How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
Isaiah 52:7
But I say, beautiful are the feet with blisters.
I survived eleven whole days of Training Camp. I don’t know how really, but I did and it was so WILD!
Gosh, where do I start? From the beginning, duh.
I left my house two weeks ago Monday evening and you’ll never guess what happened to me?! I was literally fifteen minutes away from my house on the highway ready to embark my journey and my car totally freaked out. It started to slow down! I would press on the gas pedal and it would do the complete opposite until it shut down. Somehow, I managed to stay calm and pull over to the left side of the highway. I felt the cars zoom by me and they would shake my car. I called my parents and a friend from church came to my rescue! I immediately thought, ‘seriously devil, I don’t have time for this.’ Once we figured it out, the only thing missing was gas. Oh, did I forget to tell you one tiny detail? I was on my way to pump gas. I was so beyond embarrassed! This had never happened to me! Yes, I am notorious of running low on gas because it is so dreadful for me to stop and pump, but never to the point that I’m left on the side of the highway. We finally got some gas and all was well. The road must go on.
I was able to finally arrive into Gainesville, GA after about twelve hours of driving with lots of traffic and some crazy rain in between. I had the opportunity to sign up for a storyteller workshop and it was so great to be around like minded people. We setup our tents for the first night and it poured! I remember waking up in the middle of the night to a wet tent. I felt the corner of my sleeping pad and pillow soaked. I vaguely remember trying to figure out what to do and then I just gave up. I was so tired from the road and I thought, ‘I can’t do anything’ so I said a quick prayer and tried to go to back to sleep. Day one was definitely one for the books! *insert nervous chuckle
Day two and the rest of the racers joined us on campus, the whole 170 of us. Five routes, but all with one mission to travel eleven countries in eleven months spreading the Gospel. Little did I know the next ten days would rock my world! As we began to unravel what Training Camp (TC) ‘really’ meant, nervous chuckles became the norm. From having crickets for breakfast to sleeping under a tarp with thirty other women, anything was possible. Porta potties was just about the only spot you could find some privacy and hand sanitizer became our best friend. Eight people eating off of one platter without utensils or plates made our portions seem like a bite size, needless to say our clothes fit much more comfortably at the end. Again, *insert nervous chuckle.
Enough about that, I want to share about just how amazing and beautifully the Lord showed up every single awkward, difficult, vulnerable and courageous moment. We had some of the most amazing mentors speak truth and life into us all week. One of the truths that resonated in my heart was that the Lord found me worthy right where I am. It’s the enemy that always finds a way to twist every truth into a nasty lie making it so loud that the truth becomes silent. As the day approached for our fitness test, which consisted of hiking 2.2 miles under thirty eight minutes with a full pack under the Georgia heat on its rolling hills, the lie that I was unworthy and incapable started to creep up again.
Back track about four months ago when I started to “run,” and yes run is in quotation marks for a reason. I remember begging to jog and feeling so winded and the lies started. I had never felt anxiety or even the idea of what anxiety feels like and I hate it. As I continued to move one foot in front of the other, I could feel my shoulders tense up. The back of my neck began to hurt and incapability seemed so true. After a couple of days of trying to battle it on my own, I finally mustered up a fight decided to do the only thing I know to be true. I decided to declare truth that is found in The Word. Scripture is God himself. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” When the lies would come up, I spoke truth.
Now, we’re back in TC in the middle of the Georgia heat and the fitness test is up. I felt butterflies or more like dragons flying around my stomach. Am I going to make it? Will failure be my reality? Three. Two. One. Go.
The hills began and the lies seemed to be a step ahead of me. John Patton, our squad coach started the walk with me and all seemed well. On the second time around the loop, the lies began to scream across my thoughts. I remember feeling out of breath, but I knew I couldn’t quit. Alert: I am an emotional person. As the hill became steep, the tears started to roll. John reached out his hand without a hesitation and all I could do was reach out. We trekked through the hike around campus and I could feel the heat bubble up into my shoes and a clicking at the ball of my feet, but I didn’t have time to give it a second thought. Finishing the hike was like a scene out of a movie as my squad cheered me on and I crossed the finish line.
I pulled off my pack and found a spot to sit down. I finally had a moment to catch my breath. As I started to pull off my shoes, I knew something was wrong. Sure enough, the ball of my feet were now two big blood blisters and I just sat. I didn’t know what to do but to try and process what had just happened. Obviously, walking was difficult to say the least. It would seriously take me twenty minutes for what should have taken me five. With all this time in my hands or should I say feet (dad joke), I knew the Lord was calling. I began to question, ‘Lord, what are you teaching me?’ That night during worship one of the staff members spoke life and redemption over me. I felt the Lord so gently, but so deeply pour out His love on me.
As ugly as my blisters may look, they’re just a daily reminder that my God meets me right where I am just like my coach met me at my weakest. He finds me worthy of giving His son Jesus Christ. His word says, my feet are beautiful and that’s truth.
And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Romans 10:15
P.S. Here’s a pretty gross picture of my feet! 🙂
