Worry. Stress. Nerves. Feelings of incompetence. Discouraged. Incomplete.
These are just a few words to describe my mental state a short 12 days ago. Can a person truly change in under 2 weeks? I didn’t think it was possible.
For those of you that don’t know, I will be going on the World Race, which is an 11 month, 11 country Christian mission trip that launches this January, 2018. This past week, I spent time in the woods of Gainesville Georgia with the people I will be spending the next year with around the world. Each day, we were presented with various field scenarios, informative and life-changing speakers, incredible worship time, physical activity regimens, team-building activities, and much, much more. To give you an idea, here are a few of the scenarios we had to work through: Losing luggage in the airport and having to buddy up with a partner to share gear, engineering a shelter in the woods for 30+ people with a limited amount of supplies, sleeping in the “airport” with extremely loud airport sounds and bright lights, showering with buckets and no running water, timed physical tests, and evangelizing an apartment complex. I soon found out that every task that we were asked to complete was calculated and intentional in terms of preparing us for the race. Everything was for a purpose.
When I first showed up, I didn’t know exactly what to expect or what the week would hold, but I quickly found out that these 32 strangers around me would become family over the course of the week. We cried together, laughed together, danced together, ate weird things together, but most of all we were all wrecked (in the best way) by the undeniable love of the Lord.
Let me tell you, some crazy things can happen when you are in a room with 150+ believers who have dedicated their lives to following the Lord. No joke I witnessed real miracles, saw people being healed from all forms of pain, experienced breakthroughs that I didn’t think were possible, and communicated with God in a way I never had before. I never thought I could witness some of the events that I did this week, but it happened, and it changed me. My faith grew entirely to a new level and I don’t want it to stop. By the end of the week, I walked out of that campus a completely changed human.
Calm. Comforted. Trustful. Encouraged. Loved. Called. Complete.
This is who God says I am.
