blog post from 9/4/2022-
Wow. This first week of the race has been absolutely insane. Going into this, I knew it was going to be difficult. I knew it would be draining, I knew I would break down walls, and I knew I’d learn so much more about Christ and my identity in Him. But I never thought that it would happen so. fast. We have two sessions of teaching a day, taught by amazing leaders who practically drown us in Scripture and I LOVE IT! I’m learning more about God than I ever have, and I’m feeling the Holy Spirit move in astonishing ways. On Wednesday night we were doing worship with about half of our squad, singing I Thank God and jumping around dancing and screaming for the Lord. I was so joyful and excited at that moment that I jumped so hard, lost my balance, and tripped over one of my friend’s feet, landing on the floor and breaking my ankle. I heard it crack as I landed on it, and I hit the floor as my stomach dropped. I’ve fractured that ankle a couple of times and know exactly what that feeling is, the pain here was almost worse than those. I tried to move it around and it hurt a ton, and once people realized they went running for leadership. At this moment I thought I was going to urgent care- or even home. I immediately turned towards the earthly consequences of my injury and not the heavenly power of my God.
A bunch of leadership came into the room and they came down to my level to examine my foot. I was asked where my pain level was at, which was a 6 (whether or not that was an attempt to be stronger than I really am is still a mystery to me) and everyone placed a hand on me and started praying. I heard the voices of some 30 people absolutely trusting and believing in the Lord and His power to cause healing for me. I was still sitting there, with my eyes open, confused. I’ve always read about the amazing power of God in the Bible and heard about it from other people, but always doubted the fact that we’re told that the exact same power that raised Jesus from the grave lives inside of us. I also was confused at the fact that 30 people were pouring their heart out for the well being of my ankle. Something clicked inside my brain and I thought, “Who am I to tell the Creator of the universe that His power is not worth using? He takes care of the sparrows and lilies, to the largest galaxies in the universe.” I believed in this power. I believed that He could heal, that He WOULD heal, if it was His will.
The second I started praying and said this to God I felt something in my ankle move. After everyone finished praying I stood up hesitantly, absolutely in awe of the fact that I was able to walk around. It only hurt a little bit (I told them my pain was at a level 1), but one of the squad leaders told me to sit back down and that we would get my pain to zero. After the second round of prayers I had zero pain not only in my foot but my entire leg. None of the soreness from walking up our gigantic hill on campus, and none of the pain I normally live with every day. My jaw was absolutely on the floor. I look back in conviction of being so doubtful of His power. His power is full, His power is perfect, and His power lives in us. I’m also reminded that God doesn’t heal us enough to get up and walk away, but for us to be healed to completion. For us to fully experience just how good He really is.
The time at training camp since then has been filled with even MORE healing, more things being revealed about the Lord, the comforting presence of the Holy Spirit, and of course, a ton of rain. All of our tents are flooded as I write this. The bucket showers are cold, the bug bites are endless, and the vending machine runs out of snacks way too quickly, but absolutely NONE of that matters because God is so so so good every day. He shows up in endless ways and I continue to see His love in every corner of this place. Have I mentioned I LOVE my squad? These people I get to do this with are the greatest, most God-honoring, joyful, beautiful humans ever and I’m so happy I get to do life with them.
This week has been so tough but filled with restoration and healing. I can’t thank God enough for continuously changing the posture of my heart over this time and only pray that I continue to grow in His love for me (and that I don’t break any more bones)
(p.s. This amazing title is brought to you by our amazing team leader Drew)
Goodbye from Gainesville :)
