LESS THAN 3 DAYS UNTIL TRAINING CAMP
As many of you know, I am leaving for the World Race with Adventures in Missions September 6, 2015. When you hear me refer to “Training Camp”, I’m talking about a 10 day, intense program for upcoming World Racers that is designed to stretch you outside your comfort zone physically, emotionally, and spiritually in preparation for this 11 month mission journey (The World Race).
I’ve been putting off this blog for weeks now. HOW IN THE WORLD do I explain what I’m feeling right now?! There are so many emotions! … so many emotions.
*Lightbulb!*
Since I’m experiencing “all the feels” and have been struggling to find a way to communicate them all, why don’t I use Disney to help me explain these feelings?
I mean, Jesus used parables. This is like the same thing… right?
My emotions regarding Training Camp and The World Race will be explained by the characters from the Disney/ Pixar animation “Inside out”: Disgust, Fear, Sadness, Anger, and Joy.
Hopefully this gives you a more vulnerable (and slightly over-exaggerated) insight into the feelings of a World Racer before heading to Training Camp. Here it goes!
DISGUST: “Wait. We’re going WHERE?! Outside… in the dirt… for 10 days… IN THE DIRT? Do you know what’s in the dirt? BUGS. Do you know what bugs DO? Bugs will find us, crawl into our backpack, our tent, our HAIR… Oh, that’s not even the WORST part. I heard we will be hiking for 2 miles in the hot sun with our 50lb backpack AND our daypack. Know what that means? SWEAT. Oh, and you can be sure that there will be LOTS of it on this trip, honey! We probably won’t be able to shower either. Why else would they tell us to pack all of these baby wipes? *sarcastic* Yay.”
FEAR: “Okay. So I’ve made a list of all the reasons why we should be concerned about Training Camp. I’ll just share 3. #1.They aren’t telling us ANYTHING. I don’t see an itinerary posted. This causes me great concern. Also, everyone talks about being extremely exhausted. WHY?! #2.We could STARVE. Have you been following the Instagram posts of previous camps?! The food portions seem significantly smaller than I anticipated. We should pack snacks… BUT WE DON’T HAVE ANY MORE ROOM in our packs!! And don’t even get me started on if we run out of supplies, which brings me to my 3rd point. #3.We could run out of supplies. What then? How do we get more? I could go on, but I’m afraid I’ll have an anxiety attack. This doesn’t seem like a good idea, but if we must do it, PROCEED WITH CAUTION.”
SADNESS: “Well, worst case is that we will get to Training Camp and everyone will hate us. They’ll probably make us set up our tent alone, even though we don’t know how to set up our tent. We’ll probably have to eat alone too… if they give us any food. And it will probably rain the whole time… And there probably won’t be any chocolate.”
ANGER: “No chocolate?! Unacceptable. You don’t want to see me when I don’t have my chocolate. What I’VE heard about this “Training Camp” is that there will be SQUAD WARS. I don’t know EXACTLY what that means, but I’m pretty sure we will dominate. Dance-offs, physical obstacles… DO YOUR WORST! You want my competitive side to come out? It’s ON. Also, I am not aware if there were any weird people accepted to this camp. Maybe there’s a spray to keep them away. We should put that in our emergency kit. That would DEFINITELY count as an emergency. If there isn’t a spray for that, we can retreat to solitude in our portable REI sanctuary.”
JOY: “GUYS! You’re missing the whole point! Training Camp is only 10 days… 10 days to prepare us for the trip of a LIFETIME! Some people may see Training Camp as being trapped in the woods in the middle of nowhere, but I see it as being immersed in NATURE! And we will get to meet SO many people! Those people MAY even become our best friends! Eek! We have our tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, clothes, and both packs filled with EVERYTHING we could need …AND I ALREADY PACKED THE CHOCOLATE! *twirls with excitement*
Don’t you see how great this is going to be?! We are preparing for the WORLD RACE. We are going to 11… guys, ELEVEN, countries in less than a year, and we will be going with the people we are meeting at this training camp. I’m sure they have concerns just like us, but we are in this together.
Rain, dirt, mosquitos… these all pale in comparison to the TRUE joys of camp: Games, Worship, and DANCE PARTIES! It has been confirmed through multiple sources that there will be, I REPEAT, THERE WILL BE dancing! *whoop whoop* …Granted, I do not know everything that will be involved in Training Camp, but isn’t that part of the adventure? 10 days. So much possibility is wrapped up in those 10 days. We can do this!
Let’s bring our best attitudes, people! Camp is upon us!”
Here’s to the unknowns of Training Camp! Can’t wait to meet my team, embrace the challenges, and make many new memories. Joy will be in charge! 😉
-Kayla Garrison
