For my first post, I’m going to go back to an email I wrote some friends last year in explanation of what Legacy Adventures is and what my first experience with them was. I’ve edited it a little for adult content (just kidding), I just took a few things out that don’t pertain here…enjoy and check out Legacy Adventures here.
“I felt compelled to share with you guys about something I’ve attended a couple times now that has had a profound effect on my relationship with my kids, as well as my relationship with God. About a year ago a friend began telling me about this thing called “Legacy Adventures” he had attended, and how awesome it was. As he told it, it was a father/son camping trip where you go out to the woods and shoot BB guns, bows and arrows, go fishing, build stuff, etc. Guy stuff. He said that it was an amazing trip with just he and his son, and that he got to have some time with other dads that were struggling through life the same way he was: how to be a good dad, how to be the spiritual leader in their house, you get the idea. He couldn’t wait to go on another trip, and as time went on he felt called to join the ministry and is now on the leadership team.
Well, I put it off and put it off, but finally in April decided to sign up for the May Father/Daughter trip. The only person I knew going in was that my friend was the co-leader of that particular trip, so I actually wouldn’t be spending much time with him or anything because he would be fairly busy while we were there. This is not a situation I am normally comfortable in. As I told him later, we were up on the rim and I felt like I left my comfort zone at home. Anyway, not knowing what to expect I was fairly apprehensive about the whole thing. Jasmine however, was very excited about the opportunity to have me all to herself. We drove up there on Saturday morning and got to the campsite around 10. Set up the tent, had lunch and split into different groups for the afternoon activities. For this particular trip there were three different activities: shooting gallery (BB Guns, Bows, hatchet throwing) –- the girls really seemed to dig this by the way, probably because it’s not stuff they usually do — , then a craft (we made a pot and planted seeds), then blindfolded painting where your partner tells you what to paint and you try to do it blindfolded. Every activity was a lot of fun, and it provided some insight into Jasmine’s personality for me. The other thing that was awesome about the activities was just how purposeful they all were. At the outset of each activity our leader explained the purpose behind that particular activity, and what it symbolized. Fantastic stuff.
That night, after the girls were in their beds, the men talked around the campfire with the leader doing some teaching from the Bible as well as sharing personal things from his walk. Outside of the fact that I was spending a day and a half straight with just Jasmine, this time was the highlight of my trip. I never would have thought I would say that, but it was. Trust me on that.
Next day was some “daughter directed” free time and pretty much a camp wrap up. So all in all, it requires a commitment of Saturday 7 am to around 2 or 3 Sunday afternoon. Some of the trips are actually to places that have cabins to stay in. On those trips, you drive up Friday night since there’s not tents to set up. Two nights instead of one.
As for the “camping” part. I am honestly not a camper, I know some of you are so this is no big deal. For the rest of us let me say this. EASY CAMPING. Basically you bring clothes, a tent, and sleeping bags and you’re good. They take care of all the food and the cooking. They even set up some port a potty type toilets that are really good. The tough stuff is taken care of!
…I really just wanted to reiterate that I think this is something that almost all dads could use. How many of us really get one on one time with our kids in an environment where we can do fun stuff, and pay attention to them (with no distractions), and also get some encouragement in our relationship with God? I would say, not too many opportunities like that.
Some of you I have already spoken with about this and some of you I haven’t for whatever reason. One last thing – this is for kids age 5 and up (otherwise too young to do most of the stuff), and I would suggest that even if you have more than one kid of a gender, you only take one with you per trip. Obviously, it’s no big deal if you do take more than one, however I think it takes quite a bit away from giving each child that special alone time with Dad. I hope you will all pray about whether this is something you may be able to attend in the future.”
I will be attending 3 trips this year: April 10th-11th, June 12th-13th, and October 9th-10th. See their entire calendar for 2010 here.
Doomed To Fail 