July 19Th several fathers from our church packed their wide-eyed, adventurous sons for a time of camping, cooking, and spiritual renewal. Asa and I were among those caught up in this eastward trek. We had hoped for a relaxing camping trip and what we got was so much more.
We began Friday night with some games in the grass and a dinner of hamburgers and chips. After dinner we played a modified version of capture the flag, where two teams were pitted against each other with socks filled with flour as weapons. It was great and as you can imagine the rules were constantly changing to protect the little ones younger than nine.
That night we gathered around the fire to cook smores and talk. Lee Sexton (one of the church elders) led us in a short devotional and then set us (fathers) up for a time to share our love for Jesus Christ with our sons. We pulled away each to our families and I found talking to Asa about Jesus (a thing I do regularly) a very difficult task. The weight of my love for my savior and my son was overwhelming. I struggled greatly to fight back the tears but I managed to share Christ's love for us and my desire for Asa to love and to serve Him.
We slept OK that night and woke to a great feast. Myself and others prepared five dozen eggs with cheese, an army of sausages, several large bags of hash browns with seasoning, and a couple dozen bagels. It was a feast to be sure and we enjoyed it immensely. After breakfast we took a hike and the dads talked about history and botany while the boys ran ahead to explore the unknown. When we came back to camp we packed up and headed out.
I said before that more happened than I had thought might. The truth is that the fullness of a weekend like that one may be seen in the strong stares of our sons' eyes into ours. It may be seen in their greater desire to be near us. It may be seen in the hugs and smiles that they offer that seem to be of more substance than we had noticed before. It may be, but most likely the true fullness of that weekend will be seen in the eyes of our Lord as He shares with us the fruit of our repeated attempts with our sons: "Well done, good and faithful servant."
We began Friday night with some games in the grass and a dinner of hamburgers and chips. After dinner we played a modified version of capture the flag, where two teams were pitted against each other with socks filled with flour as weapons. It was great and as you can imagine the rules were constantly changing to protect the little ones younger than nine.
That night we gathered around the fire to cook smores and talk. Lee Sexton (one of the church elders) led us in a short devotional and then set us (fathers) up for a time to share our love for Jesus Christ with our sons. We pulled away each to our families and I found talking to Asa about Jesus (a thing I do regularly) a very difficult task. The weight of my love for my savior and my son was overwhelming. I struggled greatly to fight back the tears but I managed to share Christ's love for us and my desire for Asa to love and to serve Him.
We slept OK that night and woke to a great feast. Myself and others prepared five dozen eggs with cheese, an army of sausages, several large bags of hash browns with seasoning, and a couple dozen bagels. It was a feast to be sure and we enjoyed it immensely. After breakfast we took a hike and the dads talked about history and botany while the boys ran ahead to explore the unknown. When we came back to camp we packed up and headed out.
I said before that more happened than I had thought might. The truth is that the fullness of a weekend like that one may be seen in the strong stares of our sons' eyes into ours. It may be seen in their greater desire to be near us. It may be seen in the hugs and smiles that they offer that seem to be of more substance than we had noticed before. It may be, but most likely the true fullness of that weekend will be seen in the eyes of our Lord as He shares with us the fruit of our repeated attempts with our sons: "Well done, good and faithful servant."
Here's me with our tent.
Asa loved exploring with the flashlight.
The boys couldn't stay away from the fire.
Look at our man-feast!
The hike proved to be a great time.
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