For several years now the guys in my family have talked about how we would love to take a trip once or twice a year and camp, hike, raft or all of the above. This is probably a common conversation in many families that usually goes no further until the next family function when someone brings it up again. Well, this last Christmas it was brought up again and somehow I was designated the trip planner. This is good on one hand because I trust myself with the details; on the other hand… I have to handle the details.

Honestly, I think I might be a little frightened to leave the planning to anyone else in this group. Did I mention that I may have some control issues? Anyway, I proceeded to research different areas to backpack/hike as well as round up gear, blah, blah, blah and we decide that Easter Sunday would be the start of our first bi-annual guys trip (we hope to have a name for our group by the second trip). Two and a half days and two nights of outdoor bliss, and off we went. The trail we knew would be difficult was indeed difficult, the weather was colder than we expected but turned out to be perfect, and the scenery was breathe-taking. My youngest brother and I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen while we were standing on the edge of a 400 ft. cliff. All we could do is stand there in awe. What a wonderful glimpse of our creator’s beauty. I think we were all happy with the way the trip turned out, which means that I will probably have to plan the next trip. I don’t want to bore you with any more details, but this trip was a sort of milestone for me in regards to my attempts at nurturing and encouraging community within my family.
I am the oldest of five children. I have three brothers and a sister who is married to a great guy and they have a 2-year old boy. I live about 12 hours away from all of them and don’t get to see them as much as I would like. Although there are benefits to not living in the same town as your parents and siblings, I do believe that the day-to-day side of our relationship suffers. I love my family and am so blessed to know that we share the same faith, however, as with many families, we too often go through the motions of family-life without connecting with each other. The camping trip was a way for us all to gather away from the chaos of yet another family function, drop our roles of father, son, brother, brother-in-law and just be guys talking about whatever was going on in each of our respective lives and hopefully learn how to encourage and love each other well.
The relationships we have in this life are gifts not only for us to enjoy but also for us to nurture. In doing this, I continually discover the depth of the relationship we have with our Creator. This is why I believe it is so important to be intentional about loving those we sometimes take for granted. I have a common connection with my family as well as a spiritual connection in Christ. My hope and prayer is that the guys in my family, specifically, could be intentional about nurturing our relationship and more importantly finding our need for the Gospel greater as we walk through life together.