Go Beyond

Earlier this year, my friend Gil Harris, the director of our Men of Kingsland ministry, asked me to pray about starting a new core group. Gil knows my heart and my desire to come alongside dads interested in strengthening their relationships with their sons. So, I agreed to start a core group especially for fathers interested in becoming better dads and champions to their sons. We call ourselves the Band of Fathers. Our objective is to grow in our relationship with our Heavenly Father and our sons through shared study, shared mission, and shared adventure.

In addition to spending time together in the study of God’s Word, we are also committed to serving others together with our sons. Our first shared mission initiative is scheduled for this Saturday. We will serve at the Manna House in Brookshire and then have a time of fellowship with the men who live there. We are also planning our first shared adventure — a rugged outdoors adventure that will help us to make great memories with our sons. We’ve got some pretty cool stuff in the works.

Last night we talked about the importance of putting family first and being intentional about having family fun. We believe that the good times we enjoy today will create great memories for the future — the kind of memories that will bless our children long after we are gone. We want to create memories of family fun but also memories of having fun while serving others and bringing glory to God.

As part of our discussion, I asked the guys to share some memories of family fun from their childhood. The feedback was great. Every guy in the room had so many good memories of things their fathers did to spend time with them — sharing outdoor adventures, getting out of the city and away from distractions to do things together, getting away from technology in order to actually talk face to face, and more. Loved hearing about things like “penny hikes” — in other words, flipping a coin at a fork in the road in order to determine which way to go on a “lost boys adventure.” Pretty cool.

The words “simple things” kept surfacing in our discussion. The things that created the best memories for the guys was not stuff but instead simple things that they did with their dads. The common thread in all of our memories was the involvement of our dads and that nothing really cost a lot of money. Our discussion made us think about the things we are doing to make good memories with our sons, the kind of memories that will bless them for a lifetime.

Although our group is new, I am excited about starting this great adventure with my Band of Fathers. We look forward to getting to know one another better, to sharing time in the study of God’s Word, and to serving others and experiencing outdoor adventures with our sons. I encourage all of the men at Kingsland to get involved in our Men of Kingsland ministry and to become a part of a core group — a band of brothers who can help one another to make greater strides toward becoming the men God wants us to be.