Yes, I filled out the application, I did the interview, I packed up my backpack and booked the plane ticket, but within the first day of training camp it became clear I was in no way shape or form prepared for what I was about to do. I wasn’t prepared to leave my friends behind and make new ones. I wasn’t prepared to look inside myself and process my biggest struggles. I wasn’t prepared to be thrown so brutally far outside my comfort zone so quickly. But I’m glad I wasn’t prepared. Since I didn’t realize what I was getting into, I didn’t have time to worry or be guarded. I just went with it.
God showed me so many things I had been blind to for so long. He showed me my weak points, the places I need him the most. The most important thing I learned/took away from that week is that God is good. This past year, I was angry with God. Angry about the suffering going on in the world and why he seemed to be absent from my life. At training camp, through a painful and arduous process, I accepted that God is good no matter if I feel like he is or not. It’s not up to me. I may feel joyful, I may feel weak and useless, I may just feel plain sad, but God doesn’t change the way I do. The lies I tell myself on a daily basis can be overcome. I’m more than what I tell myself I am. The things I struggle with have already been overcome by Jesus Christ my savior. Even though my body wants to revert back to sinful patterns and behaviors, I simply have to be reminded that I am no longer tied to them. I am FREE to live as God made me.
Apart from enlightening self-reflection, I met 41 amazing squad mates from all over the continent, ate some whacked out food, braved bugs, port-a-potties and a week with no showers. I met the 6 lovely people I will be closely working with: 
Team Geronimo: Anna, Megan, Sam, Josh, Henry and Grace! (also pictured, new friend Gary!)
I cannot wait to start working and living with these people!
