Indescribable. If only this one word would suffice for my training camp blog I would end it here. The proper definition of indescribable (yes, I thought I made it up… turns out it’s a real word): Too unusual, extreme or indefinite to be adequately described. Yes training camp was hot, tiring, unnatural amount of hills, exhausting and just plain hard sometimes. But more so than any of that, it was my life change. I found God so much bigger than any of those words I described.
Training camp was soul changing! I have met my squad and to be truthfully honest, they are quite awesome! I met some amazing leaders/mentors who were a steady constant; a constant that I needed in my life to break down some things, be vulnerable and feel safe enough to be myself. I could laugh around these people, and sometimes a person’s just gotta laugh when they are stuck in their head space!
My squad, Y squad, a group of strangers who I was EXTREMELY nervous about meeting the first day, and 3 days later, an epic dance party solidified my squad. We became a FAMILY in that moment. Somewhere between the anxiety, nerves, awkwardness, eating community meals, worshipping, and living life with these people, I began loving them. My mindset changed from I want to be a recluse to I don’t want to say goodbye. Even if that goodbye is going to be only 6 weeks. We started out as names on a list, to a squad, and now a family.
But as a squad, there was a little rumbling about teams. These teams are made up within the squad of about 6-7 people. These people are going to live life together day in and day out each month! We will be a true sense of family. We will be living together, working alongside each other, being vulnerable together, and what I like to call ‘do life together’.
My team, Kaleo, started off ‘magically’ and continued to be magical through our time together. I guess it made sense to start at a place called Mellow Mushroom! As we were eating pizza, a wonderful, indescribable moment happened with our waitress and our newly named team. We had a conversation that couldn’t happen at any other time, place or with anyone else. Our first outing as a team, and we were able to share the Gospel, a beacon of light for our waitress. At this moment, looking at each and every team member, we knew we had our calling. See Kaleo, our team name, means in Greek, to call, or calling. We were called to Mellow Mushroom, called to our waitress, called to share, called to love. God is calling me, as well as my team, to share the Gospel. God is calling us as individuals, as a team, and as a family to love anyone and everyone we meet. Love like God loves us. Unconditionally.
Whether you went to training camp for World Race, or never signed up for anything, God is calling you. He is calling you to TRUST him, LOVE him and LET him LOVE you! God is calling you to be missionaries in your hometown, in your school, at your job. Just because you are still in the states, still in your house, doesn’t mean that you can’t have any impact on people. My mission field does NOT start when I get on the plane. It starts now!
