We all have those moments where we meet someone and instantly think "I am going to love this person" right? Unfortunately, these moments are rare and usually the opposite is found more often to be true. But not for me this past week. After traveling all day to Training Camp in the great state of Georgia, we ended our day at the Atlanta Braves game. Joining us at this game was a large group of the people I would be traveling around the world with over the next year. I had some nerves about meeting them, but I was more excited than anything else. After shaking many hands and introducing myself, I came across a lovely Canadian beauty, Nikki. 
Being the goofy person I am, one of the first questions I asked her was "Do they call Canadian bacon 'just bacon' in Canada"? Now, putting everything on pause, I knew that by asking her this goofy and ridiculous question I would see where her sense of humor was at and to my surprise, it was at an all time high! The night was just the beginning of this bonding that would take place, not only between me and Nikki, but 54 other beautiful and unique individuals that I am honored to know and call friends.
Training Camp was one of the most intense and powerful weeks of my entire life. It would be impossible to explain everything that happened in this one blog. But no need to panic, more will follow. However, I am going to share one of the things that touched my life the most this week: community. I have been a part of many different groups, small groups, friendship circles and activities, but never in my life have I experienced community like this week (other than my family). Most of us hardly knew each other, but there was this bond so strong you would think we have been friends our entire lives. It was so powerful, people felt comfortable sharing their deepest secrets, greatest struggles and strongest fears with basically complete strangers. Only Jesus could create an environment so open and free. People were getting free from things they'd been struggling with from childhood. We were opening up to each other in ways I hadn't seen before.Community in it's truest and purest 
forms. It was so beautiful and such an incredible picture of how the body of Christ should operate. Complete honesty in a non judgemental environment, but quite the contrary; an environment of love and grace. We weren't there to point fingers, we were there to love and accept each other as we were. It touched my heart in a way these words cannot explain entirely. But I know it touched our Father's heart to see His children bonding together in such a powerful way.
The second thing that really changed me this week was feedback. We were given many opportunities to give each other positive and constructive feedback. Now, receiving constructive feedback from your closest and dearest friends isn't easy, but imagine from basically strangers revealing things in your life that need to change. Now to give a little history, I have experienced feedback in some of the worst forms. In either people not being honest or people leaving me feeling like a worthless human being. However, this wasn't like either. After hearing these things from my new friends, I left feeling loved, accepted and valuable. I was sitting in this group with three of my friends, and the words they were saying to me were most definitely from the Lord and spoken in love. Who knew that you could be so honest and open hearted with people and not feel hurt or offended at the end. It was beautiful. I am more than thankful for all the feedback I received this week. It has already changed me and made me a better person, closer to the likeness of our Saviour. The lessons I learned, the ways my eyes were opened and the bond that was created in the process is something I will cherish, not regret. Learning that there is a difference between motivating people and pulling potential out of them, there's a time to speak and a time to listen, making people feel important and learning to serve as a form of leadership – all such valuable and important truths I was able to take away from this. 
To bring this story to a close, I challenge you to open your heart and begin to approach the people God has put in your life in a honest, and loving way. Let's bring down the walls of our hearts that we have built up so high and let people inside, let Jesus inside. Becuase what is the point of going through your whole life without anyone knowing the real you. How much we miss by not being honest with one another, because it is in that raw and complete honesty we find our dearest friends and maybe ourselves as well.
