Last week I went to Training Camp to begin my preparation for the World Race. Before I left I had several people asking me, "What exactly is training camp?", and I gave them the best answer that I could, "I honestly don't know."
I knew we were going to be introduced to challenges that we may face on the World Race, but past that I didn't know what to expect. Turns out, as a racer, that is a good thing. One phrase that I heard a lot last week was "no expectations". They made sure we didn't have any expectations for the next day or even the next hour at training camp. We were never provided with a set schedule, and we would just go with the flow until it was time for the next activity.
Training camp was hard at times and often it was pretty cold, but I would do just about anything to be able to go back tomorrow. I could have never anticipated how fast I would come to love all my squad mates, or how much God would grow me this week.
(B-Squad: Representing Orange as our Squad Color)
We arrived at training camp on Saturday, and by Monday I already felt like I had known most of my Squad for months rather than days. We spent all day, everyday with one another. We worked out, ate, worshipped, played, laughed, cried, and even slept together. You could just immediately see that Jesus was present in our relationships.
All week long, God was stretching and growing me in order to prepare me for this wonderful journey that we are about to take together. We sat through many sessions on topics such as, How to get more of God, Spiritual Pathways, Spiritual Formation as Leaders, and Prayer Ministry. I've learned that God always wants to give us more. He wants to know each of us face-to-face and have a personal relationship with us. We just have to ask, and then stop to listen.
When I finally stopped to feel the Holy Spirit resting on my shoulder, like a gentle dove, God filled me up more than He ever had before. I stopped to listen one night, and He told me how proud He was of me that I have chosen to follow the path He has laid out for me. He comforted me like a father would comfort a daughter.
On one of the last nights, I put my hand over my heart and asked God what He loved most about me… He told me it was my smile. From that moment on, I couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the night. He began to pour into me even more. I have never felt more full in my life. I started speaking words of encouragement and love over people that could have only come from Jesus.
On Thursday, we were told our teams, and we were allowed to leave camp to spend time with each other. If it were up to me, I would have never hand picked the people on my team, but after getting to know each other on a deeper level, I am glad that it wasn't up to me. God has a plan and it is so much greater than mine! I am proud to introduce to you my teammates that I will be serving with for the majority of next year. God has amazing plans for us, and I can't wait to see how He uses this team to serve His people and share His word. Meet Team Braveheart!
Thank you so much for reading my blog! I can't wait to keep you updated as I continue to prepare to leave in January. God has big plans and is going to be moving in incredible ways over the next year!
God Bless!
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