So training camp…. I don’t even know where to begin! From finally meeting my squad in person, to bucket showers, to waking up to a scorpion on my sleeping pad, I’ll never forget it! But, my favorite part had to be how life changing those 10 days were. I learned so many mind blowing thoughts, and ideas about God. By having them break me down and build me back up so I am able to feel what the people I will be ministering to will feel, and witnessing God in ways I thought never existed. After these 10 days, I now view God in a whole new perspective.
One of my favorite activities they taught us was the different pathways and which one applied to us. The pathways were Aesthetic, Experimental, Activist, Contemplative, Student, Relational, and Naturalist. I learned that the Naturalist Pathway fit me the best. As most of you know, I love hiking (especially alone with my dog). My favorite types of hikes are the ones with the prettiest view. Once I get to the top of a mountain, it always takes my breath away. No matter where I hike, I always find myself so amazed that God made everything. He made the big trees, the rivers, even the weeds; pretty or not, He made everything. When they went over the last pathway, I knew that was the category that I belonged in. This is how they explained it at training camp…
Naturalist Pathway
– finding God outside of buildings
– rivers, trees, oceans
– experiencing God through nature
Example: David, the heavens declare Gods glory –> Psalm 19:1
Potential downfall: getting caught up in nature; forgetting God.
The activity that they had planned for it was perfect! Training camp took place in the woods of Gainesville, Georgia. Under the one deck, they had swings, hammocks, chairs, and couches that they told us to sit on (if we wanted, we could sit in the grass too). We were supposed to face the forest. Then they gave us 3 questions that we had to sit by ourselves and answer just by looking at the trees. The questions were… What does the nature around me tell me about the nature of God?, Imagine you never read the Bible, never heard of God, look around, what do you think God thinks of you?, and lastly, What do you have to say? My first answer that came to mind was the “He is an artist”. That’s all I could think about. He painted the picture and brought it to life for us to see. My next answer is the title of this blog. God is my secret admirer. Once I read the second question, I began drawing a picture. This is the exact picture that I drew…
**im having some technical difficulties… check back tomorrow for the picture**
The question says “imagine you NEVER read the Bible, NEVER heard of God. I pictured God as my secret admirer. It’s like in elementary school when you would get valentines and not know who they were from, but it made you happy. In the picture, I drew God on the one side giving me food and He has a huge smile on his face because He loves me and wants to give me everything. But, since I don’t “know” God, I put a line between us because I can’t “see” Him, all I see is a plate of food. Around me is a bunch of question marks because again, it’s just food being handed to me from no where.
God gives us this everyday. Whether we know him or not. He gives us the trees, rivers, mountains, oceans, lakes, so no matter if you know Him or not, you still question that maybe someone out there made this just for me. Luckily, I know God. I know that he made everything that I can see, just for me. That’s why taking hikes is one of my favorite activities because it’s my favorite ways to see His creation! My last answer for the last question was “if anyone needs proof of God, just have them look around. He created everything INCLUDING you!”
Now, that activity was just one of many that we did. Hopefully that can give you a little outlook of how training camp went for me. In just 50 days from today, I’ll be heading out to launch for the World Race Gap Year, and words can not describe how excited I am to take this next step in life. If you want to keep up to date with my blogs, pictures, and videos, make sure to subscribe to my website!
