Warning long post, but have a couple of months to cover.
Hey everyone hope all has been well. It has been awhile since Training Camp and now the time has come we are in South Africa. So much has been going on in between and I want to bring you up to speed. During training camp we were told that we would feel many emotions leading up to the time for departure. The leadership was correct. For me, it had been 8 months since I had been home, I think for me that made for an even more emotional time. I do not feel like I was prepared to go home as I left Michigan for a reason and I honestly did not expect to return. After training camp I headed straight to a church retreat after only one evening at home. Being able to reunite and spend some time with the church was really great. Shortly after the retreat I settled into what was going to about a little over a month at home before launch. This was a tough time for sure, it is hard to explain all the emotions that I was experiencing. You can name many, I probably felt them all. I found myself sleeping much in a depressive state. I did get to spend a week in Washington which was really needed. After returning from Washington, my list of things to pack, administrative items to check off my list and classes that needed completion before launch all sat stagnant due to my procrastination. The days that I did feel energetic I would go visit with friends. I want to thank everyone at the hospital, every time I visited the amount of support I would received was really up lifting. Interesting enough, I felt most at home while visiting there. Ultimately however, the most relieving thing I did while I was at home, was turn my emotions over to Christ. I am thankful to be able to visit with everyone for sure, thankful to be able to go to REI 15 times searching for items I thought may need, thankful to have been able to spend a week in Washington and thankful for all the wonderful meals had with my family, thank you Melissa. The thing I am most thankful for was to be able to give my emotions over to Christ. I spent over a month wrestling with negative emotions after training camp before I finally decided to honestly and whole heartedly give all the emotions to Christ. He started working on me the moment I gave it over to Him, I started to settle emotionally and be more calm before leaving.
Then we left for Atlanta…. My dad and I headed to Atlanta for the squads to set up before launch to South Africa. Arriving at launch was overwhelming and it was a very busy weekend to say the least. Those of us in leadership classes arriving a day early for classes (Logistics Leader right here), multiple squads arriving the next day, multiple sessions and worship with and without our parents. Having the parents there at launch was really great, and I feel that many parents found comfort in being able to meet other members of the squad, other parents and the attending the parent sessions. I found myself again overwhelmed with the totality of the moment. There has been so much to process during launch weekend. Again, I found myself needing to have honest conversations with Christ during any free times I got and especially during times of worship. This is my one goal for this year, develop the most intimate relationship with The Holy Spirit I can. I am learning through this process to turn everything over to The Holy Spirit to help guide me. Learning to discipline myself to turn my emotions to Him has certainly been a process. I am thankful however, that the change He is allowing does not happen overnight. Just as instantly turning on a light in the middle of the night can be a pain, so it is with our transformation by Christ. Slowly I am learning to remain calm in situations and know He is Lord, this is making a huge difference in how I am responding to situations.
Time came for launch. After all the sessions and preparation for over a month, I was ready to get going. Setting still for long hasn’t been my strong point in the past so leaving for the airport was a relief. The squad was scheduled to depart the hotel at 145 am for a 545 am flight to Boston. Once in Boston we had a 14 hour lay over, which we took advantage of and explored the city for a short period. We then boarded our flight bound for South Africa. Our flight path took us 12 hours across the Atlantic into Doha, Qatar for a short layover, then onto a 9 hour flight into Johannesburg, South Africa. Our first travel day as a squad went very well. Only a few personal items left at airport terminals, I am thankful I have yet fallen victim to forgetting anything. Another good thing to report, not one squad members check in luggage was misplaced in transit. All in all it was a 46 hour travel day for most teams in the squad, 2 others had another 24 hours of travel ahead of them. It was an awesome experience landing in a continent on the other side of the planet. This experience is going to be amazing, it already has been. Cannot wait to share the race with everybody. Please keep the squad in your prayers as we all transition into this season of our lives.
