For a couple years now, men from Community Wesleyan have been organizing a fishing retreat in the Adirondacks on July 4th weekend. This year, Rhett LaForte asked me to bring the message at their Sunday morning service, so I decided to go with them. The retreat was at Forked Lake and required us to boat or canoe to our campsite. I love to canoe and fish and just be in the Adirondacks. Just smelling the atmosphere—that hemlock, pine and spruce laden breeze—adds a week to your life, I think.
This was a real joy for me. Canoeing on a new lake, new mountain vistas, bird watching—I glassed a pair of yellow-rumped warblers, and just relaxing made the retreat well worth the effort. There was also the joy of growing friendships, sharing meals, working together, chatting around the fire, getting to know each other better, and building bonds among the six men who went (Rhett LaForte, Shaun Harrington, Bob Kipping, Ben Mackey, Dave Schwarz, and me). Perhaps the greatest joy of all was working with the four boys that went along; helping them fish, teaching them about boats and canoes and tenting and outdoor life; the joy of passing down what you know to the next generation.
Part of a retreat of this type is meeting the challenges.