“Have your tents and bags packed and be ready by 7 A.M. for your morning workout,” were words I never thought I would hear. We were advised to come to Training Camp (TC) with open minds and without any expectations. I intentionally did not read any blogs about TC so that I could allow God to prepare me rather than my expectations. Even so, I naturally had ideas and hopes for what TC would be like.
Training Camp was SO much more physically demanding than I thought. After quickly becoming exhausted I learned to actually value sleeping in my tent rather than dread it! I definitely learned that I will be packing about ten pounds lighter for the actual trip. I will not be bringing my entire bag of toiletries, two packing cubs of clothing, or any nonessential items. During the 11 months, I am planning on becoming quite the minimalist!
As He has a way of doing, God totally showed up at Training Camp in more ways than I ever could have hoped for! I learned life long lessons at TC. I have had a few questions about God and myself that I have been pondering over for years now. All of these questions were answered very clearly during the week. Not only do I now feel more prepared to go serve in the nations, but also I feel much more confident about who God is and how He works in my life.
More specifically I learned:
- More about the Holy Spirit
- About Spiritual Perceptions and Instincts
- How to effectively Grieve the Seasons of Life
- How to Forgive and Heal
- About Prayer
- How to live in community and form healthier relationships
- About Feedback and Debriefing
- On the World Race my team and I will daily debrief and provide individual feedback. I am so excited about this opportunity! I know that I cannot always see my flaws and I am excited about the chance to receive constructive criticism in a safe and God filled atmosphere. I also know that practicing this daily will be so exhausting… but SO worth it.
My squad, U Squad (Red), consists of 47 beautiful, crazy, God loving people. They are all so wonderful and I am looking forward to getting to serve with them. Within U Squad I will be working on a smaller team called Team Teleios (James 1:2-4), which consists of 6 lovely ladies and me.
If you would like to be in prayer for my squad and team by name they are as followed:
U SQUAD – [Team Teleios: Laura, Diane, Stephanie C., Addison, Sarah H., Kari Anna, and myself] Stephanie A., Linsey B., Amanda, Trent, Ryan, Vallory, Rebecca N., Kayla, Stephanie K., Kristin, Jen, Lindsey N., Tenille, Tera, Libby, Carolyn, Kaitlyn, Kaylaynn, Lauren, Erika, Kara, Allison, Brian, Adam, Hannah, Cabe, Kari, Will, Rebekah, Kyle, Emily, Sharion, Linley, Allison, Jake, Bethany, LaShon, Anna, Jacob, and Alyssa
