So training camp. White, Georgia. A lot happened.
While I was in it, it seemed to be weeks long; and once it was over it seemed so quick.
I met awesome people- the staff, and my incredible S squad. I embraced dirt. And bugs, and showers sans hot water, and bathing in the lake, and wet clothes, and sleeping in my hammock, and living out of a backpack. We ate a lot of carbs. I met Jesus and felt for the first time, His redemptive love and how He has set me free. I had the opportunity to hear brilliant, wise people teach and share their hearts. I worshipped my God and let all my cares melt away. I was encouraged, uplifted, prayed for, and loved. I got to feel community with men and women who have hearts to follow God’s will and are ready to sacrifice their whole lives to serve.
I’ll start with the drive. I left Friday May 17th, and drove to Philadelphia where I picked up 3 other World Racers. Commence 1 million hours of driving. Maybe not a million hours, but I think our anticipation for training camp made the drive seem rather long. At one point, I was able to sneak in a country song (evidently not everyone shares my affinity for country music)- the lyrics were parallel to our lives at that moment so I felt like I should share:
Walkin' to the south out of Roanoke
I caught a trucker out of Philly had a nice long toke
But he's a heading west from the Cumberland gap
To Johnson City, Tennessee
And I gotta get a move on before the sun
We may not be truckers (we also didn’t toke..) but my Honda Civic coupe sure kept on truckin’ through our travels, aaaand we stayed in a hotel in Johnson City, TN. It was just affirmation that we were clearly right where we were supposed to be- Wagon Wheel said so 😉
We arrived and checked in at camp on Saturday a little after 4; I was overjoyed to see all the beautiful faces of the men and women I will be growing so close to and working alongside in our ministries over the next year. We set up our tents and got comfortable in the very wet field that was our home for the next week. Over the next few days, we shared meals and got soggy in the rain. We worshipped with an awesome band, and absorbed powerful words from some people with hearts after God's.
All of this was good, and I was excited to be there, but something felt askew. I felt closed off and disconnected. Which is abnormal for me- I’m generally full of feelings. I felt really far from God, I wasn’t being moved by the music, the speakers’ words weren’t hitting right, I couldn’t even focus on praying. I didn’t share this with anyone because I didn’t understand what was going on, and it seemed to me like this was the last place this should be happening. I kept sending up prayers like “Jesus, I don’t what’s going on but PLLLLEASE let me feel something. Let me feel your presence, let my heart open up,” and He did eventually, but not how I expected.
I’ve decided to break up the training camp blog into a few short ones, so as not to bore you 🙂 Tune back in for the next part tomorrow!
Also, fundraising update: I still need $1,500 to launch in July.
