THE REVELATION

Friends,

I took four boys on a hiking trip to initiate them into manhood in July.

I came back with a torn achilles and a revelation. The Revelation

It was the first day of the hike. The day after my injury.

(By the way, this injury has helped me realize I should stick to one on one mentoring and not one on one basketball. Thanks Elijah.)

I hiked behind the boys, and did my best to keep up.

But every step brought with it a stabbing pain.

I began reconsidering how manly I thought I was whenever I failed to conceal it.

A low whimper when the path was level. A lurching screech with a misstep on a rock.

I struggled. I fell behind.

The more I focused on stuffing the pain, the less attention I gave to my breathing.

I found myself physically exhausted and we had only been on the trail for a few hours.

The path led out of the trees and into a wide, open valley. God came to me in a still, small voice: this is what it feels like walking into manhood without a father.

My pain was transposed the rest of the trip. It was no longer my own pain.

Every step became a spiritual opportunity to walk in the shoes of our boys for a change. I was feeling what they are often unwilling to express out loud. There is nothing more damaging than an unspoken hurt, an ungrieved loss, a heart wound of hopes deferred.

Raising men

Becoming a man is no small feat. You must mature and put away childish things. Learn to give respect and take responsibility. It is entered into through taking risks and making sacrifices. A boy’s physical strength, mental capacities, and spiritual resilience will be tested, broken or proven in the process.

Without the support and encouragement of older men, many boys will never enter in. Forerunner exists to show them the path and take the journey with them.

Raising them on our shoulders and into manhood.

Raising our voice to say one day no boy in Lake Highlands will have to walk it alone.

Thank you for being in the journey with them. For raising them up on your shoulders. For feeling their pain at a personal level. For re-supplying our packs.

For helping us show them the way so that they can walk in it.