… Testing … Testing … 1…2…3… and I’m back. I had a bit of writer’s block with this series the past few weeks, but reading the recent flood of blogs about Training Camp, it seems this would be a fitting time to resume the series. Maybe I should have posted this before the most recent batch of Racers went to camp, buuut better late than never. So here goes the blog about what to expect when you’re “not expecting.”
Ask any future World Racer what they expect Training Camp to be like and they will tell you the good expected World Race answer, “I don’t have any expectations.” Well you just wait until you arrive to Training Camp, then you’ll realize how much you actually expected, because to be honest, Training Camp will be nothing like the idea you have in your head.
(Y Squad!)
Let me just tell you a little bit about my time at Training Camp…
Exactly a year ago today I had been home from training camp for one full day, I was at the same place many of the Racers who just came from Training Camp are … that place where you are trying to process what just happened in the shortest yet longest week of your life.
For me I was broken. I was the one who went into Training Camp planning on pretending I had it all figured out, really I was going into Training Camp with the expectation of learning more about what I would be doing on The World Race. I didn’t plan on having to deal with all my crap.
I was the one who did the Baptist sway and clapped during worship, but I was not going to be jumping up and down screaming.
I was the one who saw these people speaking in tongues and thought, “Great … what did I get myself into? This is not like my Summer Missions Orientation the past three years.”
I was the one who looked around during worship worried what people would think if I did something outside of the “ordinary,” whatever that even is.
I was the one who spent the first night crying in my tent because I just knew that this would be like everything else where I would be the girl on the outside looking in.
I was the one who absolutely hated when we had to do prophesy, because I felt stupid trying to pretend like I understood what was going on, because for real … I didn’t have anything worth anything to say to people.
I was the one who felt completely inadequate because I was no longer in my comfortable world of missions, this was seriously a week that wrecked me … and I fought it.
I was the one who only decided to stick with it after Training Camp out of fear of not doing what I already told people I was doing.
I was the one who did my best to stay invisible, hoping that if people didn’t really get to know me then there would be a chance that if they didn’t accept me it would be because I was keeping the walls up, not because they chose to not accept me.
… as you can see, I was a wreck going into Training Camp, during Training Camp, and after Training Camp. I am the poster child for what not to do during Training Camp. So how do I have any way of helping you through your Training Camp process if I couldn’t even make it through mine “correctly”? Well, all I can say is … for those who went to Training Camp and maybe handled it like I did, it’s okay. Here I sit, Month 11 … still kicking. For those who have yet to go to Training Camp, learn from my mistakes and truly choose to let yourself be free.
(Practicing our chant for Squad Wars)
Training Camp is what you make it so seriously, don’t worry too much about all the external factors, rather focus on the part of Training Camp you do have control over … yourself. Prepare your heart for a week where who you were going into Camp can be completely changed into who you are coming out of Camp. And as always, the Do and Do Not list for your Training Camp experience:
DO:
Expect God to show up in a mighty way
Participate – you will only get out what you’re willing to put into the week
Pack like you will for the Race, it’s the best time to try out your equipment
Open yourself up, be vulnerable and get to know your squad
Accept that you may worship differently than you have ever worshipped before
(Camping Night – Y Squad women on our bed)
DO NOT:
Think that this will be like any other training you have been to – you will be challenged
Let your insecurities/shyness keep you from building relationships
Forget to find your quiet time – the days will be long but you need to have that time to process and refill
Freak out when the expectations you thought you didn’t have are demolished
Be the “I’m too cool for thisâ€� person – abandon the old and embrace the new
(Meeting up with some other teams on the way back from our “make a memory” dinner)
Also, for a little more information on my Training Camp experience, and for a video of our time at Training Camp, you can check out those blogs by clicking on the “Training Camp” link under my picture on the left. (I would hyperlink it, but my internet is being weird, sorry).
(W, X, and Y Squads – Training Camp, May 2011)
