When I think about the difference of preparing for a school trip and preparing to serve Jesus, I think about growing up in a public school and how we would have field trips where students basically just showed up and most of the students went to “get out of school” that day. I remember some students being frustrated that they couldn’t go because of their grades or having poor attendance. I felt that trips in that sense are trips that people just show up for the day of and don’t really prepare for besides wearing the appropriate clothes or bringing spending money depend on where they are going. Now as I am thinking about preparing to serve Jesus I think about all the time spent in prayer praying for humility, praying for sensitivity for everything I am about to see and experience, praying for the words to speak when necessary. I also think about all the prep gone into trips serving Jesus by taking intentional time praying with the people on my team. Some trainees on our team created opportunities for the interns to come together and pray for our trip, for safety and health for everyone involved, for our cooperatives we will be serving alongside when abroad this summer, and for our team to be the team Jesus has called us to be this summer.
Even though this is still the beginning of Boot Camp, I know that it is calling me to show up being my full self and giving my all. I have been given a big responsibility for our SLAM (Students Living A Mission) camp this week by managing one of the activities that happens every night of camp. With having that responsibility, I know I was placed in this role for a reason and that I need to be fully present in the moment for everything to fall into place. I feel like Boot Camp is calling me to continue being fully present in the moment in everything we are doing whether it is preparing for any sort of activities to come, the times of worship and Bible studies, the times of fellowship at host homes or during downtime between tasks, and all the times of prayer throughout the day.
I am so excited to see how the rest of this week unfolds and the rest of the summer helps me become the best version of myself by fully living through the lens of God.