Training Camp is wrapping up here at Adventures again. This was my first experience actually being on the other side of lens. I got to see 200+ new young people come ready to be prepped to head out on an amazing journey. It is so amazing to see their excitement, fire, and readiness to go. I think one thing that many of them will come to see is something that happened to me.
You will be changed on this journey…
The race offers you a unique opportunity to place yourself in an environment that is primed for life transformation. The only thing we have to do is allow it to change us. It will be filled with the Holy Spirit, He will prompt conversations, draw out struggles, and break chains that you may have been holding on to for years. I know that was the case for me. It was hard for me to buy in. I had many different preconceived notions on how I thought the race would go, but I know now it was nothing at all that I imagined it would be.
Let go and buy in…
This is something I wouldn’t realize till later in my race, and it was in ways I never would have thought. God was pushing me toward discovering who I am; the gentle, kind-hearted, servant-minded, loving person He made me to be. He revealed in me a desire to work with children, which was not in my plan at all. I discovered how much I cared about those people around, but allowing myself to be open with them and trust them would swing wide doors for community to grow and relationships to deepen. Once I gave permission for the journey to change me, I have not looked back at all.
I say all this and am reminded that this isn’t easy. I don’t think it ever is. Days will be hard, you will have times when you want to implode, but through it all you will see greater things come. Giving in doesn’t make the road easier, sometimes it gets tougher. I felt naked and vulnerable when I finally gave in. I laid it all out in the light, felt pretty gross, but that allowed for me to step into everything God was calling me into.
It is never too late…
Just to end this, it is never to late to let go. If you get toward the end of the race and still need to let go, YOU STILL CAN! It is never too late to let go and let God change you. My simple advice is to just do it, you will grow so much more and begin to see your true identity in Jesus. I know that if a messed up, broken, stubborn guy like me can do it, I know you can too.
