Full Weekend! We have a "camping group" at our church that makes a biannual trip to Buffalo point near Yellville, Arkansas. It's a beautiful place. I personally love sleeping in a tent, but @BetterDietitian refuses -- so our compromise is to rent a cabin near the group campsite. We cooked breakfast and invited strangers We went hiking as a group We took the kiddos with us swimming in the cold Buffalo river (we lasted 20min) I even carried someone else's 40lb. toddler for 5 miles on my back! #run100 (I'm counting it!) Then we came home Saturday night to serve the children Sunday morning. "Of all the classical disciplines, the one that grows humility most aptly is SERVICE" - Richard Foster | Celebration of Discipline As an adult, service in church was hard for me. I served my family. I served my clients. There is a list of friends and family who needed/wanted some time for good reasons! Nevermind the laundry list of things there are to do around the house! Not to mention the pursuit of my own growth and discipline - solitude (what's that?), sleep (hahahah), and everything else! And yet, my cup runneth over. 5 years ago, Christin committed to serving a couple times per month with the kindergarteners of our church. She would come home telling me about how many more volunteers were needed and how few men served among the various ages. So I came with her and they asked me to teach the lesson. ...I thought I knew the bible well...but teaching 5 yr. olds is definitely it's own beast! It was hard. I didn't like it. It was exhausting. Not to mention I had my own kiddo to father when I got home (no rest for the weary!) Fast forward 5 years. I have served men, youth, pre-adolescents, kiddos, and toddlers and I can honestly say that though our camping trip was awesome -- I really was looking forward to cutting it short to serve Sunday morning. Teaching a 5 year old to pray Teaching a 17 year old how to lead Teaching a 40 year old how to have fun at church I'm learning to see the world differently -- with a bit more grace, a lot more intention, and a ton more joy. It's very hard to explain if you haven't been there yourself. Supporting my wife's interests in our marriage has grown me in many ways over the past few years. But next to making me a father -- her roping me in to being a father-figure for other folks' kiddos... Somehow I've grown in ways I couldn't have imagined and in others that I really don't know how to express. If you need to get shaken up and you're not sure what your next step needs to be, step up in your local church with the young ones. It will be hard, you'll be bad at it at first, and you won't thank me. Kind of like a new exercise program. But if you stick with it...well...who knows who you could be if you truly became 1% Better - Every. Single. Day!?

Posted by Coach Alex VanHouten at 2022-04-25 11:26:08 UTC