Hey friends! Last week got super busy, so I wasn’t able to post a blog over my second week here in GA. So, I decided today would be the perfect day to write one, over last week and another one over my third week! 🙂 To just look back on how the week went and also sharing what I learned, so let’s do it!
We start our day with breakfast @8am every morning, devotions @9am, and teachings @10am-12pm. Temp. checks @12:10pm, lunch from 12:30-1:30pm, rotations, dinner @5:30pm, team time @6:30pm, and lights out/quiet hours @10pm. So, our day consists of a lot! But I absolutely love it and I learn so much every single day.
One of the things I learn the most from is when we do devotions. With each devotion, it looks different every time. Our team leaders take turns to lead our devotions each morning and they share with us how they personally dig into God’s word :). My favorite from week 2 was Anna’s from Gap C. She took us to Psalm 136 and it completely changed everything for me that week. We started out in prayer, then we journaled a little letter to God, and afterwards, we put this chapter into our own words. In the beginning of this chapter it reads, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” In the next 25 verses, we gave the Lord thanks for what He has done in our lives and just wrote them down. So, I’ll share a couple of what I wrote down personally! My first one says, “Thank you, Lord, for loving me so intentionally. His faithful love endures forever.” Second one, “Thank you Lord, for meeting me where I am at. His faithful love endures forever.” Then the next 24 or so, is WAY more personal, so I won’t share them on here. But, while I was writing all of these down, it made me realize how much God brought me out of. How much He has protected me from and how He turned each trial into such a testimony. That everything I did go through, all of those scars, brought me so close to the Lord.
At the end of this devotion, as we were heading to our teaching session for the day, I completely just broke down. I couldn’t help but cry, because I was like wow… God is so so so GOOD. The fact that even after everything I chose to do, all of the baggage of my past, God still loves me just the same and never gave up on me in those rough seasons. Through all of that, He forgave me and continues to do so. And even right now… as I am surrendering all of that to the Lord, FULLY, He has shown me love and affection. Blessing me with such a loving community rooted in HIS LOVE.
So, within that entire day, I was able to let go of a lot. Let go of the things that held me captive for so long, pouring all of my mess out, and filling it with God’s grace. And it’s so beautiful to see God work in all of this and express His love for me through my community here. It was about 6:45pm and I was in the training center with the rest of my squad, split up into our teams. I was having a hard time that entire day and I just asked God, “please comfort me and show me your love through those around me”. And guys… after praying this prayer… four of my squad mates who had no idea what I had been dealing with that day, came up to me one after another, giving me a letter they wrote to me, telling me how much they appreciated, loved, and cared for me. AND WHEN I TELL YOU MY HEART!!! I couldn’t help but cry AGAIN, because God just answered so fast and comforted me just like that.
But the reason I wanted to share this day with all of you is because, every day on the race is not perfect. A lot of my time here is emotional, real, raw, and hard. BUT, in the same way, I have never felt more free, fulfilled, excited, ready, and loved. Learning, growing, and LIVING like never before. With every moment of every day, experiencing and watching God move in ways I have never seen before. And I get to be a part of that?! Him teaching me, guiding me, and speaking to me in a whole new way? Wow. It is so rewarding.
So yeah! Thanks for tuning in today y’all! Can’t wait to share more of my heart with y’all in the upcoming weeks. Love y’all so big!!!
– Blessings, Jamie Schroeder
Song recommendation:
Scars by I AM THEY.
Yes!! I love this!! You are seen, you are loved, you are FREE!
This is beautiful. I can already tell God is transforming you so much and it’s so amazing to watch. You are so loved. I can’t wait to meet you one day soon!!
Loved reading this! Amazing to hear how the Lord has moved during this season. God’s calling you to more and I can’t wait to see what that looks like!