"But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." - Exodus 9:16

God has been really speaking to me through this verse these past weeks - during and following training camp. I mean like WOW! God has taught me so much about who He is and what He has planned for this beautiful group of people! Here's an attempt to share some of what God has been blowing my mind with!

#1. But I have raised you up for this very purpose...

We are kind of an accident. Most of us were not intending to be on H Squad and launching in January 2021. Like me, others were planning on launching back in October. We have some who were originally going to launch in August. We have a handful who were already on the field, sent back home because of Covid-19, and decided to relaunch. In a way, we are kind of this random group of people who just kind of ended up here on this squad together. Crazy, right?! Of course, that's just one way of looking at it.

God opened my eyes to a new perspective. To Him, this was not an accident. He purposefully put all 44 of us on this squad together to do what He is intending to do. He knows what's up. He knows what He wants to do. So He made it happen. He put us all on one squad together. Even more crazy, right?!

At training camp, we took the time to say "yes" to each other and to say "yes" to God for this group of people. I looked around the room, and I felt so much love and peace for this new squad. And I just knew. God wanted me to be on this squad. I loved my original squad, and I still do, but I wasn't meant to be on that one. We are all right where we are supposed to be. There's a purpose here that has been planted in each of us for who knows how long, and God is working.

#2. ...That I might show you my power...

So, why this group? Why did He put me in H Squad? Why did He put each of the 44 of us in H Squad? I know that it was intentional - not an accident, but on purpose. So, why?

I'm sure there are so many reasons. And we might not know them yet. We probably won't ever know all of them, but let me tell y'all something. The unity in this community of believers is through the roof! And I think God wants to show us just how intentional He was by putting us together. To show us glimpses of Him in each of us and ourselves. To show us how to be as one body in Christ. To show the world who He is in us and through us. Which leads me to the last part of the verse.

#3. ...And that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

Now, here we are. Getting ready to go to all corners of the earth and proclaim His name and His love for all to hear. We are offering ourselves up to be His hands and feet to serve His lost and broken children whom He loves so much! And we get to be confident that He is going to work because He says that He will, right there in that verse! He keeps His promises. He is faithful and He is so good! And I know that He will follow through! He always has, and He always will!

He put His squad of 44 together intentionally. He is going to show us who He is. And He is gonna have the world experience His beautiful, reckless love! We are His squad. We are His 44. And He is going to do great things!

What a good God we serve!