10 days. In just 10 days, 42 strangers became 42 brothers and sisters. In just 10 days, my world was turned upside down. In just 10 days, I was made new.
It’s hard to put this into words. I can’t seem to form a sentence to explain this experience.
Throughout these past ten days, everything changed. I fell in love. I fell in love with God, with myself, with these people, with this life. I learned to love cold bucket showers, 7am workouts, tasting weird food, and sleeping outside. (But I will NEVER be cool with finding spiders in my sleeping bag) I discovered walls I didn’t know existed, my heart was broken, then healed. I cried, worshiped, and laughed until I couldn’t breathe.
I will never forget the experiences I had. I will never forget the night we camped out under the stars where I was woken up by wolves/coyotes/dogs (whatever they were, they were terrifying), and I will never forget Mark sleeping with lighter fluid and a knife to protect us from them. I will never forget staying up until sunrise to worship together. I will never forget the happy tears when we found a room filled with pillows and candy. And I will never forget the shift in the room whenever we all began to worship at the top of our lungs. I will never forget how this week made me brand new.
I remember going into training camp thinking that “no one here is like me, what face should I put on?”. I remember being afraid of having no friends and ending up alone for 10 days. I remember thinking it was going to feel like crap to be away from home and my friends. Let me tell you, I have never been more wrong in my entire life. I spent 10 days with my brothers and sisters. It took one night, and we discovered that we were a perfect bunch of misfits. I spent 10 days being surrounded by people who longed to know me deeply, and truly. I spent 10 days being loved and built up by the amazing people I get to do life with this year. I spent 10 days in heaven on earth and dreaded coming home.
Now, I’m sitting here, in my comfortable bed, listening to worship songs and praying that these next six weeks fly by. I’m already missing that Georgia heat, and days filled with surprises. I cannot wait to get back to these people and this life. It’s surreal to think that the next time I see them, we will be headed out to Costa Rica. I can’t wait for the happily tearful hellos, and to pick up right where we left off.
Training Camp, thank you for the best week and a half of my life. Gap H, thank you for the best Family I could ever ask for. And thank you Jesus for allowing this week to wreck my life.
