Every year the guys who go rave about men’s retreat but I have not been able to go before. Usually, the Houghton board meeting and the Wesleyan men’s retreat are on the same weekend. But this year they were not, so I was able to participate on Saturday.
The speaker, Jeremy Kingsley, was great. His combination of humor, bluntness, and keep-it-simple inspiration communicated well. I was especially impressed with the theme of his last message. “Humility plus service equals spiritual greatness.” The food was excellent and plentiful. The snack bar was even open too.
During the day on Saturday, I joined three other men from our church on a team to participate in the nine activities provided—all very male oriented, of course. Several of them I had never done before. There was paint-ball target practice, horseshoes, basketball, archery, and the pit crew challenge. On that one, team members took turns racing against the clock using an air gun to tighten tire bolts and loosen them on a mockup of a racecar. I was not fast but I got the job done. I also had a chance to shoot skeet for the first time in my life, actually knocking down two of those bright orange clays. Our team was proud to tour the disk golf course in one over par! At the balloon launch challenge, we were deadly accurate. At the air rifle target shoot, my group was not bad for a man with no practice.
But by far the best part of the day was the time spent in relationships. I had a chance to mingle with so many friends, old and new. We helped each other through the day, and enjoyed conversations, some long, some short. It was the kind of day you wish for and so seldom get. Now I know why men’s retreat is so popular.
