Last weekend was truly a Godsend in many ways!  I must admit that when I arrived and saw the room full of 30-40 guys and the snoring that ensued that first night I was thinking “what have I gotten myself into?”  I must also tell you that I felt like a kid at summer camp that was upset his parents were picking him up the last day when I was leaving the chow camp Sunday after lunch.

Bootcamp did a lot for me.  I’ve had a pretty crappy couple of years that have involved a lot of shame and embarrassment.  I’ve been through a few months of Ironmen and heard all about the room of grace and have known that it was OK to talk to someone about my issues.  I never had the guts or want to really until last weekend.  It was good to finally be able to talk to a fellow christian and have a shoulder to lean on!  I must admit that I’m still a little hesitant and almost wish I wouldn’t of said anything in fears that he takes it out of the room of grace, but I think that’s just Satan playing more games.

On that note I wanted to let you know how this weekend helped my walk.  I’ve been a christian for a while and always known that there was the devil and his demons, but I never knew how active of a role they played.  I still don’t know how much power, influence and ability God lets Satan use, but now I know he is more than just out there.  It was good to know about his power, as the same day I was taught about his power he attacked me pretty hard.  I almost gave into it, but decided to trust God.  All worked out OK!  The movie from Louie Giglio (How Great is Our God Tour) was absolutely amazing.  I’ve already emailed it to a few christian friends and both of my unsaved parents hoping that will start a seed in them!

Bootcamp along with the gracewalk series has truly changed my life.  I had an unbelievably cruddy day on Monday (like bootcamp predicted) and I came home and reviewed my notes, and a couple videos we had watched that I was able to find, and after talking with God, it all went away.  We watched a video where an African American was playing the role of God talking to a Caucasian man.  I thought the video was probably called “God doesn’t make junk.”  I haven’t been able to find it anywhere and if you know what it’s called that would be great, if not no sweat.

I thank you so much for allowing God to do great things through you and be a blessing to so many men Billy!  I haven’t known you that long, but can truly say you are a mentor and someone to look up to.

Alan