I just got back from training camp yesterday, and I am still processing all I learned and discovered about God and Myself. This past week has easily been one of the most incredible experiences I have had this year. Going into this, I had no idea how much I would enjoy living out of a tent in the sub 40 weather. I will for sure make some more posts focusing on all the things I learned at training camp, but I wanted to focus on something else for this one. I met six new family members in Christ that I have the pleasure of enjoying this upcoming next year with.
Meet my new family for a majority of next year. Jessie, Paige, Matt, Jessica, Kalyn, and Allyson. It has been such an honor getting to know every single one of these wonderful people this last week at training camp. Every one of them is filled with strength, boldness, and courage. Everyone one of them have been given these gifts by God, and they use them in very different and wonderful ways. They all love with such ferocity, and I cannot wait to get to know every one of them better.
As a team, we wanted to go into this coming year with the idea of “being still”. In Psalm 46 it says
Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!.(ESV)
Out of curiosity I went ahead and looked up what “Be still” meant in Hebrew. What I found, in my limited knowledge of Hebrew, was that in Psalm 46, “Be still” comes from the Hiphil stem of the verb (???) Rapha(I also saw it spelt Rapah). It means to let go, slacken, to release, etc. From what I understand it is a command. The idea of being still is to surrender ourselves to God and let Him take control. That is my prayer going into this year, that We will all surrender completely to God with reckless abandon, and remember why God has called us all, and that is so that He may be exalted by all nations.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Revelation 7:9-10(ESV)
I am so incredibly thankful for these people God has put in my life, and I can’t say it enough. God has truly blessed me with a group who share my love and heart for His people. They have all blessed me this last weeks in ways I would not begin to describe. It is going to be a great year.
