Bootcamp

Hey everyone,
so today we just got back from our bootcamp in valencia, ca. it was 2 1/2 days of intense obstacles and PUSH-UPS.
THE BEGINNING
we (ignite team) took one of those huge buses and drove to Havenhouse and the moment after we took our stuff off the bus we had to run to this field to get into teams and to meet our drill instructors (DI). once we were put into 4 teams the head DI put the other DI's into the teams and my team, team 1 (T1) got the head DI...we were freaking out. he was the oldest and the scariest looking. so of course we were scared to move or talk. the first thing they told us is, the only way to answer them from now till friday night was "sir no sir" or "sir yes sir". they made us find a rock the size of our fist in 2 minutes and then run to your team and stand one arm length apart. We also were given one piece of rope that symbolized unity. and all the time that we were on the obstacle course we had to (unless otherwise stated) had to hold on to that rope and Jesus (rock) every where we went.
JESUS (rock)
they then had us show them the rock compared to our fist. they checked them and if yours was not the right size they took it and "rewarded" you with a slightly bigger rock (to their discretion). the rock symbolized Jesus. so we had to take Jesus (rock) EVERYWHERE we went. Food, bathroom, obstacle course, bed. EVERYWHERE. and if they saw you without Jesus or if you told them (honesty) or if you dropped it or threw it, they would do two things.
1. reward the ENTIRE group of us (44)
2. find you a bigger Jesus (rock)
so obviously you wouldn't want that. i however among several people had at first gotten the wrong size rock so that time since it was the first time we just got bigger rocks.
OBSTACLE COURSE
There were 10 obstacles courses that we had to complete 3 times. once on thursday and twice on friday. The obstacles were:
"electric fence": this was the second hardest if not the hardest of all. we had two people on our team injured because of this obstacle. one had jumped off wrong and severly sprained her ankle and another climbed the pole and jumped but slipped and fell 6 feet to the ground hard, unable to breath for a minute with back and head pains. So it was two poles that had an orange net strung across it, the net was an "electric fence" that you couldn't touch and if you did you had to start completely over (the whole team). The two poles that held it up you could use and it had severl medium size screws to put a foot on but it was very very hard to stay on them. and so some of the guys would climb the pole and then jump to the other side and then those on the side not gone yet would "crowd surf" the others by lifting them completely up and over the fence.
Monkey bars: a set of monkey bars to cross them you had to go OVER the bars. (but the bars were loose so couldn't hang on them.) and it was far from the ground, over 6 feet high. we had someone on their knees so we could stand on their back and then someone right next to them so we could get a foot up on the next person so we could stand on their shoulders. then you had to figure out how to get your knees on the wood bars on one side and hands on the other than crawl side-ways to the other side then onto someones shoulders and then down.
trust fall: stand on the side of a hill 5-6 feet high then with the group right below they'd lock arms and then you'd cross your arms, arch your back and head then fall. it was about a 3-4 foot fall, scary but you had to trust your team.
team jump rope: one really long rope where two people would turn the rope and the rest of the team would be ready to jump as one. there was about 11 of us in this rope plus 2 turners for a total of 13 people per team. our team got 17 good jumps in. i think it might have been the record of all groups. fun stuff there :]
barrel jump: there were 3 large black barrels, 2 were about 4 feet high and 1 was about 3 1/2 feet high. you had to figure out (as a team) how to get each person in each barrel (separately) and the out and through all three in sequential order (1, 2, 3) and it was hard because they weren't that wide.
forest walk: a group of trees that had minor hills and some rope tied about 1-2 feet high around some trees to make us go over them. for this course we had to hold onto the rope and Jesus (rock) through the whole exercise. its harder than you'd think b/c of how narrow the path was and all that was in our foot path.
uphill carrying: this was possibly the hardest one of all b/c we had to walk (rope & Jesus-rock) to this one up minor hills, through trees, past broken bottles, through narrow pathways to get to this hill. the rule was, each person must be carried up this hill to a specific rock and then down the hill. my team had 5 strong guys who carried just about everyone. a few of the girls were able to carry each other which is amazing to watch.
pole to pole chain walk: there was two poles and attached was a metal chain links and each person had to cross, so we had two people (mostly the tall guys who could hold us up) and walk across this chain
"toxic waste" rope swing: the next was a rope swing that had an orange net laying across a part of a hill (on the ground) with a rope circle (barely big enough for 10-12 people. we had 13.) you had to act as though the net was toxic waste and the rope circle was safe. you had to all be behind a stick that started the "waste" and then figure out how to get the rope pulled back to you (we found a long stick to pull it back with) then one by one each person had to grab the rope and stand in one loop and swing to the circle with people catching you. it gets harder when its almost full and you can't step out of the circle or you all start over.
tree to tree rope walk: there were 3 trees with 2 ropes strung tightly across them one for feet and one up high for hands. the foot rope was about 4-5 feet off the ground and then from there there the hand rope was about 4-5 farther. so we stood on someone's back to get up and then walked across to the middle tree climbed over it and the to the other tree and touched a knot and a second person would start and the first would head to the middle tree and wait for the second then switch positions and touch the knot at the beginning and be done.

