May 26, 2010
Hey guys.
So. Day 5 of training camp. Feels like
month 5. I need a nap. Seriously.
When I arrived from the airport last
Saturday, I had the choice to head to a nice comfy cabin, or pitch my
tent. By gosh, if I lugged all this stuff all the way from Texas…
I’m using it. (Note to self: you will regret such snobishness very
soon). Well and. I wanted to try all my stuff out. Packing was
possibly the most stressful thing I’ve ever had to do. One tiny bag
for a whole year. For four seasons and four continents. Ummm…? I
left half of the stuff I really want to take on the race at home,
thinking oh I won’t need all this at camp. My pack at the airport was
46 lbs. Has to be down to 40 by the time I leave. Unh huh.
Basically though. It seems that the
entire purpose of training camp is turn your world completely upside
down. All the things I thought I could tuck away in my little bag,
and learn away into my little head could have in no way prepared me
for this adventure.
In the past few days I’ve: sucessfully
killed a scorpion with my bare hands, walked a mile in a forest with
my hands and feet tied together, carried an unconscious person to
safety after going blind in a plane crash, remembered how to throw a
frisbee, been ferried to a deserted island where we had to makeshift
a shelter and I cooked for 50 people, slept through a sermon or
two, built a giant airplane, canoed the length of a lake, judged a
dance contest, ateUgali (Ugandan corn meal mush) and dried fish
soup, and became a spy. And I did it all with absolutely no coffee in
my system.
Did I mention it’s only day 5??
But more than all that. God has
absolutely flipped my world upside down. It’s possible that for the
first time in my life I’ve caught just a glimpse of how much He
actually LOVES me. Which, is a whole whole LOT. I’ve met the coolest
people and had some out of this world conversations, whilst enduring nothing short of navy seal bootcamp. If this is at all what the actual
race is going to be like…I truly feel we are the luckiest people
alive. I feel so privileged to be here, that we live in a time and
culture where such an adventure is possible, and to have the loving
support that I do back at home. I am beginning to see that I am
trully a BLESSED daughter of God. Who just, at the moment, still has
no idea what to pack.
