LOVED

Hey y’all,

     Training camp was hard. It was emotionally, mentally, and physically draining. I was stretched in every way possible and honestly, the only reason I got through it was the amazing support of my team, my squad, and lots of prayer. Seeing all their positive attitudes gave me the ability to kick my butt into gear and know that everything was going to be okay. It gave me the ability to soak in every word and every lesson that was presented right in front of me. 

As amazing as it has been being able to experience community with such a tight-knit group of people, it has really reminded me of my dear Compass team. In about 4 days it will officially be a whole year since we’ve been apart. Not only have I been mourning the loss of the community I will be leaving here at home, but also the loss of the community I made last summer. As much as I have been wanting to sit in a dark room and isolate myself forever, so I do not need to face all these emotions, I know that I need to rely on all three communities in my life. To let my heart be still. To let it know that even through all the heartache I will be experiencing this month it is still loved. Not only by people around me, but most importantly my father above. 

     I am going to do my best to explain these last ten days with you, but I am still processing all of it and I might miss some bits and pieces, but hit me up for a coffee date if you want to hear it all in person. Okay, here we go. Day one, I jumped on a red-eye flight straight to Atlanta, Georgia. I got there at 6 a.m. and thought I was the only person there, but thankfully I had another squadmate there (thanks Zach for tolerating a sleep deprived me). Then I jumped on a shuttle bus trying to prepare myself for ten days of what I knew was going to be hard. For some reason, I thought that meeting everyone was going to be really hard, but as soon as I stepped on our campground I heard someone scream “LILLLLYYYY!!!!!” on the top of their lungs running straight towards me with arms wide open. Any sane person would probably be utterly terrified, but for some reason, I felt completely loved. (I mean this is how I imagine people feel when I randomly go up to people introducing myself)  After camp was set up, I ate dinner. Then the next nine days were filled with very (I mean VERY) small meals, team building, ministry workshops, bucket showers (best thing ever), laughter, tears, and some of the best worship nights I have had in a really long time. We watched many people get baptized and then had squad wars. I learned the luxury of having a real toilet and how much I love bucket showers. I learned that humidity sucks and hiking 2 miles in Georgia is nothing like hiking in San Diego. I don’t like duck eggs and I want my rice to always be blue. I go insane without music for ten days and I need to start memorizing tabs on my ukulele. 

MY TEAM

MY SQUAD