I’ll admit for a while I thought squad wars sounded a bit juvenile and “campy.” I didn’t really see there worth in a program for adults and at one point thought I wouldn’t mind if they just canceled them.
I mentioned recently in my post about training camp that I had put an end to a lot of long overdue insecurities and fears. I also mentioned that I never really speak out in large groups or step up as a leader (or at least I haven’t in a while). So with all the above in-play, I surprised everyone and myself when I raised my hand and volunteered to choreograph the squad wars group dance.
I worked with some really talented women to put together the music we would sing and then worked up the nerve to teach everyone what we had come up with. After we finished teaching the routine I sat on a rocking chair feeling relived and surprised that I had just been able to do that. I thought for sure I would end up holding back and just let someone louder and more confident take over.
Here’s the thing though: the task of organizing that simple dance was incredibly easy for me – I have done this sort of thing dozens of times. I competed in dance growing up, I was also the captain of my high school dance team for two years, I led dance camps and directed youth theatre, I helped children put on plays in Italy at an english emersion camp and I competed with my sorority in a dance competition every year in college.
Photo credit: Brooke Leffelman
I sat there thinking about all of this and thought to myself: “why would you ever have been scared to lead that dance, at what point did you become such a scared little girl? The high school Julia certainly would not have been skittish about raising her hand so what happened to me as an adult that stole my confidence?”
I can think of a few reasons or seasons, but why and when doesn’t really matter anymore. What matters is that I can see it all clear as day now. I can see the irrationality in my fears and I can see how easy it is to just be myself.
Squad wars matter because when forty individuals paint their faces the same color and run together into a field to work together a simple large group of people becomes a team. And squad wars mattered to me because I saw tangible proof that God had done massive work in my heart that week.
So if you find yourself at World Race training camp you might also find squad wars are a bit juvenile, but you will also find that they matter and that they are just plain fun!!
Photo credit: Adventures in Missions
T-Squad ended up winning both the dance competition and squad wars at large! Check out the video below to see the dance and the entire day’s festivities.
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