ALL IN!

I come, to you this morning, heavy hearted. For those of you that are around me often, you know that I broke my arm/shoulder on Monday, a week ago, at church camp. I would like to share my experience with you. But, before I begin, I feel it is necessary to try and express to you how excited I was about camp. Youth summer camp is something I always look forward to helping with and participating with our youth group every year. This year, as well as last year, we/Central Baptist Church were going with one of our sister-churches and their leaders and youth…from West Union Baptist Church, to Teen Extreme Camp at Pensacola Christian College. I had been praying and prepping for camp for months! I had memorized the theme verse for the week. Once I received word of what our team color was, I started surfing Pinterest, Etsy, Amazon and Google for ideas on “orange diy door decor for church camp”…(with little help I must say). I had placed a couple Amazon orders for door decorations and wardrobe accessories. I made trips to multiple Dollar Tree stores looking for decor and accessories. I even created/designed a front page to go with the handout for the youth of what to bring to camp…in hopes of building team spirit!

We left for camp last Monday, the 14th, headed to Pensacola… “Beach Bound” was the theme this year. I had high hopes and was in full anticipation of all the great things that the Lord had in store for us for the week. We arrived and checked in at 2:00 pm, went through a brief orientation, unloaded all of our luggage from the church van, and made our way to our dorm rooms to get settled in. When we finally figured out who was supposed to sleep where, lol, most of our girls unloaded their things, and wanted to head out and explore the campus. I was exhausted and on overload already from the drive, the heat, and the mass chaos of getting everyone where they were supposed to be, so I decided to hang out in the room and unload my things slowly and take in little bit of peace and quiet before dinner, while I had the opportunity. I worked on decorating our door in our team color…”orange”, and then began getting myself even more “pumped” with team spirit by donning my orange accessories. I applied orange glitter to my face, along with some orange-ish lip gloss lol. I tied my silky orange ribbon into a bow at the top of my ponytail, placed my orange, glittery-flowered lei around my neck, tied my orange bandanna below my left knee, and lastly, put my orange sunglasses on as I headed out to dinner to meet up with the rest of my team.

I snapped a quick selfie with my door on the way out lol. (Notice the camp theme verse-Joshua 1:9)

I met up with everyone at the cafeteria, where we had dinner, and then we all headed to the Annex, AKA the Sports Center, for our team meeting and to learn our chants/cheers. Excitement filled the air and grew, as we passed by each of the teams as they were screaming through megaphones, chanting and doing hand motions. The team staff leaders boosted everyone’s energy, pumped them full of team spirit, and then led us to the opening/team competitions in the Arena. Once everyone entered the Arena, each team was introduced via microphone and flashing lights, flags, team emblems and loud cheering surrounded us. Then the games began! It was a game that had a tower made of foam-like blocks of each team color in each of the 4 corners on the floor and multiple, huge, over-sized beach balls flying in every direction across the floor of the arena. There were also some other balls, that looked similar to a beach ball but was probably twice as big, (and they were weighted) bouncing and flying around. The object of the game was to “protect your tower” from being hit by any of the balls. So when the balls would come flying through the air headed towards your team’s tower, your job was to hit them in the opposite direction. If a ball hit your team’s tower, the tower would then be knocked down by the staff member (if the ball didn’t knock it down), and your team would be out for that round. The staff would call different age groups and genders to rotate who would be on the floor playing each round. After the game had been going on for about 30 min, they called for all female team leaders/sponsors to take the floor, which included me. I wasn’t nervous at all. I was ready (or so I thought)! I was ALL IN!!! The whistle blew for the game to begin and balls started flying! Soon enough, a ginormous ball was headed right to me and before I could even think about it, my arms already in the air, I swung to hit it and knock it away from our tower, and instead, the ball hit my hand and plowed straight through it…which hyperextended my arm in the opposite/wrong direction, which is when I felt it snap…I immediately hit the floor in pain!

