Think back to about the age of 7 or 8. Maybe a little younger, maybe a little older, but roughly that time. It's one week until Christmas and in your mind, it's gonna be the best Christmas ever. You made sure to be a good boy/girl all year for Santa. The anticipation is killing you and all you want to do is sleep because you know that by sleeping, it arrives that much sooner. In fact, it's probably the only time during those early years that you probably volunteered to go to bed early.
Whelp, my Christmas is coming up. In less than three full days from know, I'll be kicking off the road trip to Georgia by swinging through Chicago and then heading south. I'll be putting the new gear to the test, realizing that I've packed too much, and will probably learn to be at ease early on with only one to two showers a week. Training Camp is around the corner and it'd be a slight understatement to say that I was looking forward to it just a little bit. After several months of phone calls, text messages, and facebook chats/posts, it'll be interesting to see if the voice I've attributed to everyone in my head actually matches up to what they sound like in person. Heh.
I've sort of had this experience before through the camp program I've worked with. The whole chatting and getting to know one another weeks before actually meeting in person to go work in some far off place. It should feel the same, but it doesn't. It feels incredibly different. I guess prior to leaving for Camp A, my thought process is that I HOPE to get along with the folks I'll be working with and I HOPE to have a few new friends when the summer is all said and done. Typically that was always the case with some people becoming life long friends as far as I can see. But with my squadmates, we've already hit that friends stage and in many regards surpassed it. It's weird to use the term "family" with regards to a group of 55 or so people I've never even met in person, but that's what we're quickly closing in on, if we haven't already hit it and I'm thinking we have. It's incredibly evident that God has already been hard at working preparing ourselves and our hearts for one another. No other explaination.
I think that's why the anticipation is so high right now. I don't know what to expect next week and I'm cool with that. About the only thing I expect is for Big things to happen. But I care SO much for these people already whom I haven't officially even met yet. The guys and gals who will probably come to know me better than I know myself in some regards. Who are gonna go through it all with me. We're gonna go through it all together, good or bad, rough waters or smooth sailing, high highs and low lows.
So here's a Shout Out to C-Squad. The people who already feel like Family. The people who will be my anchors, my reality checks, my BFFs, BFFLs, and any other number of acronyms you can come up with. The raddest baddest rootenest tootenest squad this side of the Indian Ocean!
PS – I've hit the first fundraising goal and am now rounding first and heading to second base. $6500 total needed by about mid-Decemberish. If you'd like to help a brother out, click the link here. —-> Donate Here!
Love you all.
