I think the verse in Ephesians 3:20 sums up so much of what I experienced at training camp, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory…” For real…only God could get the glory for all that went on at training camp. He really did provide WAY more than I could have asked or imagined.
I know most of training camp is supposed to be a surprise, but having a sister and 2 best friends who have been through it, I had already heard my share of stories and read a fair amount of blogs on what to expect. Part of me was expecting the worst and part of me was super excited for the unknown ahead…yet that same side didn’t want to get too excited or place too high of expectations on the week. I was afraid of the let down…yet that is so far from the truth of what happened that week.
I was introduced to 56 other amazing, beautiful followers of the Lord who quickly became like family. I feel privileged walk and serve beside this new family for 11 months!
Beautiful N squad family!! I love these people!
We were blessed with 3 incredible squad leaders who have already walked through their World Race journey, and have selflessly committed to leading us through our own upcoming journey. (They will be with us for 3-4 months on the field to help lead and guide us!) We also had some ridiculously cool squad trainers to get us through the training week!
Our squad leaders: Tiffany, Joshua and Kelly…they are so wonderful!!
Our squad leaders and trainers!!
We were introduced to our wonderful squad coordinator, Holli, and our awesome squad coaches, Randy and Betsy. Holli will be coordinating logistics for our race stateside and our squad coaches will be a source of encouragement and wisdom. Our coaches have plans to come visit 5 times while we’re overseas, they will be our spiritual "squad parents" during our race! They are all such a blessing!!
Holli, our squad coordinator, and her husband Our lovely squad coaches, Betsy and Randy
We are abundantly blessed. He provided an abundance of amazing people who are committed to our growth in the Lord. They have sacrificially given their time to invest in the kingdom. I am SO thankful for each of them and cannot wait to glean from their wisdom.
The Lord did immeasurably more in my heart during training camp than I could have ever asked or imagined. The Lord took my expectations and laughed at them because He had something so much better planned.
I was amazed at how quickly the Lord bonded my heart to the hearts of the 56 other members of our squad, and especially to the 6 others that are on my team 🙂 I have no doubt the Lord orchestrated every aspect of Training Camp, and I’m sure He was smiling as I continued to be blown away by His faithfulness and goodness!
I wanted to share a quick story of how awesome the Lord is at coordinating the details of our lives…He just amazes me! 🙂
So, if you read my first blog, I shared the story of how I was called to the World Race and how the Lord spoke to me, “Serve Me first.” When I heard that I immediately related His words to the words Jesus spoke in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” This verse became my “life verse” for the past year or so…
Flash-forward to Training Camp- I mentioned this in my previous blog, but right before accepting the position as team leader I heard the Lord wash the words over my heart, “Shine my light, feed my sheep.” Ok Lord, with your help I will. Training camp was a whirlwind so I didn’t have time yet to connect what I heard to any specific verse…
That same day we found out who our team was composed of and were given the task to come up with a team name. After much deliberation, discussion and voting, the unanimous vote for our team name was Kingdom Seekers. Although we weren’t asked to, our team chose a verse to go along with our name…yep our team chose none other than Matthew 6:33. So cool, Lord…I was so excited for yet another confirmation from the Lord.
Then, a couple days after I got home from camp, I was reading my devotional book (shout out to Jesus Calling by Sarah Young) and one of the verses she listed was Luke 12:31, “But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”…Awesome, a “parallel” verse to our team verse. Then I kept reading to verse 32, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”
BAM. I love it. He managed to connect everything together- serve me first, feed my sheep, Kingdom Seekers…I love how the Lord works in small ways to place great confirmation on our hearts. This may not mean much to you as you read it, but it was SO COOL for me to tie this all together.
We serve a great God. He knows us deeply and desires our hearts. He is pleased to give his children the kingdom. There is no need to fear.
“My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.” Psalm 27:8
Seek his face. Bring his kingdom.
Yes, Lord. Your kingdom come, your will be done.
