Picture this: it's my first morning on the AIM campus, for our first day of our training. I get up way before my alarm, because I was too nervous to sleep. I labor over choosing an outfit that seems appropriate for a first day, that gives off a good impression to the people I'm going to be spending the next 3 months with. (it was a lot of pressure on one outfit) I get out of my tent that was much too warm, and am greeted by the people in my cohort, who I was way too nervous to talk to. We head off through a grassy field to walk to breakfast, my feet are soaked due to the morning dew, and I'm wearing birkenstocks (the wrong shoe choice for wet feet). We get to the stairs that are much too steep, and very hard to walk down. All of these circumstances came together for the perfect storm, and in an instant, I found myself on the ground! I had fallen on my knee, and scraped it pretty badly. A rough first start to my next three months. At the time it felt indicative of how those three months would go.

When I first came to Georgia, I remember feeling SO overwhelmed, and so incapable of finishing the race. It would make my head spin imagining spending the next 9 months of my life doing missions, whenever that's something i've never done before. I was truly doubting my abilities, and God’s abilities to help me through this time. 

Looking back on it now, I feel silly for having been so worried! The past few months of my life have been filled with so much growth and so much goodness. Joy has undeniably been the word for this season of life. There isn't a day that has gone by that I regret being here. I also can’t express how much the Father has been doing in my soul in this season! SO much learning & relearning, diving deeper into relationship with Him and in result, with the people around me! Truly such a sweet season, that I have been so privileged to walk through.

My squad is about to leave campus & go our separate ways for Thanksgiving break. This upcoming break has made me reminisce on all of the sweet time I've spent here. I also realized the other day that my knee, which was so wounded, is now healed! How crazy! And what a good metaphor for my time here! I was really on the struggle bus coming to AIM. Felt underprepared, less than, unqualified, and incapable. Now on the tailend of my time here, I can see how beautifully the Father has brought restoration and healing to my doubts and shortcomings. I’ve found myself  looking at my knee, amazed at how perfect it looks! Almost like the scar never happened. I think God's love is a lot like that. He takes us in broken, hopeless, scarred, and through his perfect love brings healing and hope, and makes us whole in Christ! No more scars. No more chains.