Dear Training Camp,
I never thought I would say this, but you did it. You trained me. You successfully pulled me out of my cozy little corner of a comfort zone and launched me head first off the cliff into the beginnings of the World Race. Although it may take me a few full nights of sleep and several bowls full of ice cream to move fully into thankfulness regarding the happenings of last week, I would like to take a moment to share how my expectations were completely shattered and exceeded all at the same time!
In ONE week, I never thought I would ever:
- Eat food from Asia, India, Central America, Africa, Eastern Europe, and America.
- Sleep in multiple different sleeping arrangements including under a tarp, in a tent, under the stars, and packed like a sardine in a bus.
- Become a family with 55 strangers in less than 2 days.
- Have zero alone time.
- Worship the LIVING God every hour of the day.
- Be asked to lead a team this next year.
- Get soo excited for instant coffee.
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Be so aware of how inadequate I am with out Jesus.
There was never a set routine, none of us really knew what was going on half the time, and I cannot separate one day from the other. Sometimes I could have sworn the entire experience was just one big mind game, but here is what I know to be true:
- Expectations are deceiving, the only concept that you can hold onto is that the Lord is a good Father and He know when you need a kick in pants and an entitlement wake up call.
- Home is where you lay your head at night. Regardless of where that may be; tent, bus, hammock, bed, or ground.
- “Discernment” is not defined by your level of comfort about the situation.
- God has a better plan for you than you have for yourself.
- In the words of the Rolling Stones, “You can’t always get what you want”
So training camp, I admit I got owned. Thank you for the wake up call. My confidence that I had it all together is now replaced with an awareness that only the Lord will ever prepare me for this experience. I now have a month to seriously cut down on weight in my pack, eat as much of my favorite food as possible, and soak up the comfort of alone time and long sweet hours of sleep each night. One thing I will say is this, you have place a hunger and excitement to go that is so much stronger than before. In all that was difficult, in every moment that pushed my buttons, every time I had to choose to surrender and die to myself gave me a deepening joy that can only be explained by examining the Father’s heart.
Yours truly,
Lizi
So here I go, Lord send me. I am ready because I know you are in me and that is all I need.
