Well I back from our annual Fall ReCharge. We call it a ReCharge cause Real men don’t retreat!! Now you see how I got the title to this blog.
I’m intensely tired and intensely pumped. It’s a weird feeling. I feel like a sponge that has been wrung out, but at the same time I am feeling filled to the max. I guess it has to do with the whole spirit filled, intensely male, getting down to brass tacks, share till you drop, weekend.
I think what it is may be this: all my worries, troubles and burdens have been laid down (probably for only a short time, I told you I’m stubborn) and I have picked up the joy of the Lord. I know, really know that God loves me. I’m sure this will fade with time, as I begin to have doubts again. But for now I am at PEACE!
After last year’s ReCharge, I felt similar. But this year was more intense. We had guys coming back from last year, and who were involved in the year’s study that went on between. And seeing them intently listening and participating, and hearing their testimonies about what this has done for them. WOW
This year was also special as I lead one of the sessions. I haven’t done that for a while and I have been feeling God’s nudges to start doing it again. I was terrified and exhilarated at the same time. As I said I have not done this for a while. Oh not talk in front of guys I’ve done that lots. No to teach, to inspire, to stir up conversation with my words. It was fantastic. And it really did stir up a lot of conversation. I know for next year we need to schedule more time for the guys to talk in the small groups and then more time to talk in the large group debrief after.
These guys are onboard, and the ones who didn’t come last year, our new guys. They experienced the high level of enthusiasm that was running rampant through the whole weekend.
It was great to see all these guys opening up to each other. The jokes and playful jabs that were flying freely, felt great and guys took them as they were meant. In fun!
Even more fun was to be had, at least by me, with the table games. Every meal we decide which table goes first, second third and fourth by games. They are based on the “minute to win it” TV show games. I usually have two that are really funny and two that are skill based. This year’s games did not disappoint! LOL
Guys having fun, guys playing as boys joking, laughing, guys sharing deeply with each other. At a level that they may never have shared before. I’ll tell you I didn’t want to leave on Sunday to come back.
But come back I did, and when I got home I realized how much I missed my wife and daughters company.
Tired, spiritually drained and refilled many times, happy to be home.
But I know it will fade. Maybe not as fast as last year. I’m part of too many groups of guys. The same guys that came for the weekend. We will talk about and relive some of the time we were there. We will help keep each other in that place of Joy of the Lord for as long as we can.
But fade it will, unless I can once and for all cast off the old new, and begin to live as the new me created in Christ. The new me that God sees and calls “beloved son”, the new me that God is never disappointed in. The new me that is all about Him and what He is doing in my life. There is always hope that as a real man I don’t retreat!
Monday, October 7, 2013
Friday, September 27, 2013
A Fresh start???? Maybe a new direction.
Well I have no idea why I have started this!!! That's not true, I know exactly why I started this. I was called to. Not by my wife or friends or work. No, by God! And I hate writing. I hate journaling, I hate diaries, I hate prepared speeches, I hate all that kind of stuff.
I do love to talk though. Some would say a little too much. But I like to talk in small groups or one on one. And I like to talk about stuff I know or and good at. Stuff that I am really passionate about. So I guess this makes sense, in a twisted God will move me kind of way. He knows what i need and what i need to do. I need to tell others what he has been teaching me. ANd I need to use a way
You see I'm a hard case. God has had to do a lot of work to get me where I am now. And do it with a lot of resistance on my part. I don't really want to change. I'm comfortable right where I am, thank you very much. But God know I can't stay here. To stay here is to die or worse become useless to God. You see it is all about His glory, His majesty, His strength, His light. Not mine. I need to be reminded daily that I am not God. I doubt God has the same problem. I don't think he wakes up thinking he is me. He does thin ABOUT me a lot. I'm on His mind. That is one of the things that He has taught me over the last couple of years.
