There are about a million different things I might say about Training Camp. Our squad gathered from all over the country – New York, California, Seattle, Florida, Fargo, Texas, etc. We even have a squad member from Germany and one from Canada. We are nurses, teachers, unemployed, retail workers, athletic trainers, and all kinds of other occupations. We spent the first few hours of training camp awkwardly trying to figure each other out, remember names, having something to say.
And then it happened. Worship. The Spirit of Christ filled our Georgian pavilion on the very first night, and all that made us different seemed to crumble beneath He Who brought us together. Throughout a week of challenges, frustrations, struggles, joys, and exhaustion, the unifying worship of Christ turned N squad from a group of random strangers into family.
It reminds me of Paul and Silas escaping prison.
All of us are imprisoned by our own imperfections. Held captive by our experiences. Shackled by a culture that has never really felt like home.
And then it happens. Worship. With one accord, our hearts magnify the name of Jesus. The foundations of who we are rattle. With violent ferocity, everything we know shifts unsteadily beneath our feet. Shackles deteriorate and release us into freedom, renewing hope and calling us into action. The doors of our cells fling open and love beckons us to a life beyond ourselves.
I could give a lot of details and stories about Training Camp, too many to fit in a year’s worth of blogs! But the bottom line is that the Holy Spirit turned the hinges. From strangers to family. From expectant to reliant. From hope to joy.
I was among the many who were nervous about meeting squad mates for the first time. A week later, I am so thankful to God that I can hold their hands as we break free from our prisons into the abundant life He has set forth for us. There is no power, no idea, no truth that could call out and bring together the wonderful servants of Christ I now call family. N squad is beautiful because I see the light of Christ in unique, encouraging, and inspiring ways in each of them. Capable together, though Him, what none of us would dare dream on our own.
Thank God for the power to move at the hinges. To turn life from frivolous to meaningful. To turn the page from our past to our present. To open the doors of divine mystery on earth as it is in Heaven.
He has only just begun to reveal Himself to me, N squad, and the world. Who knows what doors might fling open with the Holy Spirit at the hinges!!
