The Power of Discomfort

Words continue to seep through my ears and gather what it seems to understand. I'm forever learning while I'm here... while I'm anywhere. There are so many different people to see, meet, and understand. Because seeing never really cuts it.

It's third week of training and life at "the Point" is getting busy and a bit tiring. Not that I'm not enjoying it, because I am. Our physical training is at 6am, and if you know me, you know I'm not a morning person. But morning views are gorgeous, and the small town for war vets combined with a massive variety of people from all across America is worth the discomfort.

Corps training, however, is a different kind of discomfort. One I can't seem to keep awake doing. We have gone through multiple lectures on Peaceful Communication, Shelter Training, Tool Training, and various other things like an "Anti-Drugs and Alcohol" speech. Though they seem to have a sole purpose, so far most of these training sessions have oddly disappeared from my memory. Although, I can confidently say I am CPR and First Aide certified once again.

We have a new team, and I'm now one of 10 members of Raven 6. As much as I liked my old POD (our temporary team), this new team is also exciting. Our team leader seems like a "stay-on-top-of-things" kind of person, and I hope that influences me to stay on top of things, instead of the "dwell-and-drift-into-multiple-things" kind of person I am. Some quality team time has been spent like bowling, lazer tag, t-shirt making, ISP's (Individual Service Projects), and our soon to be mini spike. Our first time out of 9H for team service work. We will be working at a Girl Scout camp out in Denton, Maryland making sure they have a safe and enjoyable place to stay when they start their camp. I'm not sure of the exact details on this, so I'll stop at that.

Tonight is rather peaceful, only because it's a Saturday and I can finally sleep in tomorrow. I went to a Coptic Church last Sunday with my two roommates and the experience was different, in a nice way. It was a one hour drive, so this Sunday is probably a different story. Especially after a tiring day of ISP today, which was my first 8 hours of individual service. We went to a loading dock in Baltimore where they sell used housing supplies for a small amount of money. Like the Goodwill of Home Depot. I think the dust there is what finally got me sick, but I'm happy I went. Our team leader, Beth, asked us how we felt after completing our first ISP, and I quoted the Loading Dock quote by saying "It felt good to 'make a home out of what other people throw away.'" Although that isn't what we did, we were just organizing and stocking, it was interesting to me that you actually could do it. And I think it's places like that, their relationship with the quote they had, and the connection it gave me, that make me realize how important it is to be here. How important it is to serve...even if it means making myself uncomfortable. Because usually, discomfort is what empowers you.