When people ask about training camp, I typically stick with these answers:
-It was awesome! God really showed up!
-It was easily the most practical training camp I've ever been to.
-Um, yeah, it was great!
But that's mostly because training camp up to this point has proved pretty difficult to describe. After a week of processing mentally and verbally, I have figured out a pretty decent analogy for what God taught and reminded me at training camp.
Conveniently, the analogy deals with my favorite movie.
I hope you've seen "You've Got Mail." If you haven't, seriously? It came out in 1998. You've had 15 years. Go watch it! It has all of the essential components for a fantastic movie: Tom Hanks, book stores, New York City, epic romantic gestures backed by a Stevie Wonder song, etc. I digress. [Disclaimer: It isn't 100% necessary that you've seen the movie to go along with the analogy — I'm including a brief synopsis, but it is LADEN WITH SPOILERS, so keep that in mind.]
Okay, so, in the movie, Meg Ryan's character spends the majority of her time falling in love with this guy she met in a chat room. She knows none of his specifics. She doesn't know his name, his address, his occupation, race, height, eye color, etc. She has spoken to him enough to know that his character is worthy of her affection. Meanwhile, she meets Tom Hanks' character and soon finds out that he is the owner of the big book store across the street that is threatening to put her own small book store out of business, so she pretty much automatically hates him. And the feeling is mutual. They are the epitome of business rivals. After Tom Hanks' store forces Meg Ryan's to close (due to lack of business on her end) she decides that she'd like to meet this mystery online guy.
She is all dolled up and ready to meet him at their meeting spot when Tom Hanks rolls in. Obviously, she's pretty furious. They say some not nice things to each other and then leave, both feeling dejected and confused. She simply thinks her date stood her up, while Tom Hanks realizes that she is the woman he has spent a long time falling in love with online. Tom Hanks decides that she is definitely worth chasing after, so he starts to find ways to spend time with her. As they start to fall for each other in person, online guy suggests to Meg, who still does not know his real identity, that they try meeting again. At this point, she is very torn as to where her affection should fall. She goes to the meeting spot to meet mystery guy, unsure of what will happen. She stands there for a little while, waiting.
Suddenly, *shocker* Tom Hanks appears. She tears up and very sweetly whispers some derivative of, "I wanted it to be you so badly." True love wins. Bam.
Now, you may be wondering (rightfully so) what this has to do with me or Jesus or the World Race or anything, really.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you:
Three Reasons I Am Like Meg Ryan in "You've Got Mail."
1.) I have incredible acting chops. I fight God about what is usually inevitable.
Just as Meg Ryan fought the close of her beloved book store and the impending change in her life, I, too, have been known to fight God about issues I knew He would work out in me anyway. Example: I went to college knowing Jesus would probably call me to be a music major. What major did I start with in college, you ask? Oh, literature, of course. I tend to learn the hard way. I fought with God a long time about whether or not the race was for me, or whether I was insane for applying on a whim. There are constantly things that God brings up in my life, and I fight him about them. A never ending process. But eventually, I remember that He works things out for my good.
2.) I don't know many specifics about God (and that's okay).
Outside of what I know about God through conviction and revelations of The Holy Spirit and who the Bible says He is, I don't know many specifics. I know that He is both gentle and firm. I know that He can create or destroy nations with the wave of His mighty hand. I know that He loved humanity, His own creation, so much that He volunteered to become a man and struggle in every way we do, yet remain pure, so that He could take our sin upon Him and die with it so that we can draw closer to Him. Just as Meg doesn't have all of the details about Tom Hanks in the beginning, she takes them as they come, because she knows His character is worthy of love.
3.) Deep down in my soul, I know He will be waiting for me at the end.
At the end of the Race, at the end of life, and throughout the entirety of the journey. When I get there, I will probably say something like, "I wanted it to be You so badly." He is the satisfaction and fulfillment that I will have longed for my entire life. He is the eternal that will have made my temporary home seem incomplete. He is the goal.
My hope is that I will continue to fight for my relationship with Jesus as I fight for those I encounter on the race who cannot fight for themselves. My prayer is that as God reveals more of Himself to me, I will grow to love Him even more. Pray with me. Pray for me. I will pray that God changes you, too.
Grace and peace,
Sarah
