I started writing my training camp blog about two days after I got home. I wrote out some thoughts and then let them sit for a couple more days. I never expected it to be so hard to explain camp to the people back home. Surface level I slept in weird places, ate new foods, and pushed myself mentally and physically for 10 days. It would be easy to talk about the sleeping arrangements and the food, but camp was so much more than just sleeping (lets be honest there wasn’t much sleep) and eating.
The biggest thing that keeps coming to mind when I sit and think about what I want to share about camp is a word that was prayed over me early on in the week, Freedom. It took me a few days to understand why that word was prayed over me and I’m still on a journey to complete understanding of what God is telling me through that experience. Freedom to be myself has been the biggest thing that I have been fighting towards over the last two weeks. The journey to become the woman God created me to be will be a life long experience, but one that I am happy to walk through with God at my side.
When thinking about truths God says about us there is a verse that is loved by many people (let’s be honest most women), Psalm 139: 14 “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” That verse is beautiful and uplifting when the world starts to drag you down with lies, but for me it never quiet struck me as the thing God was trying to get me to understand about who I was to Him. Yes I am fearfully and wonderfully made, but those were not truths that I needed to be reminded of. God opened my eyes to something different. Now looking back I realize that the word prayed over me at camp was not the start of this realization, but a step closer to where I was already headed. The verse and truth that God has been calling me to for months comes from Proverbs 31:25 “She is clothed in strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.”
That is person I want to strive to be. I want to remember that He has clothed me in strength and dignity. I want to laugh at all the days before me and not fear them any longer. Have the Freedom to choose those things and not apologize for being who God has created me to be.
I hope you will continue to follow me on this journey in discovering the freedom I have in Christ. I can’t begin to imagine what He has in store for me in this upcoming year, but I’m excited to find out. I head to Atlanta in 22 short days for more training and head to Albania July 1!
** After writing this post I sent it off to a couple good friends to get their thoughts. While I was talking to one of them about my post I was also working on my World Race playlist and I came across a song that used to be a favorite. I realized just how long God has been calling me to freedom in who I am.**
