In the woods of Georgia, I ate meat. If you knew me
you would know that I have been vegetarian since I was 16. Our first meal was in
a chip bag. I had no idea what it was so I went up and asked one of the staff
and when I found out that I had to eat around everything all week I was close
to crying. I knew that when I was on the race I would have to eventually eat
meat 
but I didn’t expect it at training camp. EVENTUALLY. It was too soon. I
was not prepared for this. At the evening worship session, we were challenged
to give up our rights. God convicted me, and I was to give up the right for vegetarian food.
The next few days, eating was easier than I
thought. There wasn’t a lot of meat in our meals and it was easy to eat around
the meat when there was. I found that when I didn’t know what was in the food,
it was much easier to eat it. But then it came. A pork sandwich. I was hesitant
but there was nothing else much to eat. So I went for it but drowning it with
barbeque sauce first. Before I took my first bite, Trena (one of my
squadmates), prayed over me. It was super uplifting to have my squad encourage
me and pray over me before I ate. And so I ate it all. I ate meat.
ways. Slept on a bus. People prophesying. Praying for random strangers.
Worshipping while doing dishes. 41 people coming together for 7 days and
becoming family. But I am so glad it was unconventional. I got to experience
community, prayer, worship like never before. I got to see God use us even
before we go on our trip. And all of these things put together made me even
more excited to spend 11 months with these people.
