Breathless

This week was probably one of the best weeks I've had in a very long time. We went out to Camp Sunnybrae, which is about 15-20 minutes from Salmon Arm, for coaches training camp. At first, I wasn't too excited that it was a very camping like feel with the lake and everything, but I am not sure what I should've expected if it wasn't going to be like that. So, anyways, after some initial timidness from seeing how boss everyone seemed to be, I felt much better.

We didn't really do much other than meet our teams and get some things started after arriving on Monday afternoon. We drove out to the pitch and did a couple of soccer activities, and went back for some talks and such. At night, I am going to admit that sleeping with 7 other guys in the same room is very awkward. The sausage fest packed a whole lot of heat, so it felt really hot throughout the night. I was shocked, however, to find that a lot of the guys were really respectful and actually went to bed by 11:00pm. So after rolling around for a couple hours because of the heat, I finally fell asleep.

The first full day of training was a load of fun. I can't even remember what we did throughout the day but I know I had a blast. All sorts of talking about how to handle kids to all the soccer things we need to know, we did it. I wasn't exactly sure what my teams dynamics would be like, but I think we'll get along quite well. We each have such different personalities and character traits that some people might find it hard that we're a team. But I think that it is because we possess such different qualities that we'll be able to be a really good team.

I will not forget the Tuesday night when a few of us decided to join some of the elderly people at the campfire. A side note is that during our training, we shared the camp with an old people's retreat. I got to meet a few of these people and they are some of the nicest people that I've ever met. So anyways, being at that campfire and listening to some testimonies and singing along with them made me really happy. A lot of the stories that the people brought really touched me and inspired me to continue living in God's light.

As training progressed through the second day, I was really starting to warm up to everyone that was there. I know that I'm slow and it takes a while for me to be able to be really open with people, but I really felt that we were creating something very special. We were together for just two full days and it felt like we knew each other for years. I'm sure everyone at training would admit to that. On the night of Wednesday, we decided to gather as a team around the campfire to do communion and have some light worship. I was given the privilege to lead a couple songs and it was fantastic. But a note to anyone that will ever think about playing guitar in front of a fire: don't do it. It ruins your guitar and that is the reason for why I didn't bring mine.

Anyways, it was sad that we needed to leave on Thursday morning, and it seemed like no one really wanted to anyway. But we had our summers of coaching ahead of us so we had to say our goodbyes. I might have mentioned before that I don't like saying goodbye, but the fact that it is most likely that I will never get to see some of the again, I had to. And I'll be honest, if I had the chance, I would definitely go out of my way to see at least one of them.

So here I am, after a day of traveling and a day of rest, I have a bit of time to reflect and prepare myself for the first camp in Cochrane. There is also one other thing that I discovered at camp that has just completely flooded my mind since leaving, but I'm probably not ready to talk about it yet (or at least put on my blog). I'm still trying to figure out where I stand on the situation so I can see if it will be really worth my time to pursue it any further anyway. However, I am open to talking about it if it is just you and me.

So yeah, this has been my week of coaches training with AIA. To say that I had a blast would be an understatement. If time could have been frozen, I would say that I'd have been in heaven.

Happy birthday Canada.