Digging Ditches
October 2, 2015
What began four years ago as an idea to connect fathers with sons and give dads a behind the scenes look at the program their sons play in has turned in to one of the highlights of the year. Whether it is going to a Cubs game, playing basketball with an NBA player, or going out on a charter fishing boat, relationships in our program have deepened as we have welcomed our dads to peek behind the scenes of the IAm3rd Way. Here is the second in a series of blog posts written by the men who were on the 2015 Father/Son Retreat, spent whitewater rafting in West Virginia. This entry is from Senior All American Point Guard Jonny Marlin. You can view the first post, written by Jonny's father, HERE
There are a few games you circle on the schedule because they just tend to mean a little more. In the same way, you circle special events in life and look forward to them as soon as you put them on the calendar. One of those special events is our Father/Son Retreat. It's a time that is different from anything else you experience throughout the year. I mean seriously, how many times do you get to spend a weekend with your father alongside some of your closest friends and their dads?! Sometimes the anticipation of an event is greater than the excitement the event produces, but that is not true of the Father/Son. It has delivered every time.
This year we were fortunate to travel to West Virginia and experience the thrill of whitewater rafting down some of the most extreme rapids in North America. While I will never forget the thrills and laughs that my dad and I shared in the raft with the Johnson's, Murphy's and Peters, they do not compare to the experiences that were created away from the river.
Our time away from the river was spent enjoying some manly food, sitting around campfires and exploring God's word. There is something unique that happens when people gather in Jesus' name. Although you can't predict how God is going to move, you know He will in some capacity. I was challenged recently by Steven Furtick's book 'Greater' to have a greater expectation of what God is going to do in our lives. Elisha not only prayed for rain when it was needed in the land, but commanded the king to get his men shovels and have them start digging ditches in anticipation of the Lord answering the prayer. This retreat left our team inspired and ready to get our shovels and start 'digging ditches' in expectation of how God is going to act in big ways through our team this season! I've personally been convicted to spend more time in the Word, in prayer and in worship leading up to the season. Will you grab a shovel and join me?
-Jonny Marlin, Senior