After my Squad and I cooked an amazing dinner over the camp fire and sang worship songs by the lake as the sun set, we walked back to our makeshift campsite. I crawled into my hammock and drifted off into sleep, thinking that this was everything I ever thought it would be. Then I awoke by a raindrop on my forehead. I sleepily looked around and took in my surroundings. Around me I could see all my squad mates were fast asleep under the covering of the tarps we had strung up in the trees. Then there was me sitting in my hammock as it slowly filled with water every time thewind blew and shook the trees above me. I had a squad mate sitting underneath me, shielding her from the water and not allowing me to get down. I cuddled with my rain coat in an attempts to keep warm and dry but I ended up just looking up at the stars as rain drops continued to hit my face until the sun rose.
It was in that moment that I realized that the world race is in fact going to be a lot harder than I expected.
Training camp was 10 days full of being physically, emotionally, and spiritually challenged. I walked away on that last day with one thing on my mind, Coca Cola. Once my caffeine addiction was satisfied though I started to reflect on my experiences that past week. I went in to training camp thinking that it was just going to be a fun camp where I got to hang out with the people Id be spending a year with. I did not expect it to be as difficult as it was at all.
I think that training camp helped to prepare me for the world race in all the practical ways but it also helped me to realize that this is going to be hard. That there are going to be months where I don’t like the food,or I sleep outside in the rain. It also taught me that God has put me on a squad that is going to love and support each other throughout all of those challenges. That there are going to be moments in the midst of even the worst months where we will worship by the lake as the sun sets.
Six weeks. Thats all I have left, six weeks, until I go to the Atlanta airport and head off to Cote Ivoire. As time continues to tick away I am dealing with a flow of different emotions. I am so excited to finally depart and start the plan that I know God has for me. I cannot wait to go around the World and start spreading His good news with everyone I meet. I am also so incredibly sad that I will be leaving my family and friends for a year. They are so loving and supportive but leaving them is still going to be one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. I think that these fears are good, they show that I have been extremely blessed with a family that makes it difficult to say goodbye. For that I will always be thankful.
But still six weeks, that time is going to fly by and I still have a lot of things I need to get done before I leave. I am almost fully funded but not totally yet, and I could use any support you could give me. Most importantly I would love prayers during this next year of my life, if you want to keep updated feel free to subscribe to this blog for updates all throughout my travels. Thank you!
