Well I for one can't believe it has been a week since training camp! I can now no longer say that I have never been camping, lived out of a backpack, slept on the ground with no tent, or eaten an entire meal (including dessert) made over a fire. (Side note: I think biscuits cook much better in a good ole fashion oven then they do over a fire). I mean after day three I really thought that ive been camping my entire life, so I promise you can catch on to everything fast! So heading to the great state of Tennessee I honestly had no idea what to expect or what at all would happen at training camp, which was perfect because thats exactly what we had to do the very first night; drop ALL expectations and be open to what God was gonna do in this next year. Letting go of our expectations was made much more real by the fact that we were doing this while walking in the dark through the woods holding a torch with 5 other people. Now when I am in Africa and upset that something is not going my way, I can think back to that night of trying to fit 5 people at the same time all down a small little path while holding a fire stick, and be reminded of how I already made the promise to let go of my expectations. I had expectations even that first night that I didn't even realize I was holding onto and letting those go changed everything. It is seriously so much more exciting and rewarding just to be open and willing to respond to Gods plans and not your own. So yea back to having no expectations about training camp, even after arriving there is very little that you get told and almost none of the schedule of each day gets revealed. But you will soon realize that almost EVERYTHING at training camp is intentional and has its purpose. And somewhere between sharing a tent with a teammate, exercising every morning at 7, and getting over a fear of spiders you didn't even know you had, this long week starts making sense and the 45+ people you are just meeting become your family. Sounds crazy right? Well honestly it is, and the only thing that ties it together and gives it any understanding is the fact that God has called us all to be apart of His work of spreading life, hope, and love to His children around the the world. .
