Pulling up to training camp was like pulling up to the first day of school. You’re excited for all the new people that you are going to meet but you are also terrified. Especially when you start thinking about the year to come and that you will literally be doing EVERYTHING with these people. Doubt starts to creep in, are these people going to accept me? Will they understand what I’ve been through? Will they get my sense of humor? How in the heck am I going to remember 50+ names and faces?
Training Camp was a little glimpse of what this next year and season of our lives is going to look like. Having all of my belongings spilt between a 65L backpack and a 28L daypack. Sleeping in tents every night, the possibility of our bags getting lost during travel days, sleeping in an airport and sharing a tent. Thankfully I was one of the ones who got to keep my tent and got to share my “home” with my friend Bee while I slept in my hammock. Man oh man was I excited about the little things like becoming a master at taking a bucket shower and changing into a new pair of clothes.
I can honestly say that these past 10 days were the best 10 days I have ever had. Full of community, acceptance, belly ache laughs, ALL the smells and ALL the feels, tears of joy and tears of pain. These people went from strangers to family in a matter of less than week, CRAZY I KNOW! This was one of those experiences where when you look back on it its all a blur because you cant believe it just happened.
Training Camp answered so many questions that I had and even ones that I didn’t think I would have. Questions about my identity in Christ, intimacy with Christ, The Holy Spirit, the giving away of my life, community and the Kingdom of God. These topics aren’t easy. This past 10 days made us deal with some of deepest darkest secrets and bring it out to dry. The biggest lesson I learned was that I am not alone! I am not the only one that has dealt with all of the things that life has thrown at me.
This whole experience isn’t just about serving people all over the world and getting to go to all of these awesome places and checking them off your bucket-list. Jesus calls us to be fishers of men and to leave things behind. My squad is saying YES to leaving behind the social comfort and to step out in faith. Yes discomfort will step in and yes we would love to fill that discomfort with things that we normally would fill it with but we wont have those things with us on the field. We must let go and let God call us out of our comfort and we must create space for him to come in. The American Dream is no longer big enough for me. Its too small because I have Kingdom Dreams.
When I start thinking about all of the memories that I have made with these wonderful people I get so giddy thinking about all of the memories that are yet to come! I love my squad, I love my team, I love my squad leaders and I love my squad mentor. I CANNOT WAIT till launch which is a little under six weeks away! With that being said I still have a lot of funding to go before launch. If you are interested in partnering with me financially you can click the support me button to the side. I want to thank all of my supporters who have helped fund my trip thus far. I am so excited! If you have any questions just ask because I would love to answer them!
