BEAUTY FOR ASHES.
I have sat here the last week trying to put training camp to words. The beauty in every intricate detail of our lives that He brought to life left me speechless. I asked God what it was exactly that I was supposed to share and all He kept whispering to my heart were the words, “Beauty for Ashes” I could just imagine Jesus laughing with me as I let the words soak in. Here it is guys…
Isaiah 61: 1-3
[The Year of the Lords Favor]
The Spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the lords favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion,
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair
They will be called oaks of righteousness
a planting of the Lord for a display of his splendor
Rather fitting for the adventure we are stepping into wouldn’t you say? Training camp did just that: It stretched us. Broke us. Healed us. Brought us together. Created a family out of 48 strangers. Brought our brokenness and mourning to His light. Created an atmosphere of intentional, real, raw community. Created an army to share His Love. Brought out the gold in us. Gave us the opportunity to choose in: to choose joy, choose truth, and choose love every second of the day. Training Camp gave each and everyone of us a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
For A squad it looked a lot like this:
We laughed… a lot.
We prayed and fought for each other.
We danced… for days.
We shared a plate of food, and our hearts.
We cried over the warmth of a fire, almost every night.
We got creative, and cray cray every chance we got.
We laid in the sun and processed the heaviness on our hearts.
We welcomed each morning by playing in the cold rain, dew, and dark together
until the sun came up to greet us.
We allowed walls to crumble, and chains to be broken.
We learned how to love and to be loved in a whole new way.
and the best part is… its only the begininng 🙂
Training Camp opened our eyes, our hearts, and began to prepare us for this next year. That week of our lives was just a beautiful glimpse of the journey we are stepping into, a race that has already begun.
I challenge you to rest. To receive beauty for ashes in all areas of your life. To ask God to bring life and light to the brokenness in your story, and when He does, because He will; dance in the freedom that comes with surrendering your heart to His love.
Thankful for this sweet time and my new family.
with love,
Erica
from team: JOY BOMB 🙂 tick, tick, boom!
