I have thought about how to begin this blog 1,324 times. I think I keep wanting to put it off because there is still so much to process. Training camp was amazing, life changing, and eye opening. We were constantly surrounded with community. We had no schedule, and I was reminded in a beautiful way that the journey starts now, not in September, but now. So here's a small glimpse of what the last week looked like…
A time of Newness– I got to meet my entire "L" squad (pictured below) and start building 63 new friendships that I know God will hold together. I formed new ideas about how God reveals Himself to us, and I learned that I have such a limited view of the healing power of God. He spoke to me in new ways, and reminded me to embrace the new life I have in Him through Jesus Christ.
Brokenness– We all have a lot of junk that we needed to let go of/surrender in order to open up some space for the Holy Spirit to come in and completely consume us with life. The Lord continually breaks me of my pride, but the cool thing is, He never leaves us broken. He is all about total and complete restoration.
Surrender– We gave up our comfortable beds to come sleep in tents, on a bus, in rain, and surrounded by ants. We carried teammates up a mountain and lost more sweat than I realized was physically possible. We surrendered our expectations. We let down our pride and shared real stories and painful memories. We ate rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We surrounded ourselves with deep, raw truth that this time is not about us, but about the One who spoke our very existence into being…
Beauty– Thursday we found out who was going to be on each team. There had been so much anticipation built up and when then moment finally came, I was beyond thrilled to find out that the Lord placed me on a team with 6 beautiful ladies. We decided to name our team “Shekinah” because the word speaks of the dwelling place of God's glory. It is also used interchangeably with a Hebrew word meaning “the daughter of God’s Voice,” which we found to be appropriate since we are an all girl team! Our goal is that we would have such an intimate experience with God that others may see the radiance of God’s glory wherever we go.
Team Shekinah 🙂
Squad Wars with some L Squad Ladies!
I've never been so excited to eat a grilled cheese. I think this was #3 or 4 for some of us 🙂
These two beautiful girls spoke truth into my life all week. I'm so thankful for each of them.
I’ve always known that God is really big, but this week He showed me that He is so much BIGGER than I ever imagined.
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. ”
“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”
But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’
You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me,
“I have put my words in your mouth.
See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down,
to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
I also wanted to share a video with all of you that my new teammate Jen put together. Enjoy!