Lesson Learned
our team learned that we need to focus if we are going to be successful in what we are doing. we need to focus on the task at hand and not get distracted by things so easily as talking. we had to learn this lesson the hard way. 4 TIMES! once at the electric fence we weren't paying attention to how one of our teammates was getting down and she fell and severely twisted her ankle. it swelled up instantly to the size of a softball. we carried her through the majority of the courses. the second time was we went too fast and didn't pay attention to getting people across the fence but how fast and so another of our teammates went to fast slipped and fell 6 feet to the ground on her back. the third time on the tree to tree rope walk on the way off a teammate's foot got caught on the rope, but we caught him right before he hit the ground. the fourth one was also at the rope walk. except she was walking holding to guy's hands with feet forward and not side ways , she slipped and hit her legs between the rope.

Negative Experience
my overall experience was amazing but there is always negatives. the physical pain is still there, tons of bruises about 20 covering my legs! The DI's came flying through the halls banging on all doors yelling "EVERYBODY UP.EVERYBODY UP.EVERYBODY UP." Over and over until we were outside. it honestly is very scary and is seriously a nightmare when ever i hear those two words. because we were woken up suddenly an hour after we had fallen asleep and shaking so bad because it was so cold, that i was physically unable to stop till the next morning. I got so sick to my stomach because of being waken from a deep sleep so fast i (kinda gross and lots of info) i upchucked :P a little.

POSITIVE EXPERIENCE
this experience was amazing. the time spent with teammates was amazing, the time spent with God was beyond words. on saturday morning we had split into our teams again and by team went into one of the caves on the property that hadn't been collapsed (its been reinforced with concrete and supports). when we were in the cave we took communion, to give us an idea of how the early church gathered, it is something that i will always remember. then as a team we walked a steep hillside to a cross where we prayed together. the view from the cross on the hill was breath-taking. and one of our leaders (and teammate) pointed out that the symbol of being hung on the cross is a humiliating and awful thing. but the Lord turned it into something to be revered and in wonder of. he also said that anything that is awful and bad in our own lives if we give it to Him, He can turn it inoto a good thing too. we just need to die of ourselves and give it all to Him.

Bootcamp was about allowing God to break us, in the physical, mental and spiritual way as we have started anew we need to break of our old selves and our old habits and mentalities and begin a fresh with what he has for us.

I would most definitely do it again. even with all the pain, the breaking the God did in me was something that i will not forget. i will not allow myself to forget. this is what this blog is about, yes its to give you information about what is happening in this season of my life but its more for me as a public reminder of who God is and what He has done in me that i will stay forever changing to His image and not slide back.