🙂 Never before have I experienced such a radical, drastic, quick, and awesome change as I have this past week. My world literally has done a complete 180, and I couldn’t be happier. Life before was so good, and life now is also so good. I love this change! P.S. this is coming from the girl who freaked out when her parents switched from AOL to Yahoo, who would pout for a little bit every time they cut down another tree by the PBU pond, and for whom picking out a new Bible was a major life decision 🙂 … Praise Jesus for His abundant grace that has changed my heart, and allowed me to be completely pumped about moving to a new phase in life!
A week ago I stayed up late in my room watching a movie, slept in, enjoyed my Dad’s amazing coffee, relaxed, and went to the gym. Then Saturday came, and I woke up, graduated college, said goodbye to friends, and flew to training camp.
Last night, I slept under a tarp with a bunch of my teammates under an incredibly starry sky, cooked our meals over a fire, woke up at 4am to wild dogs snarling and barking at us about ten feet from our tarp, and spent the next half hour or so with the girls huddled in the middle, 
praying out loud for God to miraculously protect us and send his guardian angels to surround us. (It all worked out okay, by the way.) Today we ate cornmeal mush, and grilled cheese with tomato, onion, and BANANA. We’re now simulating ministry in an area with no water, so we can’t shower or use a toilet until they tell us so (who knows when that will be.) All 70 or so of us are sleeping in a pavilion in our sleeping bags, awaiting our next instructions. My life has already become absolutely crazy and intense, and I love every minute of it.
We spent the first few days of camp focusing on our hearts, and what soul ties we need to give up. We’ve already “given up so much” to do this race (many, many of my squadmates have sold practically all they have,) but just like everyone else, sometimes the hardest things to give up are not material, but relational, theological, etc. It’s a long story -just know that God is doing a super huge work in all our hearts, and we are becoming a squad of unity, joy, and FREEDOM. It is amazing.
On my first morning, we put on our packs (giant one on the back, small one in the front), and hiked. Let me tell you, regardless of how in shape you may be, hiking up hills with 60+ pounds, before breakfast, with 2 hours of sleep, is KILLER. I didn’t have my pack adjusted right – all the weight was on my shoulders, rather than my hips. I can’t even TELL you what a relief it was to put down my pack, and learn how to readjust the straps to give myself a lighter load. Later, we talked about how even as Christians, we let ourselves be oppressed by unforgiveness, past hurts, idolatry, etc. The word oppression is defined as if someone was standing above you and pressing down on your shoulders. This was of course followed by many heart felt prayers and tears by many as we sought to give up our burdens to Christ, readjust our hearts, and continue our journey with a lighter burden. It just gave SUCH clarity to the message! So that’s just an example of some of the stuff that He’s been up to at training camp.
Thanks SO much for your support and for praying for me and the squad. We feel your prayers. Love you all 🙂
From AOL to freedom. I simply love it! And who knew that banana’s in a grilled cheese could actually work. Excited for even more brokeness, more changes, and more freedom in your life. This only scratched the surface of what God has in store for you woman of God.
Blessings
(the pregnant lady at camp 🙂
It’s so exciting to hear about training camp, and the awesome things God is doing in your squad. My husband and I are leaving in January 2012, so it is awesome to hear about the challenge/fun of training camp that we will get to experience in a few months! 🙂