Preparing for Boot Camp or Similar Gathering or Retreat

For the men, a bootcamp is coming up in Arizona next week as of this writing. In our GroupMe online forums the topic of “what do you do to prepare” has come up.

Last week I made the drive north to pick up my daughter from the airport which put me into close proximity to several bootcamp alumni, leading to a good dinner and conversation with my Band of Brothers.

As I drove with the windows down, sunroof open, and Christian music blaring, I began praying to connect with God. I attempted to really let the words sink in, see where I believed them, where I am pushing back.

Personally for me, shame still gets in there and tries to grow roots. I am good with grace and forgiveness for you, but I struggle to really believe it is 100% available 100% of the time for me. I could tell I was being resistant to the message, so I prayed as I listened and let the words sink in deeper.

I have found that about two bootcamps a year is best for me as 5-6 months is about when the effect of the previous one starts to wear off. The last camp I just showed up with little to no preparation. And I got what I put into it … not as much as I had hoped. I wrote about this in an earlier post, so I won’t go into detail, but it took a few weeks after returning home to get the full effect.

On my drive, I was reminded of the need to be constantly connected to God. Sure, a three-day adventure with intensive time for meditation, inspiration, adventure, and vows of silence with little distractions of work, family, or home life helps me drop in deep, but there is nothing to stop me from having these mini moments all year long.

Whether you are a presenter, attendee, hopeful attendee, spouse of an attendee, a never-going-to-attend skeptic, or whatever, what “rituals” do you go through to connect with God, self, nature, and others?

By Pete, Writing Team