In thinking of something “catchy/clever” to entitle this blog, all I could think of was these lyrics…
Shine Bright Like a Diamond
… I had a dear, sweet friend return from Training Camp yesterday. She is launching on the World Race in July…
“What is training camp” you ask? Well, I’m very pleased you did ask. :)) Training camp is a week of intense training/preparation for the race. From what I understand, we live in our tents, sleep on our sleeping pads, have half of our supplies taken away one day, sleep on a bus, hike a lot (with all of our gear), have tons of worship, lots of time with God, its a stretching week- a week of growth in personal relationships with God, a week of wall breaking, transparency, and vulnerability. It has been explained to me as the hardest and at the same time, the best week of people’s lives.
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Another friend mentioned that this week was totally “InTents”… hahaha… that is the pun of the year, I believe.
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This friend returned from this hard/amazing week yesterday. She and I were able to hang out tonight. It was totally AWEsome! I could just SEE Jesus emanating off of her. God was SHINING through her! She told me stories from this week at camp: stories of brokenness, of complete love, of the presence of God. This week at camp was obviously such a enriching experience for her.
I cannot WAIT to go to camp July 19! I cannot WAIT to be broken and then restored by the Father. I cannot WAIT to see what He has in store for me. Aaaaand I cannot WAIT to meet the people that I am going to be doing life with for the next year!!
On a side note, I would like to share a thought that I had today. I work at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena (the Bilo Center), and today there was a hockey game. I have a guy that I went to school with that is the “cheerleader/representative” for the team. (It’s a very manly job though, cheerleader is probably not the best term to use) When I saw him doing his thing today, the idea came to me that his job is basically a huge “spirit leader” (that is a Bob Jones University, my school, term) I LOVE THAT! I was one for my student group, and I absolutely Loved it! But then the thought hit me that, as Christians, we are each “spirit leaders” for Christ! How cool is that?!
**If you know me personally, please imagine me REALLY excited… you know- how I get SO excited over little things a lot- like, I’m sure sometimes annoyingly so- haha.**
That totally pumps me up!! Maybe being in a playoff hockey game setting helped me get so totally, ridiculously excited about it :)) Who knows? But, we are “spirit leaders” for Christ and we need to shine bright like diamonds for our Creator!!
<3 Ash
