This past weekend Z and I had the opportunity to attend the annual "Mountain Men's Retreat" hosted by Greater Grace of Portland. The subtitle of the event is "God, guys, grub, guns" and is held at SoreAcres in Amboy. Thanks D.S. for letting us use your property! I have been several times before but this year was the first time for Z. I must admit that I was a little worried about how he would do around all the men but was pleasantly surprised to learn that several other men had brought their sons along.
G.P. was our Bible teacher for the weekend. The focus was on using our gifts for God's work. He did a great job of illustrating the how everyone has a purpose and how we must all work together if we are going to accomplish the big purpose God has given us.
As each of us arrives we were given a sealed envelope with instruction not to open it until instructed to and not to show anyone. At the appropriate time we were asked to identify what was in the envelope and what it was used for. Most of us learned that it is hard to know what it is or what it is used for when it isn't in the right context. Later we took all that various pieces from the envelopes and G.P. put them together to make a simple pistol. It was neat to see how all these pieces which we couldn't recognize alone easily fit within one another to form something we were all very familiar with. POINT: We all have talents and gifts and God calls us to work together to be His Church and to accomplish His purposes. All too often we either struggle to see how we fit in or we happily allow others to the do the work and miss out on the opportunity to be used by God.
Of course, having all the guys away from our wives didn't mean we were going to without food. C.M. has been our camp cook for years and always does great work. With him on the job it is like eating gormet camping food.
While the weather was predictably wet the clouds seemed to run out of moisture just in time for the Saturday afternoon gun show. Between the twenty or so guys there were probably something like 7 or 8 shotguns, 9 rifles, and a dozen handguns, with plenty of ammunition to go around. It was fun to try out some bigger caliber stuff.
G.P. was our Bible teacher for the weekend. The focus was on using our gifts for God's work. He did a great job of illustrating the how everyone has a purpose and how we must all work together if we are going to accomplish the big purpose God has given us.
As each of us arrives we were given a sealed envelope with instruction not to open it until instructed to and not to show anyone. At the appropriate time we were asked to identify what was in the envelope and what it was used for. Most of us learned that it is hard to know what it is or what it is used for when it isn't in the right context. Later we took all that various pieces from the envelopes and G.P. put them together to make a simple pistol. It was neat to see how all these pieces which we couldn't recognize alone easily fit within one another to form something we were all very familiar with. POINT: We all have talents and gifts and God calls us to work together to be His Church and to accomplish His purposes. All too often we either struggle to see how we fit in or we happily allow others to the do the work and miss out on the opportunity to be used by God.Of course, having all the guys away from our wives didn't mean we were going to without food. C.M. has been our camp cook for years and always does great work. With him on the job it is like eating gormet camping food.
While the weather was predictably wet the clouds seemed to run out of moisture just in time for the Saturday afternoon gun show. Between the twenty or so guys there were probably something like 7 or 8 shotguns, 9 rifles, and a dozen handguns, with plenty of ammunition to go around. It was fun to try out some bigger caliber stuff.
On the way home we both agreed we had a great time. I am so thankful for this great opportunity to invest in my relationship with my son, and I am already looking forward to next year (when both Z and A will get to go!)
3 comments:
Great job, honey! It was fun to hear all about what you guys did when you were gone. Before this all I really heard about were the guns and the food. :0)
Wow!! Sounds like a fun wet adventure you guys had! :-) Glad that you guys enjoyed the retreat.
It was fun to read about what was happening in two places at once. That idea with the gun in pieces sounds great for guys. I'll have to get my hubby to suggest it or someting similar to our men's group leaders.
Carrie, your comments on my Barbie post made me laugh. You've just shwon me that Barbie has had more than one educational use around our place after all. Logan & Blake have done their share of dissecting and aeordynamic experiments with the Barbie dolls, much to Emma's disgust.
Blessings to all,
Paula
Post a Comment