Many of you have asked about training camp and the truth is I still don’t know how to put the week into words that can accurately describe what occurred in the mountains of North Georgia last month. It was a week that challenged us physically, emotionally, and spiritually as we got the chance to experience things we have never seen or done before in preparation for what’s to come over the next 11 months. So, what exactly happened that one time at training camp…well I can’t possibly tell you all about it in this blog but here are a few of the highlights…
This one time at training camp I wore socks with my chacos and when I looked around I realized that this was actually an acceptable world race fashion trend. Perhaps we were all being fashion forward or perhaps we were just doing whatever it took to keep warm on the rainy and chilly days at camp but either way we were fully loved and accepted just the way we were, “sockos” and all!
This one time at training camp we surrendered our rights and expectations in order to trust that what God has is better than what we have planned for ourselves. We shared tents, we ate with our hands, we “lost” our luggage, and we learned that this upcoming year is not about us or our personal comfort. It is about the Kingdom, it is about trusting in the Lord with all my heart, and it is about living with abandon.
This one time at training camp we grieved the painful losses of past seasons so that we could effectively embrace the present. Biblical mourning isn’t just reserved for loved ones who have passed but is a necessary process for any significant loss in our lives, such as the loss of past relationships or the loss of unfulfilled dreams. Rather than guarding our hearts and covering the wounds from these losses, we had time to begin processing our grief. What I saw on this day of camp, is that dealing honestly with pain was helping myself and others unlock joy and forgiveness.
This one time at training camp I stopped comparing my spiritual journey to others and let the Holy Spirit move in me. There are 53 other people on my world race squad, we come from different states and different church backgrounds and we all have different personalities and different spiritual instincts but what we do have in common is a calling from God and a passion to love and serve Him. Sounds awesome, right?!? It is until you start worrying that you don’t know the bible as well as the person to your right and you don’t hear God as clearly as the person to your left. The reality is, my race isn’t going to look like the person next to me’s race and I shouldn’t expect it to any more than I should expect my experience with the Holy Spirit to look and feel like someone else’s.
This one time at training camp I felt the love of true community and the power of words being prayed over me. Community on the race is something I long for. I know it won’t always be easy, but if this one week is a glimpse into what the next year is going to look like, I know that it will be worth it. Throughout camp, I received blessings and affirmations from squadmates who had the courage to share exactly what God placed on their hearts. This left me feeling unconditionally loved by my Father and extremely pumped up for opportunities to call out greatness in one another as Ephesians 4:15 says, “instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ.”
This one time at training camp I participated in a game of “Zoom and Re-Zoom” and won a family of 7 unique and powerful people to do life on the race with. Meet Team Dunamis, made up of myself and the 6 others (Sally, Lauryn, Christina, Jason, WIlliam, and Brandon) that I will be living with and doing ministry with on the field – we chose dunamis because it is the greek word for the power of God that is within us.
This one time at training camp they announced our launch date and things got real. January 6, 2015. That’s the day when I will be reunited with my P Squad brothers and sisters for additional training and teachings in Atlanta just before we are sent to the nations. It’s going to be wild. It’s going to be great. It’s going to be full of Me.
