Hello everyone,
First things first: I apologize for falling off the blogging bandwagon, this summer has been crazzzzzy.
Updates for everyone:
- I graduated from college in May (it’s official, I’m no longer considered a kid)
- Moved home to spend the summer with my family and help prepare for two, yes two, weddings! My best friend is getting married August 1st and my sister is getting married August 23rd!!! SO MUCH EXCITEMENT!
- Had two big fundraisers (Elk’s Pizza Night and a garage sale). HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HELPED AND ALL WHO HAVE SUPPORTED ME THUS FAR!!!!
- Training Camp (see below)
Last week I was at training camp in the middle of nowhere in Gainesville, GA. I can’t even come up with the correct words to describe training camp. It’s exactly as the title of this blog… It left me mind blown.
- First- I was finally able to meet the wonderful people I will get to share this journey with. These people are more than acquaintances or friends, they are family. We are a family. And you can call us iSquad.
- Second- all the racers went through a whirlwind of emotions. From brokenness, to grieving, to healing, and learning to forgive. The trainers, squad mentors, squad leaders, and the rest of AIM really know what they are doing in order to prepare us for the field. The helped us deal with issues our conscious-selves didn’t even know we were battling. But with them and our squad, we are stronger than ever and ready to head out into the field.
- Third- Man, oh man was this not what I expected. And I soon realized it’s best to not have expectations. Going in to training camp, I had read blogs and talked to a few race alum, but I didn’t realize what it would be like. It was nuts. How about a play-by-play? Okay, you talked me into it.
- I arrived and was given dinner and set up camp with the rest of iSquad. Then we had worship and a session. When I use the word “session” it means a talk with a certain area of focus given by someone. Every day we 30 minutes of exercise. Each day was also themed to a certain area of the world: Asia, Central America, Western Europe, India, Africa, etc. We had many sessions that helped begin our spiritual journey the Lord has set out for us. We also did team exercises that helped us grow closer as a squad; as well as, helped figure out the teams that we would spend the 11 months with. TEAM WARRIOR!! I absolutely cannot wait to share this journey with them!!
- We also had different sleeping arrangements each night. Anything from camping out with no tents, to sleeping on a bus. Training camp was in tents, more or less. (Pun fully intended).
All in all, training camp was not what I expected, but I think it helped me prepare in ways I didn’t even know. I learned what I needed and what I didn’t need. I learned how to live in community and be able to ask for help when I needed it (getting all of your stuff taken away will teach ya that). I also learned that what God has in store for me is greater than I ever imagined.
xoxo,
Kaitlin
