So, I have been back to APU for about 2 (almost 3) days now & I figure before these next ten days I should get a blog in there somewhere.
First,
it feels so INCREDIBLE being back... each year I think I leave more& more of myself here on this campus and when I return it's literally like connecting with whatever part of myself I left here.
Complete, that is a great word for this situation. I am complete here that whole knowing this-is-exactly-where-I'm-supposed-to-be thing?
Yeah, that exists.
These past few days have just been one big preparation for something I have talked about before....
WALKABOUT!
What is walkabout?
Well this year I am going to be a Freshman RA (oh shoot!)
And with that leadership opportunity comes intense training (spiritual, mental, mind, body, soul the whole shabang) the first part of that training is a ten day backpacking trip in the wilderness somewhere which is called Walkabout.
All the RAs are split up into teams (of about 11 or sometimes fewer), lead by highly qualified guides & are dispersed into different mountain like areas with packs filled with the entire teams food, a change of clothes &toothbrush (maybe not that drastic... we do have like warm clothing for the evening, hat for sun protection, sunscreen and lots and lots of wet wipes because that is our only source of being clean!)
This part of training, is really to focus on who we are as leaders, individuals, servants of Christ before we get into How to be an Ra, we need a strong understanding of who we are in Christ.
Understanding our strengths & weaknesses, realizing the different mechanisms we have when it comes to being faced with challenges...
I'm not going to lie... just writing this out is actually giving me a huge comfort.
as you can see by a previous post I was not Walkabouts number one fan, in fact you could almost say that all summer I have been dreading it.... but it's here ( 5 am tomorrow is meet up time!) and I refuse to be a Jonah and run from it (I really can't do that anyway... But just so you know, I have thought of it)
So for the next ten (11 ish) days I will be ruffin it out with a team of people in the wilderness, talkin about Jesus, laughin it up & then for two days we have a time called Solo.
Solo is 48 hours of fasting, and well.... solo time.
This is probably what I am most excited about, I always seem to meet God in such an intimate way when I am immersed within the very presence of his creations.
The fasting doesn't bother me either, sure it's going to be bit hard but man (nor woman) lives on bread alone (Matthew 4:4)
Why didn't I blog about this before?
I am at such a peace right now about this whole trip!
Exhale.
This morning before we packed up our packs... we had a time of devotional & worship.
My CA (Community Advisor) Chelsea, spoke about Esther, what she was called to do & how she kinda did not want to do it. And then she brings up Mordecai's words of advice to Esther & about the thought that maybe she was deemed, purposed for such a time as this ( Esther 4:12)
WOAH.
I was created for an ultimate purpose.... but within that ultimate purpose are sub-purposes of which I was also created for.
Walkabout is one of them.
To back out of the opportunity to backpack with great people, have tough & memorable conversations, hearty laughs and to be stretched out of my comfort zone is what I was created for right now.
When she talked about this... and I thought about my fears, insecurities etc God laid it upon my heart to say my own name...
Arielle.
Which means Lion(ess) of God.
LIONESS.
I think its time to allow God to instill in me my namesake.
To be courageous...in him.
To fear nothing... but him.
So here we go.
Tomorrow at 5am I will leave and embark on a journey where I want nothing but to experience all that God would have me experience.
LETS GO.
WALKABOUT 2012.
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