They've warned us not to have any expectations, because what happens at training camp will have God's hand on it – and God's hand is not something that we can control or predict.
How the heck am I supposed to not have any expectations?! There are a million thoughts running through my head as I sit in Buffalo International Airport waiting for my 6am flight to Atlanta, Georgia, where at 2pm I will meet up with people from Adventures in Missions and catch a bus to Toccoa Falls. First of all, I'll be meeting all of the other crazy people who will be my family for 11 months! To me that's huge. And exciting. And overwhelming.
One expectation that I have for myself for training camp is to open up to these people and humble myself enough to be vulnerable with them – allowing them to accept every bad and sinful part of me. But how can I expect them to accept me? I can't. I just have to trust that they will and that God will use us in each others' lives to push each other in our faith.
Second of all, I don't even know what "training camp" entails. How the heck are they going to train us for an entire 11 months of unknowns? Jesus only you know what's going to happen, so prepare my heart and the hearts of everyone else who is going on this trip of a lifetime. Prepare our hearts for this week of training camp – break our hearts for what breaks yours and begin your faithful healing so that we will be equipped by you to go to all of these countries on our route and proclaim your name.
So no expectations, because having expectations for the unknown is impossible. I have no idea how this week is going to look – what we're going to be doing, what we're going to be eating, where we'll be sleeping… So why bother trying to guess? Why not just leave it up to the Lord to work in my heart? All I have to do is have no expectations. Easy peasy………..
"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you." (Matthew 5:4, MSG).
