I know this is delayed from my first post, but here's my part 2. It took a little while to think through the top moments or themes of training camp. But here are three awesome things that came from training camp: my team, the men on my squad, and disconnecting…
Quick terminology help.
Team: 6 people I will work closest with during the race.
Squad: the 58 people who I will be doing this crazy thing with.
But yeah, when I learned who is on my team I was blown away with not only how confirmed with who was on my team, but my place on the team and my place on the race. Throughout the week we had multiple team formation exercises and at the end of each one we did mini-debriefs. Staff would ask us how things went, who we worked well with, who we would like to work with, our roles, what was missing, etc. Time after time I always blanked on the “who would you like on your team” question. It wasn't limited to just who was in my group, but I could pick anyone from the squad to be with. Usually, a few minutes after debrief ended, who I wanted to team up with would come back to me. And each time I just prayed about it and trusted that God would put on my team who should be.
At the end of our final group exercise they said that it could be a potential team and for some reason something just didn’t click. Something felt amiss and I couldn’t tell what. After I meet with a fellow gorupmate, talked through and prayed about it, I felt a little peace about what was to come later in the day. Still some apprehension.
So the time came to learn who was on my team. With a little trepidation I listened as they listed teams. Before I knew it, my name was called and I heard six others to follow, but I couldn’t really tell who was who. I was a little worried. As I turned, my team leader said “get excited…this is the group you will be traveling the world with next year.” Say what?! As I looked, I recognized that each person I had asked God put on my team. Writing this actually gives me chills and confirms my team. But even the leader was someone I prayed to lead. That was awesome. So, my team (Spice of Life) is…
You should blog stalk each of these wonderful people. And also donate to their support fund!
Abby Soucy (team leader)
http://abbysoucy.theworldrace.org/
Beka Hardy
http://bekahardy.theworldrace.org/
Danielle Leppo
http://danielleleppo.theworldrace.org/
Jessica Lindsey
http://jessicalindsey.theworldrace.org/
Kirsten Hughes
http://kirstenhughes.theworldrace.org/
Scott Kwak (Chuck)
http://scottkwak.theworldrace.org/
The guys: Each one contributes a different aspect to our team. We have quiet leaders. We have vocal leaders. We have humble leaders. We have prayer warriors. We have edifiers. We have lovers. We have listeners. We have caretakers. We have dancers. We have truth speakers. We have truth seekers. We have guys after the Lord’s heart. We have protectors. We have builders. We have planners. We have reminders. We have dreamers. We have inspirers. We have talent. We have a desire to grow. We have a group of guys who don’t desire to hold onto these gifts, but instead want to usher the group into who we are in Christ. It’s great. I guess traits tend to peak their heads out when some people almost die. Yes, that’s a teaser. And, future world racer reading this, I will not tell you what I’m referring to. You’ll thank me later.
Disconnecting. Something I haven’t done in a long while was get away from everything. Turn my phone off, close my computer, and go somewhere completely isolated from the outside world. My schedule-oriented self went into training camp wanting nothing more than a schedule, or at least a heads up. For a long time I’ve desired to learn how to be more in the moment. Who would have thought that it took not having anything to anticipate but the moment? Not having anything to look forward to more than where I was then. It allowed me to invest more in those around me and not prepare for something that didn’t need preparation. It caused me to trust that things would handle themselves. (See paragraphs about team formation.) But yeah, it was so nice to just remove what had been stressing me and trust that my God is capable of handling things and that it’s not I who causes things to happen. Something I have to submit to and remind myself (or be reminded) every day. It's quit difficult.
One thing that I had stressed most about was my support account. Before leaving I had come to the point where I checked it multiple times a day, thinking my click of the mouse caused more money to fall into my account. That would be one mighty mouse. So I decided to trust God, stop looking at my account a few days prior, and head to camp. After a few hours of no internet connection, I stopped thinking about it. The only fundraising efforts we took all week was prayer. Well, guess what. God said… look what I can do when you do nothing?! Support account went from $4,200 to just over $8,000. It was pretty awesome.
So yeah, this is long and I appreciate those who read through all of it. I don’t think I’m going to edit it before I post. So yeah. Enjoy!
