Naturally, it’s raining outside as I write. Unnaturally, though, I do not have a steaming mug of coffee or tea before me, but I am listening to classical music (Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons), so my writer cliché game is still strong.
What’s nice about today’s rain is that it only just started raining, which is such a marked improvement from Training Camp, when the deluge would not cease, and all of us were sodden, stinking messes the entire week. You’ll also be pleased to know that the hill leading from the Lodge to the Training Center is now dressed up as a stairway. Mud and flooding still abounds in that area, but the wooden frames on all the steps make avoiding them infinitely better. This is just one of the many reasons why Project Searchlight (PSL) is far superior to Training Camp (at least in my experience), and even though you’re not required to come, you should totally do so anyway because indoor beds and hot showers. There, that’s my put-upon shameful shameless plug for the day. Let’s get on then.
I’m not even supposed to be here. In fact, I took to Facebook and announced how much I wasn’t going to be here to my squad (this was before my social media fast started) just so there wouldn’t be any question about my not-going-to-be-here. But I forgot to take into account the uncanny ability some of my squad-mates have of getting me to agree to just about anything when I decided to play host to them the weekend before PSL. And so it is that I find myself here, on this watery Friday afternoon (the last full day of PSL), about to confide one of the crazy things the Lord has been working out in my heart this week to you. So even though being here wasn’t part of my plan, I’m glad I allowed myself to be interrupted.
In October of 2014, on the only Tuesday of Training Camp, I made public my decision to launch on the World Race in January 2015, after much bellyaching and feet-dragging. In January of 2016, on the only Tuesday of PSL, a whole year and change after that initial decision to trust God and go, I made public my decision to do The Fellowship after all. There’s only one explanation for the bizarre similarities (not least of which is the overwhelming peace they each came with) surrounding these two decisions: Jesus. He’s up to something. I don’t know what it is yet, but He’s proven Himself trustworthy, so I’m inclined to go along with Him on this too. I anticipate that I’ll only have incredible, supernatural things to write home about over the next few months, as I move to Gainesville and partner with AIM to develop me spiritually and professionally.
Y’all, I can tell you right now that outside of the context of PSL, I probably would not have seen my way clear to arrive at the conclusion I did. I believe that God would have blessed my decision either way, but I also believe that He is more glorified by this one—something He’s confirmed through my Prophetic Room session, through my own quiet moments with Him. He set a foundation in me over the course of the Race that He’s eager to build on as I enter into this new season of discipleship and chasing after my purpose in Him. Truth be told, I’m plenty eager myself to see the shape this divine structure will take.
P.S. I’ll tell you more about The Fellowship later.
