Hey. It has been awhile since I have been able to sit down and write a full blog post about everything. Since the last blog I have come a long way in fundraising and I had my training for the world race. This blog is going to be less about my experience at training camp and more about what things have been like for me since then. There is a lot that I could mention about training but for now the only thing I am feeling lead to talk about is one specific moment that has been close to my heart since then.
The first day at camp we were given our teams, which for me looks like 6 of the kindest girls I have ever met. These are the people we spent the most time with while we were at camp and the people I’ll spend the most time with on the race. Many times throughout the day at camp we would meet with our teams. We met early in the mornings for devotions and we ate a lot of meals together and numerous other times during the day. Each night after worship we would meet to talk about the day and what we were experiencing. Most nights I would listen to the other girls on my team talk about very specific things they had been hearing from God or things they had spoken over them by another person who felt called to say something. I was feeling very out of place each night that I had to say that I didn’t feel anything. That was something that began to get pretty discouraging for me the more I thought about it.
About the third day in I wasnt just discouraged, I was pretty frustrated by this. I didn’t feel like I was in the right place and I didnt feel like I had been affirmed in the way others had been about their calling to the race. I prayed angrily and repeatedly for hours that day. During worship that night while I was praying I felt God just sort of tell me to stop talking and I did. Very clearly, I heard Him say to me “you are equipped in this” and to stop worrying that I wasn’t being affirmed in the same way as others had been. Something like nothing else. It was abrupt but calming. A moment that I couldn’t deny or be made to believe it was anything other than Him. Later that night we met with our teams and for the first time since the beginning of camp I had somehing to share.
The very next day my advisor, Austin, appraoched me. He handed me a small bag and he told me that he had been praying and that he felt like he was being lead to make me this. I opened the bag and in it was a key on a necklace, it was engraved with the word “equipped”. It was a word he had no idea was already so close to my heart. One of the most humbling things I have ever received.
Since training, I have spent some time praying over what this key means to me. For now, it is the most beautiful thing and most humbling thought I have. I dont have all of the funds I need and I don’t have all the gear and Im sure there is a lot more I could use to feel fully prepared for the race, however, with Him I am so much more equipped than I could know. That’s something that makes me feel more calm than you’d believe!!!! I have full faith that somehow God will provide what I need exactly when I need it, whether that is the funds or experiences or anything else.
Until the race (21 days left) please keep me in your prayers for the funds & the heart to go. Thank you all x10000.
All my love,
Elisa
