Summer of 2013

This was a great summer for several reasons. It was a nice time to rest after having a difficult year, I hired a personal trainer for better and more efficient workouts, and bonded with my daughter. We also took several trips throughout the summer. My family and I went to Hume Lake where clueless teenagers run wild within the confines of a Christian camp, visited my buddy Dom and his family up at Monterey, and even went to Mammoth for the first time.

There were several other benefits of the summer months, but I just wanted to highlight the Mammoth trip for this year’s summer summary blog. The reason for this is not because a bear almost ate me (not making that up) but that the Mammoth trip was Dom’s college and career retreat for his church. He asked me to team teach with him by going through several chapters and themes in the book of Hebrews. I begrudgingly said, “yes,” sensing that it would take several hours of studying to prepare and even more energy to act mature and responsible during the retreat since I’d be viewed as a “leader.”

As I began the process of preparation for the teaching times, it wasn’t much of a surprise that I enjoyed studying the Bible since I . . . well . . . enjoy studying the Bible. What came as a surprise to me was that being a “leader” with Dom that weekend wasn’t as taxing as I thought it was going to be. It was actually quite enjoyable. I appreciated the opportunity to do so myself and to see how much Dom has matured as a man and spiritual leader. Upon further reflection, I find it simply comical that God would have us EVER leading a retreat. People who knew us during our teen years would know that a three-legged blind dog would have been better at leading just about anything else.

From what I hear, the people who attended the retreat were blessed and left knowing God better and understanding our roles in His grand master plan (whatever that may be). The retreat really had a duel purpose for me. First, of course, was my responsibility to teach the Word of God and minister to people. Yes, I counted that as one because they go hand in hand. Second, it was a great time to reflect on my personal journey of how far the Lord has brought me. Twenty years ago if you would’ve told Dom and myself that Dom would be a pastor someday and I would help him teach the Bible at a retreat we would’ve have said, “Give us some of whatever you are smoking.” Most people know we were “bad” kids. I won’t get into details but “bad” doesn’t really quite describe it. I’ve been truly blessed watching Dom’s life and mine continue to change and to see the power of the gospel in both our lives.

As it stands, I was extremely humbled by the opportunity and realize God continues to use the biggest jack@$$es to glorify His name- which is fine by me since that all but guarantees my usage for His kingdom.