And it got me thinking. If He is thinking about me maybe I should be thinking about Him. This has started me down a difficult road. One that I thought I had a good handle on, but find that I know little to nothing about what He wants from me. And what is it He wants from me? He wants me to be a Real Man! Yup that's it. Seems kind of simple at first. But when you start looking at all the measuring sticks that are used to judge a REAL MAN, you begin to see the problem. It is IMPOSSIBLE.
Or so I use to think. But then again, I use to think a lot about myself and not about God. That was my first big mistake. You see I thought is was all up to me. I had to do it all alone. How far from the truth that was. I still have to participate, but God does all the heavy lifting, all the real work. I just get to share in the outcome. Oh I still have stuff to do, stay aligned with Him, listen for His voice, do what He asks me to do no matter how it sounds.
Awhile back I answered a Facebook thread a friend put up about being a Dad vs. being a father. God had been teaching me some stuff at that time and I kind of liked what I wrote. The thread was titled "Anyone can be a father but it takes a Real Man to be a Dad. This got me thinking about the idea of being a real man and I wrote: 'Then again Real men are forged in the fires of adversity, not born into privilege and entitlement. Real men don't look at Fatherhood as a chore, but as an adventure and a challenge worthy of their time and effort. Real men know the meanings of the words DUTY, HONOR, SELFLESSNESS and practice them daily. Lets all stand up and shout: "I WILL BE A REAL MAN" '
And that is where I am going. I'm journeying down this road that God is leading me on. Thankfully I am not doing it alone, though at times it is intensely personal, I am sharing this road with a few other men who have decided that they as well want to be Real Men and Real men don't retreat!
I do love to talk though. Some would say a little too much. But I like to talk in small groups or one on one. And I like to talk about stuff I know or and good at. Stuff that I am really passionate about. So I guess this makes sense, in a twisted God will move me kind of way. He knows what i need and what i need to do. I need to tell others what he has been teaching me. ANd I need to use a way
You see I'm a hard case. God has had to do a lot of work to get me where I am now. And do it with a lot of resistance on my part. I don't really want to change. I'm comfortable right where I am, thank you very much. But God know I can't stay here. To stay here is to die or worse become useless to God. You see it is all about His glory, His majesty, His strength, His light. Not mine. I need to be reminded daily that I am not God. I doubt God has the same problem. I don't think he wakes up thinking he is me. He does thin ABOUT me a lot. I'm on His mind. That is one of the things that He has taught me over the last couple of years.
And it got me thinking. If He is thinking about me maybe I should be thinking about Him. This has started me down a difficult road. One that I thought I had a good handle on, but find that I know little to nothing about what He wants from me. And what is it He wants from me? He wants me to be a Real Man! Yup that's it. Seems kind of simple at first. But when you start looking at all the measuring sticks that are used to judge a REAL MAN, you begin to see the problem. It is IMPOSSIBLE.
Or so I use to think. But then again, I use to think a lot about myself and not about God. That was my first big mistake. You see I thought is was all up to me. I had to do it all alone. How far from the truth that was. I still have to participate, but God does all the heavy lifting, all the real work. I just get to share in the outcome. Oh I still have stuff to do, stay aligned with Him, listen for His voice, do what He asks me to do no matter how it sounds.
Awhile back I answered a Facebook thread a friend put up about being a Dad vs. being a father. God had been teaching me some stuff at that time and I kind of liked what I wrote. The thread was titled "Anyone can be a father but it takes a Real Man to be a Dad. This got me thinking about the idea of being a real man and I wrote: 'Then again Real men are forged in the fires of adversity, not born into privilege and entitlement. Real men don't look at Fatherhood as a chore, but as an adventure and a challenge worthy of their time and effort. Real men know the meanings of the words DUTY, HONOR, SELFLESSNESS and practice them daily. Lets all stand up and shout: "I WILL BE A REAL MAN" '
And that is where I am going. I'm journeying down this road that God is leading me on. Thankfully I am not doing it alone, though at times it is intensely personal, I am sharing this road with a few other men who have decided that they as well want to be Real Men and Real men don't retreat!
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