Dear Future Racer,
No amount of blog stalking and reading Training Camp blogs will prepare you for this week-long journey. Yeah, maybe you’ll be somewhat prepared for food or sleeping situations. I thought I’d be ready when the “airlines lost our bags” but guess what….I still managed to lose my bag. I thought it was most important to try and figure out a schedule of activities based on the blogs I read. That figuring out what I’d eat, where I’d sleep, how I’d shower (buckets, yo), and what kind of exercise would be going on would be the most important things to know about Camp. Boy, was I wrong. So, amidst your struggle to abandon your expectations, I am actually going to give you 11 things to expect from Camp:
1. Expect to leave your screens at home. I brought my phone, my GoPro, and my computer, expecting to be on regularly. I was on my phone just once when I could get 2 seconds of wifi to check facebook, my GoPro died day one when I forgot to turn it off (and plugs are hard to come by, man). My computer stayed in a dry bag in my day bag 99.9% of the time adding unnecessary weight. You will barely have time to use your technology and I am thankful I wasn’t on mine because I was distraction-free and so much more present. Although I don’t think you should leave your phones at home, at least just leave them in your car. Tell your family they will hear from you at the end of the week and that “no news is good news”.
2. Expect to be present. TC is a time when you can’t afford to be distracted. It is so packed full of teachings, seminars, worship, and building relationships that you really need to live in the moment.
3. Expect the unknown. Schedules are in place, but they are bound to change at the drop of a hat and Racers will never know what is going on more than an hour in advance. You won’t know your sleeping situation generally until it is time to set up camp. You won’t have a clue what you will eat at each meal and you won’t know the activities and seminars planned out for you so just get comfortable with living in the moment.
4. Expect to be broken. I went into Camp thinking I’d taken care of all of the issues I needed to take care of. I thought I had moved past the grief and anger towards my father, the loss of my childhood, the shame of my past. I was SO wrong. Not even a day into Camp and I immediately found out really how broken I was. And it hurt. But you have to be willing to go through the pain to experience healing.
5. Expect to be vulnerable. This is such an important aspect of community. We had grief sessions. 5 other women and myself sat in a circle and discussed what has caused us the most grief. I wasn’t going to share. It’s awkward, you don’t really know these people, and you are telling them the deepest hurts of your heart. You won’t want to do it, but it is SO important to just lay your heart on the table. I did. And I cried. I wept. It was hard and I felt like a fool but I felt heard, I felt safe, and I felt relief. Noone was trying to fix my problem, noone was offering advice. They just listened and they cried with me and they laid hands on me and it was a freeing experience. Don’t wait to be vulnerable. Don’t hesitate. Jump in there.
6. Expect to be (or see) healing. I cannot tell you to expect to be healed, but you will ABSOLUTELY see healing taking place all around you. I was healed, though. My heart was healed. My wrist was set free from pain. I saw healing going on in the hearts of people all around me. It was amazing.
7. Expect to be intentional. This is so important. Especially in my case. I built relationships with P Squad since April, but I was merely acquaintances with just a few people from O Squad. I barely knew anyone, and if you know me, I tend to be pretty quiet around people I don’t know. But I could choose to be passive and just wait for them to make the effort to know me OR I could be intentional and make the effort to meet and get to know my new squadmates. This was one of the best decisions I could have made. I got to know the hearts of many people and even heard a few testimonies that moved me immensely. If you feel the push in your heart or your mind to talk to someone, don’t hold back. Do it.
8. Expect to find joy. You are going to encounter some frustrating and not-so-fun aspects of Camp. You are going to be run down and exhausted and, if you are an introvert, you are going to probably do like my friend Cat and hide in your hoodie during mealtime just to get some semblance of being alone. But you have to find joy in these situations. There were a couple of hard times that actually made me very frustrated and and I did not choose to have joy. When “the airline lost our baggage,” I had to sleep on the floor of a tent in a sleeping bag Ashton so graciously lent me (THANK YOU SO MUCH GIRL <3). I couldn’t sleep. We were both SO cold and spent most of the night with tremors and teeth chattering to keep warm. I slept maybe 30 minutes the entire night and spent the majority of the time venting my frustration in my mind and praying for morning. I wish I had found joy in the situation. Joy could have made it so much more bearable.
9. Expect to journal. You will be offered a LOT of information. Each day is filled with various seminars. Journal during those. Take notes. The days are long (and after the first two days a lot of us just lost all semblance of date and time). If you don’t write down notes I guarantee you, you WILL forget. Also, take every opportunity to journal. Showers can wait. Sleep can wait. I regret that I only journaled a grand total of 2 times during my Camp and I could have processed so much more if I took advantage of more opportunities to journal.
10. Expect to learn. Come with a student’s spirit. Really great speakers will be giving seminars and talks and it will benefit you greatly to pay attention and interact. You will learn SO much.
11. Expect to be forced out of your comfort zone. This one is important. You’ve probably read it a thousand times, but it is so true. The majority of Camp was out of my comfort zone. I arrived Saturday and told my dear friend Jessica who was there (she’s an alumni Racer) that I don’t dance. She told me that would change by the end of the week. Well…she was right. During worship I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and I danced for the Lord and it was so liberating, fun, and freeing. I love it. We spoke prophesy over one another. That was WAY outside my comfort zone, but I did it and I grew spiritually because of it. We practiced healing prayer which was strange (for me at the time), but I did it and I grew. Just live outside your comfort zone as much as you can. It will be good for you in the long run. God will stretch you in more ways than you could even imagine.
