We serve a big God. One who’s real and present and faithful and good. One who brings a roomful of swaying people to their feet in tears, smiles, shouts, and lifted hands in worship. God isn’t some ominous presence in the clouds, He’s here among us, and one way He shows up is through His people. Have you ever felt that—when you see someone say/listen to/do something, and you know that was of the Father?
He loves fully and unconditionally. Can you believe that? Regardless of who you are, where you’re from, what you’ve done, He loves unconditionally, period.
God is in nature and God is in art. But the ways I’ve seen Him most recently is in His children. Eleven of these most recent appearances were at Training Camp:
- Friends (especially Raychel and Elise) taking in the girl with two overloaded backpacks to couchsurf for a week on a moment’s notice. Okay, this was before Training Camp; sue me.
- Rachael clothing three other women out of her single pack once our packs had mysteriously disappeared for 24 hours, and Ben and Libby trading their comfortable tent for a squishy little one.
- Logan N. clearing room so each lady had a place to sleep on a bus, then taking the worst bed for himself. Let’s be clear: there were roughly 25 benches on this bus meant for schoolchildren, and there were 53 adults who needed sleep.
- Our training team: Carly, Dan, Poppy, Tim, Kacie, Holly, Mac, Kerry, and Jenny (I hope I got everyone!) who rallied, laid hands on, prayed with, encouraged, challenged, questioned, and loved on us. Seriously, Mac took his vacation time to hang out at training camp—that’s awesome.
- Debrief after the women’s retreat where we were all given mock disabilities, and had to rely on our team. Have you ever had to carry an unconscious teammate up a hill while blind? I don’t think so.
- The way T-Squad worked together when we camped out. I didn’t know it was possible to (a) create a shelter to fit 45 people with a couple of tarps, rope, and tree-climbing people; (b) assemble a delicious dinner of chicken with peppers, onions, and other veggies for 55 people over a campfire—let alone build that campfire from an ax and the surrounding woods; (c) dream up and throw together a palace of a latrine with toilet paper and a cleared path; or (d) put together Hammock City. Oh yeah, this was after we got caught in poison ivy and poison oak, and cheered Q-Squad passing by.
- The joy that came from the first shower in five days. Yes, most of us took one shower in a span of 7 days—nobody smells until the first person showers?
- Feasting on food Hamilton and Becca bargained for in a mock African market: rice and fish, fries, oranges, four gallon-bags of iced chai tea, and one-gallon-bag of iced coffee. The most food we’d had in four days.
- Sharing head lamps while squelching through Georgia’s famous red mud.
- Rose’s newfound janitorial skills were unveiled as she got down and dirty in using a toilet plunger to unclog bathroom drains for camp cleanup.
- The hot orange explosion of donuts, chocolate, cheerios, lemons, crackers, oranges, peach rings, and dance parties that was Squad Wars. God was in that excitement, passion, fervor for our squadmates—our newly adopted family.
Never in my life have I seen a group of strangers come together so quickly and love each other so beautifully. God is in people, in those relationships and friendships that display just a tiny bit of that unconditional love He has for us. I’ve only begun tapping into the extent of His love, and it’s already overwhelming. It’s incredible to think we serve a beautiful God who continually shows Himself in everyday life, we just have to see it.
That’s how God has shown up most recently to me. How have you seen God move?
(If you'd like to see some of these fun folks in action, check out the video my friend Sam made!)
