Training Camp
The week leading to training camp was rough. I was drained and felt weighed down. I certainly didn’t feel like coming to Georgia to spend 10 days with a bunch of strangers.
The first few days were a lot to take in about examining myself and the condition of my heart. Showing up to training camp in the condition I did left me with no doubt that I had some things I needed to surrender to the Lord. Our night camping and our day in the woods was the perfect time for me to reflect, journal, pray, meditate, and really just spend time with God. Then I took it to the cross.
One thing I had learned before and that really resonated at training was that in order to heal, you must surrender your burdens to the Lord and to forgive. One thing that was demonstrated was how exhausting and difficult the journey is when we are carrying our burdens on our own and how freeing it is to surrender. Throughout this time, I have also experienced not only how freeing it is, but also how difficult it can be to surrender. Sometimes we lay our burdens at the cross and think we’re finished, but we also need to reconcile the relationships those burdens have affected. For me, the challenge of surrender didn’t come as much from the action of laying down my burdens, but the fear of taking the next step of reconciliation. Yes, I gave it over to God… but there is more work to be done.
