy they had left to push their teammate through the exhaustion, pain, and sometimes tears. I saw it in some of their faces, a look that simply communicated “I want to quit”. And there’s a chance they would have, but their team came behind each and every one of them and pushed them over the finished line. That 10-15 minutes was probably one of the most impactful moments for me during all of training camp. I literally stood there and cried tears of joy as I watched people come together and help each other finish the race. The Lord revealed to me the awe of community. We aren’t meant to operate on our own, we just weren’t designed that way. It was in that moment that I found the beauty of the body of Christ.
The biggest takeaway for me was the realization that the Church isn’t meant to operate in silos. That’s something that I’ve heard a million times before and understood it to an extent, but never dwelled on the amazing structure that God has created. I envied others gifts, but The Lord showed me that He created them to have those gifts and He created me to have mine. We all fit together to make a body, and without one part of the body, we just don’t work as well or efficiently. I am so thankful He revealed that to me with such clarity.
Those ten days almost feel like a dream. Did that actually happen? They seem like worlds away as I sit in my warm, cozy bed, reflecting on my time in Gainesville, Georgia. All the sudden I’m back in my comfort zone, living my last few weeks of American life with warm showers, gluttonous eating habits, and constant distraction from The Lord. A light switch flipped, and here I am already feeling distance from the true awe of God’s beauty. However, sitting here reflecting on camp, I know that I will have to fight harder in these next few weeks than I ever have to commune with God. I am just thankful to fight alongside the body of Christ as we endure these next weeks before the biggest change of our lives.
“For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” – 1 Corinthians 12:14-26 ESV
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