Everything around me immediately became a blur. I started to feel like I was in a movie in the middle of a bad scene. I could hear lots of people around me talking, but couldn’t really make out what any of them were saying…it was like a loud roar. All I could feel in the moment was pain. The feelings soon became more real to the point that I realized if I didn’t slow my breathing down that I was about to pass out. I became more coherent as security showed up and was able to sit up with assistance. I’m gonna skip the details and give you a brief synopsis of the rest of the incident. I spent the rest of the night in the ER. I got back to the dorms after midnight and my husband, Alan, arrived at 7:30 am in Pensacola to get me the next morning from camp.

Having to leave camp crushed me! My heart hurt as bad as my arm! But the ER doctor had made it clear that I needed to go home and get to an orthopedic asap. Why did this have to happen to me, I wondered? I was distraught physically and mentally. I know that God has a plan and we don’t always understand it…we just have to trust. But that is always MUCH easier said than done!

So here I am, 10 days later, writing to you. Sharing my innermost thoughts with you so that maybe you will receive a blessing in some way. I am not gonna lie…I am not in a good frame of mind right now. I am frustrated because I am having to try and function with one arm…which seems near impossible at times. And I am sad because yesterday made 17 years that I laid my little girl, Laken, in her final resting place. 17 years may sound like a long time, but she was my baby and it is still very painful…especially on certain anniversaries like yesterday. So today I woke up in a foul mood…(you could say). I am feeling sorry for myself and thinking of all the bad things that have happened to me and all the things that I can’t do for myself or to change the situations.

BUT…as I write to you now, the Lord is speaking to me and burdening me to change my thoughts and feelings. He keeps reminding me of the study that I just finished leading my ladies discipleship training class in “Get Out of Your Head”. And He also keeps bringing this year’s camp theme verse to my mind. Although I have it memorized, I pulled it up to read and re-read as God was speaking to me through it.

It is Joshua 1:9 (KJV) “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

He asks Joshua, “Have I not commanded thee to be strong and courageous?”, but this is a reminder that the command to be strong is not a suggestion—it’s a direct instruction from God. It’s meant to give Joshua authority and assurance. God Himself is speaking.

He tells him to “Be strong and of a good courage;”. Joshua was stepping into leadership after Moses’ death, about to lead Israel into the Promised Land—a task full of challenges. God tells him to be strong (inner resolve and endurance) and courageous (acting in the face of fear or uncertainty).

He also tells him “Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed:”. Fear and discouragement are natural, but God tells Joshua not to give in to them. Afraid means frightened; dismayed means feeling overwhelmed or defeated. Both emotions would undermine his mission if left unchecked.

He finishes with “For the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”  This is the foundation for Joshua’s courage: God’s presence. Wherever Joshua goes—whether into battle, through hardship, or across unknown land—God will go with him.

God used this verse, especially today, to remind me to be brave and strong during these trials I am facing right now and to remind me that He is with me always, through everything.  And also, to remind me to not let the discouragement and grief, that I’m feeling right now, overwhelm me to the point of defeat because He is here with me to give me the strength I need to continue on and He will walk with me through it.

God wanted Joshua to be ALL IN as he faced this new challenge.  Joshua was a man of faith, but he was human. Even though Joshua had great courage and history with God, he still needed reassurance—which is why God speaks the powerful words in Joshua 1:9. This is actually the third time in the same chapter (Joshua 1:6, 1:7, 1:9) that God tells him to be strong and courageous—showing how deeply Joshua needed that encouragement. Joshua was stepping into a huge roll…filling Moses’ shoes—an overwhelming task!

Like Joshua, we are human and often need reassurance.  And also like Joshua, we sometimes face new responsibilities, big challenges, fear of failure or of the unknown. God calls us to step out in courage, even if we feel afraid. His presence is our source of strength—“for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” We’re not alone in the battles of life.

God wants us to be ALL IN, in whatever we are doing and/or in whatever challenges we may be facing. Joshua 1:9 reminds and encourages believers who are facing challenges, changes, or intimidating tasks:

• God commands courage, not fear.
• We can face life boldly, knowing God is with us.
• His presence is our strength—no matter where we go.

#ALLIN  #bestrongandcourageous #hopefullhearts #Godisgreater