Sleeping in a tent in the woods for six weeks was not what I thought I was signing myself up for when I signed up for the World Race. Even though it rained almost every day and the temperature seemed to drop an insane amount every night, there were still some unforgettable memories made there that I will cherish for the rest of my life. From long nights staying up packing for our departure to the man hike to waking up before almost everyone else in the base every morning to make coffee and spend time with our perfect creator.
One of the best habits I developed in Gainesville was waking up super early and spending an extended amount of time with God. Jack Boone, Zach, and I woke up almost every single morning during the week at 5 am, which was 3 hours before breakfast, and spent the whole time praying, worshiping, or reading the bible by ourselves. Just me and God. Now it wasn't always easy to wake up that early in the morning, especially when we would watch Sunday night football the night before( or Monday night or Thursday night for that matter), so we would have to keep each other accountable to waking up. I remember waking up to my alarm and just lying there listening to see if I could hear Jack Boone or Zach moving around in their tent since we were so close. This accountability was the only thing that kept me awake. I'll never forget the mornings of us talking while the hot water warmed up for our coffee before the 3 of us went our separate ways to spend time with the lord.
The biggest enemy I had to wake up early was staying up late. Every Sunday in Gainesville (and some at Samaritan's Purse) we spent watching Sunday night football and playing hearts. Most weekends it was Phil, Will, Jack Boone, and me but a lot of time Caleb or Ben also played. We would play while gathering around someone's phone because we could never find a way to play it off the TV or someone's computer. It seemed like every Sunday night we were staying up past curfew because the game was so close there was no way we were going to stop watching it. Hearts also became a team staple for us. We would play nonstop. Whenever we had four players and a little bit of free time, we would whip out a deck of cards and then play a quick game to 50 or 100.
The amount of knowledge and wisdom that I gained from the sessions in Gainesville is a whole blog in itself. We learned about a variety of topics since we had two teachings a day every week. We learned how to share testimonies and the importance of knowing bible stories to share with people who don't know about God. We learned how the holy spirit can do miracles and still does miracles in the world today. We learned about God's character and how it is shown throughout the bible and throughout our daily lives. We learned about how to recognize the voice of the lord and how to discern what the voices that you hear are from and so much more. (I'm going to write another blog on some of the most impactful teachings and things God taught me in a separate blog, so don't worry)
Another unique opportunity that I had in Gainesville was sharing my whole testimony for the first time. Sharing my testimony set the standard for the race for our team. Sharing our testimonies was something that we did within the first couple of weeks with each other. It allowed us to get to know each other so much better and grow closer. Each of us shared our biggest struggles that we dealt with in our lives and how our relationships with God were at that moment in time. It was hard to do but it created a safe place where we are now able to be completely vulnerable with each other.
Every year in Gainesville, Aims has this challenge called the man hike. The man hike is a physical challenge that the men on each squad must complete. They have a hiking trail roughly 3/4 of a mile long in the back of the property that we had to complete 11 laps on. On each lap, someone needed to be blindfolded, one person had to be crab walking, one person had to be carried at least one time each, and since Jack Boone had broken his toe the day before, he had to be carried on each lap. the man hike was one of the hardest things that I've done in my life but it helped bring us together as a team and helped us learn how to work under high stress and high fatigue situations. Through tons and tons of praying, God's strength was the only thing that got us through it; we were able to complete it.
Blasting music in the cold bucket showers with the guys, playing pick-up basketball games, watching movies in the squad meeting point, playing spike ball, and amazing late-night worship are just a couple more of the unforgettable memories that came from this unique and unexpected time of my life. These memories made the rain, cold nights and mornings, and mold worth the pain and struggle and will be cherished for the rest of my life