VSquad!
Over the last 10 days, I laughed, smiled, hugged, cried, worshiped, lived and loved this amazing group of people. Please say hello to my 25 teammates and coaches, mentors, leaders, and lovers of Christ. Getting to experience training camp with this group was a blessing, each day they challenged me to be better for Christ. They pushed me to take risks, to trust, to show compassion and weaknesses all so that I may be redeemed and loved deeper by Christ.
After finding a huge spider in my tent night one I didn’t know how camp would go. Was this a sign that I shouldn’t be here? Was I going to have to face my fear of spiders the first night? Thankfully a wonderful teammate was willing to crawl into my tent and smash it THEN wipe it up, she saved my life! (I can be overdramatic sometimes, but it sure felt like it)
I saw what worshiping freely looked like and I LOVED IT! People were free to dance, sing, pray, shout, sit and do whatever they needed to and wanted to praise Jesus. I learned that I like to sway back and forth while singing at the top of my lungs, but I also like to look around and see the beauty of free worship, to hear God through the voices around me.
I learned forgiveness is a choice. I learned it can be hard and messy to go into your soul and figure out what is holding you back. Then it is even harder to ask God for forgiveness and let it go. This was really hard for me, it brought many things up that I thought I had already ‘dealt with’. Now I am not finished with my own forgiveness or even processing it, but I am working on it.
I learned trust is hard for me.
I learned about the Holy Spirit. I got blown away by its power and promises.
I learned emotions are a gift from God, so if He wants me to cry more times than I can count in 10 days it must be for a reason! My emotions are here to guide me exactly where God wants me to be.
I learned I am NOT strong enough on my own. I need my team. God put me in a situation where I felt physically weak and I panicked. I am not used to feeling weak or helpless, but then I looked around and saw God pushing my teammates beyond what many thought they could do. The pain went away and turned into determination and I finished with a new kind of strength.
I learned how to preach and gave my first sermon. I realized I am still terrified of speeches but it was easier when I knew the audience already loved me. I also learned there is no one best way to give a sermon, I can get as creative as I want.
I learned that while I had all the right gear to survive in the north woods of Georgia I still have some work to prepare for the next 11 months.
So to recap, my team is incredible and I love them so much already, I have the BEST support system out there, God is working within me and He wants me to succeed and I am so excited to devote my life to Christ’s mission for the next year.
