My WinShape Experience

Bill and I are here in Union Mills, North Carolina at the Center for Intercultural Training (CIT) preparing to go to Thailand as missionaries in August. As part of the Team Training, CIT brought in a group from Georgia called WinShape Wilderness. They are affiliated with Chick-fil-A.

These are my reflections on the team building experience. I hope you enjoy reading about my experience. April

My WinShape Experience...

As I signed the waiver for WinShape
I felt uneasy as I read climbing and repelling tower.
Yikes! What was I in for today!?

I decided right there and then,
to choose to be open and childlike
and to fully participate.
I challenged myself to be open
to what the Lord wanted to teach me
through the WinShape Experience,
and I knew I could not do that from the sidelines.

So, the Trust element was started in me
before I hit the classroom.

I found it interesting that at least
four of the people in my general vicinity,
had the same one sentence definition
of Team that I had.

The Blind Walk, was an exercise in trust.
I felt completely at ease
putting my trust in Bill,
even as I heard cars flying down the road.

The Zoom Activity started with
much talking and little order,
but someone quickly turned
our chaos into order.

In this activity and others,
it blessed my heart to see
person after person step up and
lead, encourage and challenge.

We always seemed to work together
for the common goal.
No one seemed to be looking for
accolades or the spotlight.

The Zoom Activity helped me to analogize
that God can see the big picture,
and that He has called us to work with others on a team.
We need to trust Him and strive to make the team work,
even though things may not make sense to us
with our limited vision.

Stepping away and coming back together as a group
gave us a fresh perspective,
and I think that is a valuable lesson
I want to take to the field.

In Wild Woozy, I found out that
not only is it okay to lean on others,
but that it is necessary at times.
Just as we care for people and want to come along side
and help them through things,
we need to let others do the same for us.

I also found that I had a lot more confidence
in the activity, knowing that I had supporters
and encouragers all around me.
I am going to remember that in the field.

In the Shepherd’s Staff Activity,
it was imperative that we
worked together and communicated,
for the safety of everyone involved.

We openly shared concerns with each other,
when we saw the need for someone to
hold their line more tautly or loosely.
Nobody got their back up (at least openly),
at the request for correction.

As people encountered problems,
warnings were relayed about potholes
and tree branches.

When one person on our team found themselves in a hole,
they sounded the alarm,
and as a team
we immediately talked through a solution
and executed it, literally, step by step.

I thought, wow, wouldn’t this be a great
openness to be able to share in the field.
To be able to say...
‘Listen, I noticed you are headed for a pothole
and I care too much to let you just fall in.’

Instead of getting our back up
wouldn’t it be wonderful to have those words
be received with gratitude.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if my heart
accepted these words without self condemnation,
but with gratitude that someone
cared enough to say something?

I learned that we need to be pliable
when the pace is different than what we anticipated.
Or, when we end up in a position
that we did not expect to be in.

I also learned that I need to be willing
to both lead and to be led.
That there will be times for each.
I will be trusting the Holy Spirit for guidance in this.

Time and again throughout the day,
I saw true caring and love for each other.
I truly appreciated that today was not competitive in nature,
that we were all there to encourage each other.

I prayed my way through the day,
for safety, for fun and for learning
about ourselves and the Lord.
Throughout the day
many things were celebrated.

I end today with a joyful heart.
Blessed for the things I have learned.
Blessed for the way in which I learned them.
And blessed by seeing Christ in so many
people around me.

Praise God!