If ye are prepared you shall not fear... or fail

When Trevor left for kindergarten, just a few years ago it seems,  I knew he would do just fine, but there was that nagging fear in the recesses of a mother's mind that worries "Is he prepared enough to leave home and survive at school?" My fears were groundless, because besides throwing up on the bus and a lost jacket, he excelled at playground, nap time, reading and making friends.

Fast forward 13 years, Trevor graduated with honors from High School, and yet while I knew he would do great at Basic Training, I quivered watching him board the bus for this next step of school, University life at the Air Force Academy.  Would he excel at "playground" time (the obstacle courses) or survive without nap time and adjust to rigorous classes and make high caliber friends?

Despite only gleaning what he is going through via photos, I have stopped fearing and have gained a new calm, knowing that everything Trevor has done in his life from Scouts to Young Men's at church to High School prepared him for this latest challenge he is rising up to master.

One of our favorite family movies is Forest Gump.  We love the line where Gump takes apart his gun, cleans it and puts it back together faster than anyone else.  His commander yells "Gump- you are a genius!"  

We use that phrase to each other in the family when someone surprises us with their ingenuity.

We like to think Trevor is smiling to himself in this photo above because he is thinking of that line and hearing us reiterate we think he is a "genius" tackling these "tests" of skill and strength.

This has been my favorite picture of Basic Training so far.  It is that look that says "I know I can do this."  It is not cocky, but it is that look you get from being prepared.

Again we were laughing at these photos and hearing Lieutenant Dan from Forest Gump yell at his troops in Vietnam "Get down and shut up."  

The water pit is a fear for many but rope swings over the Payette River in Idaho and Lost Pond here on Guam (Not to mention climbing Palm trees) helped prepared Trev for this rope challenge.

Trevor is on the path to the right, jogging up to catch the rope 

the Catch

The clearing

The release.

 My military neighbor said to me one day, "after watching you put your kids to work and hack away the jungle out of your backyard, your son will think Basic Training is easy."  Okay so the jungle and I prepared Trevor as well.

Childhood monkey bars helped prepare him for this course, and our Family Fear Factor competitions of who could hang the longest before falling into a kiddie pool stuffed with ice cubed water below.

Sitting in seminary at 5 am prepared him to stay awake.  There are several cadets that have crashed around him.  We got a good laugh at the photo of the slumped Cadet  with his mouth wide open  (above Trevor's left shoulder)

I will find out the nitty gritty details of Basics in a few weeks when we finally get 'the Call home' and more details in September for Parent's Weekend when we get to play tag a long.  I have faith that in this extended version of "High Adventure Scout Camp" Trevor is passing through, he will succeed.  Because all tiny things in life prepare you for greater things.  If "'life is like a box of Chocolates" for Trevor, we know he gets some nutty days and some distasteful days, but by and large he will get to taste some of the sweetness of growing up.