Week 3: Best & Worst Days of Training yet

Week 3 is officially over and ended up holding some of the best and worst days of my time here so far. We had a super fun adventure to Mt. Yonah but I ended the week at the doctor and in “quarantine”.

Highs this week…
– Started running with a small group of my squad and exercising more which was really nice to get back into!
– Mt. Yonah was my favorite day here so far. I will say it was a struggle getting up there with the steep incline (and having a 6 and 9 year old run ahead of you up the steep inclines is very humbling) but it was so worth it to be able to see that view and spend the night up there! I can’t even begin to describe how peaceful it was at night! On the way down the next morning, it genuinely felt like a 10 minute stroll, it was a great way to wake up and I was able to get some questions I’ve had, answered by my amazing TL!
– I’ve grown closer in friendships and our team has had a lot more time to bond.
– I’ve been more intentional with prayers and seen so clearly God answering and listening to those prayers. Somehow God even turns what seems to be negatives into partial positives. Before getting sick, a struggle of mine was finding time to dive deeper and get a better understanding of what we were learning. I’ve had more than enough time for that now and mentally feel ready for next week! We’ll see about physically, tomorrow. 

Lows this week… 
– As for the low’s, this is the second time I’ve been sick while here. Can’t say that is surprising, as I have a weak immune system and am living amongst 100+ people here, but it is still frustrating to not feel well and have to miss out on some activities. In a way, it seems like it’s almost impossible to be physically and mentally ready for each day.
– A few of us had to miss out on Friday’s session due to going to urgent care. Combined with CVS, to get our meds, we were gone for over 5 hours on Friday. (We did get to go out to lunch though and had some quality bonding time)
– We also had to quarantine all day Saturday so we missed out on the lake day.
– Getting sleep while sick and living with so many people on campus can be very tricky.

Teachings this week… 
   We did a 3 part series of the battle of your mind. We started with understanding the order in which God made this world to have and what is literally in our DNA to simply know/happen. We are born with knowledge and life skills that go perfectly along with the Bible and we gain a better understanding of ourselves when we understand that order in which God made us to function from. One of those things being the power of words. What we allow to go in and out of our minds has an impact on every single part of our life, whether we see it or not. The more we wash ourselves with God’s truth and promises, instead of what this world says we are, the more we open our hearts and minds to Him and His plans/ love in our life. If we are closed off from His Words and only open to what the world has to say/the lies of the enemy, it is so easy to fall into defeat and lack of purpose/ negativity.
   We also focused on finding the roots of issues we may be having in life. Typically the battle of our mind starts from a deep seeded wound or lie we have believed for years. It’s not necessarily easy to find the root and the cause of our hurts or why we do/ think things, but there are reasons behind everything we do and identifying those are so so important. At the end of the day though we know God and His truth is the answer to every problem or wound that may come up.

   Overall, something the Lord has been showing me this week is how no matter who I’m with, where I’m at, how I feel, God is the same today, tomorrow, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) His Word and promises are consistent and don’t change even if everything else around me is. (Isaiah 40:8) I am praying I will be 100% for next week!  We start stateside ministry tomorrow and leave for Florida in 1 week from today!