It has been about two since leaving training camp and I am still processing through the joys and trials of my ten days in Georgia.
Some people might ask “Why?” Why choose to fly across the U.S. to some town in Georgia and live with strangers for ten days? Why choose to give up the comfort of your own bed to spend ten nights in a wet tent covered with bugs and spiders? Why give up the luxuries of pluming and air conditioning? For what.
Honestly, I’m still sorting it out myself. In every moment, through every teaching I found myself growing closer to God. In this season I am learning the meaning of being obedient. “Obedience is the true test of our love for Christ and the secret to discovering God’s will for our life.” I have been in a season of practicing obedience and training camp was the first step.
- Training camp reminded me of what it looks like to be surrounded by people with the same vision and passion. I was reminded that community is such a necessary part of following Jesus. I need people to stand with me and not be afraid to call me out in order to help draw me closer to God. During my 10 days in Georgia, I was able to reflect on the importance of being a body of Christians who challenge each other to be more Christlike. It is easy to become complacent in our friendships and not push each other to be more like Christ. I realized that I have been scared to be honest with others because I didn’t want to be called out myself.
- I also learned that through the many trials of training camp that I have to trust my team and God in the next phase of the race. Day in and day out the staff of AIM put us through different trials that our team might face on the race. Losing our luggage, constantly being on the move, unpredictable weather, bucket showers and more. During these testings of personal comfort zones our team was able to lean in and embrace the experiences with joy. It gave each of us a little taste of the sacrifices that we will have to make for each other.
- The third take away is that I am a lot stronger then I thought I would be. One of the task that we had to accomplish was a 2 mile hike under thirty-eight minutes. Coming into training camp I was fearing this task. One reason being that I injured my back three days before I had to leave and was unable to carry my pack to the car. I was anxiously waiting the day in hopes that my back would be okay to do the race. The morning came and my back was feeling great. Running through the hills of Georgia, after six days of rain seemed a bit dangerous but the hills where overcome. My squadmate Joe and I teamed up and encouraged each other through the whole run and where able to complete the task with eight minutes to spare.
- Lastly, I was reminded of what the true nature of being flexible is. For the most part we where not aware of what was happening next at training camp. I had to quickly learn to give up on trying to control things. Even with the plans that we where filled in on, things where changed on the regular. It brought me back to the times that I have spent overseas. Missions can be unpredictable at times and one must be okay with the change and have flexibility to move on, to another opportunity when it comes your way.
These things might seem small in retrospect to whats happening around the world. But they are things that our team will experience together. Our faith will be tested, our strength with be questioned, and our hearts will be burdened. During those times we have to stay obedient and press into God’s word.
