It's back to the real world this week. I'm still trying to process everything that happened this past week at training camp, and put into words for all of you…
It was amazing.
It was scary.
It was mind blowing.
It was freeing.
It was God's heart.
As soon as I finished registering and went to pitch my tent my heart was overwhelmed by love.
In an instant my family grew by 42.
None of us knew what we were getting into when we signed up for camp, but what we did know is that we are in this together and we were a family!
As a family we worshipped together, ate crazy new meals together (like fish soup), cried together, laughed together, slept in a bus together, rode in a canoe together, shared our hearts with each other, prayed together, encouraged one another, and everything in between.
The amount of love and support that continues to pour out from my family touches me deeper and deeper. The world better look out for this family of crazies that are on fire for Jesus, and are just dancing with excitement to share his love!
Each person that was at camp had a desire. A desire to love our Father like never before and to love others like never before.
All of the alumni that were at the camp had a desire. A desire to show us how to love Abba like never before, and to love our brothers and sisters like never before.
Community is one of the key elements of this adventure. Learning how to get along with people that you have never met before and maybe people that you would never choose to get to know. That was one thing that I kept hearing after we were assigned teams. "Well, it's not exactly the people that I would have chosen to be in teams with, but I couldn't imagien it any other way." Maybe this is a hint that the way that we think and chose things in our lives might not always be what we need. When we choose things/people to be in our lives I think we make those choices based on what we are comfortable with subconsciously. It is not natural to choose the unknown. We are doing just that though, E squad is embracing the unknown and trusting in God that he has the best plan.
In the act of choosing God's plans and embracing the unknown and the uncomfortable there was something new in the air in the backwoods of Georgia (and no it wasn't the smell of 100+ people that probably hadn't bathed in two days haha) The new element in the air was freedom. Freedom of what, you ask? Well each person would probably tell you a different freedom that they experienced. Here are a few I know that were felt: Freedom to not let our past hold us down. Freedom to not worry about tomorrow. Freedom from hurts that we thought we had let go of. Freedom from people that have held us back. Freedom from feeling like we are inadequate. Freedom in the fact that we ALL have a father that loves us. Freedom to worship in whatever way we feel most comfortable. All of these and more.
"I am chosen I am free. I am living for eternity. Nothing is going to hold me back. I am alive to live for you"
lyrics from an amazing song called "Holding Nothing Back" sang by Jesus Culture.
I am here to live for my Father who created me. I write this blog not to tell you my story as I go around the world trying to live out the word, but I am writing to let you all hear God's story through me. We must live life intentionally every day for him who created us.
I will leave you with that thought for now. I have many more stories from camp to share. I would be more than happy to share stories with you personally, just get in contact with me.
Thank you to every one who has helped me get to where I am now, and I hope and pray that God is revealing himself to you more and more each day.
