Week One

As most of you know, I have already been in Colorado for two weeks, so here is a "quick" recap of what has gone down so far.

The general format of a day on project is working or volunteering outside of the house until 5 and then using the evening to eat as a family and do some kind of training or evangelism activity. The first week we were here, we used our nights to do a modified version of what Athletes in Action calls "Ultimate Training Camp." Every night we went over a different principle of AIA and then we played ultimate frisbee for a couple hours, trying to put the principle discussed into practice on the field. All the principles apply directly to sport, but really are meant to be taken into everyday life as a Christian.

Although I was already somewhat familiar with the principles before I came here, going over them again was great! God really worked on my heart when we tried to apply the concept of " Hurtin' for Certain." While we were playing we were supposed to focus on dealing with trials in a Godly way and looking to God for support instead of getting mad. The story we went through for this principle was Joseph's life in Genesis. As we played we were allowed less and less rest time and the refs began purposefully making bad calls. I found my self getting exceedingly frustrated and angry, it was eye opening to think that while I was trying to focus on dealing with trials, how poor of a job I was doing. What would I do in "real life," surrounded by people who aren't going to encourage me in Christ? This definitely lead to a heart to heart with God later.

Our application of the principles in sport was pushed to the limit in our final days of UTC with and event called the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. (an acronym for Spiritual Principles + Exhaustion = Confindence In an Alimghty Lord). Over the course of 20 hours of team competition with little rest, the SPECIAL is meant to push athletes to the limit where they will completly surrender and rely solely on God. Throughout the breaks, leaders continued to read scripture about Jesus' last days on earth to remind us of Chirst's own sacrifice for us.

Reflecting on the SPECIAL later, I couldn't help but think of all the times I wanted to quit, moments throughout the day when I didn't want to go on. Although I hate that I would ever feel like this when trying to exemplify Christ, thinking about these moments only mkaes me fall more in love with Him. He payed the ultimate sacrifice for me, but instead of sprinting up and down endless hills or playing midnight basketball on the brink of exhaustion, He was tortured in the presence of Pilate and stumbled up a hill called Golgotha carrying the cross to which He would later be nailed for my sin. Comparing these experiences is almost laughable, but realizing that Christ never thought of giving up on me as He went through His own SPECIAL knowing that 2000 years later I would give up on Him takes my breath away. I have never felt closer to God than I did in the hour after the SPECIAL, and I thank God for bringing me through the pain to grow in Him.