All of you that know me really well (or even know me at all) know that my typical topic of conversation would not be diamonds.
I'm sure you're wondering why I would be talking about diamonds on the World Race, right?! If you know anything about the World Race, this doesn't seem to make sense. Let me put it together for you…..
One of the things the staff at Adventures in Missions (AIM) does at training camp is put you into your teams. Our squad of around 45 people is split up into smaller teams of about 6-7 people that you will serve/live/travel with.
After doing multiple team building exercises, we sat down around a table with a couple of AIM staff members to discuss how we were feeling about our team of 7 people. We were pretty honest about how we felt. We are all such different people with different personalities and different backgrounds. We were the group of people that had not really talked to each other the whole week of training camp up to this point. Most just kept thinking and saying how difficult it would be if we were all on one team. Then one of the guys on staff asked us a question……
What do you think about when I say the word "diamonds"?
Our responses were "rare", "precious", "valuable"……Then he asked another question…..
What do you know about how diamonds are formed?
Diamonds are formed through a combination of high temperature and high pressure very deep below the surface of the earth.
This changed the way we thought about our team. We realized that this may not be a combination that we would have come up with, but God wants to grow us in this. And, as many of you know, it usually hurts when God is growing us.
Our first task as a team was to come up with a team name. We all agreed that it had to be something to do with diamonds. I now gladly introduce to you……
I know you're probably thinking, "What does cor adamantis mean?"
It means "hearts of diamond" in Latin. We believe that this is the perfect name for our team!
God is shaping and growing our hearts together as a team. God has already shown us that He has placed this team together for a specific purpose. I believe that He is going to use each of our testimonies in ways we cannot even imagine over the course of this next year!
So, to put names to these amazing faces…..from left to right in the picture above.
Matthew, Michelle, Dillon, Nathan, Jinnaè, myself, and Andrea
Please pray for us as we continue to get to know each other and grow together as a team.
I also ask you this question…….
In what ways is God trying to grow you right now?
I challenge you as He has challenged my team and I. Ask God to show you how He is trying to make you into a precious, rare, and valuable diamond. It is not an easy process, but I would rather be broken down and built up by God than trying to make something of myself.
All I ever do is fail……He does nothing but succeed!
"The issue of your value is settled at the cross"
