When asked what I am most nervous about in regards to the WorldRace, my answer would be somewhere along the lines of ‘Training Camp’. Seems lame because it was in Georgia, didn’t take much effort to get there, and considering I am about to travel the world… what’s 10 days of camp? buuuuttt I’ve travelled before, its not often I jump into completely unknown situations!!
Pre-Training Camp: this season of preparation has consisted of a lot of solo planning. I got accepted into the race, I was fundraising, I was figuring out what journey I was about to embark on. Not that I didn’t have any support, but I was just the only one going of who I knew. Sure, I followed may of my squad mates on social media, but didn’t truly know anyone.
Camp: I’ve never arrived somewhere where I didn’t know a single person- embarking completely with the anticipation of how everything would pan out. I was most anxious for Training Camp because I didn’t know anyone and had no clue what to expect. All I knew was I would be there for 10 days, sleep in my tent, and take bucket showers.
Once I arrived I was completely overwhelmed. That feeling quickly left when I was surrounded by my squad. Thirty-seven people who knew exactly what emotions I was feeling and who were in the exact same life stage. It was so cool to all know what move we are all about to make. No matter our age, we are all leaving behind life here in America (moving out of apartments, graduating, leaving school, quitting jobs, leaving family, etc.) and we were all learning the ins and outs of fundraising. This created such an environment of openness and vulnerability among my squad.
We were all pumped about what this journey would look like as individuals and as a squad. In that, our squad just clicked – there is such an incredible amount of unity within us and I know together in this next year, the Lord is creating an atmosphere for us to do big things. We learned about ourselves, deepened our relationship with the Lord, and shown a little bit of what the next year of our lives will look like.
Camp consisted of worship, sessions, community, meals, and training scenarios. We worshipped freely and boldly, learned SO much spiritually and logistically, ate strange meals (which included a side order of crickets), slept in an ‘airport’,and experienced what an international market would look like. Camp also consisted of prophesizing, knowledge, laughs, hard work, and triumphs. In leaving training camp, I left with people who I know will be in my life forever, a relationship with the Lord founded on freedom, feelings of preparedness and assurance, and a new love for bucket showers.
Post-Camp: Launch is October 8th, coming up fast and I AM SO EXCITED!! Thank you for reading my blog, offering your support in all forms, and praying for me- YOU got me here!!!
