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MEN'S FORUM |
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A beautiful Saturday morning…what better way to spend it than in fellowship with brothers…and some new guests…having breakfast at the Port ‘n’ Starboard room at Ocean Beach…where more than one brother was heard to comment that “Hey…they always have plenty o’ bacon!” |
The theme for this year’s Men’s Forum was “The Value of a Man”. We first explored this notion through a couple of team exercises, where our individual value was highlighted by our ability to contribute to a collective effort. I really need to hold up two brothers, here, whose preparatory contributions were significant and essential to this year's success...James Stanfield and Byron Stewart. |
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We solved a mental challenge on survival where we were faced with a hypothetical situation and a variety of resources where we had to, based on our varied and collective experiences, determine the most important five to help us out of our fix. |
Next was a challenge more coordinated than conceptual, where we, as a group standing on a 6’ X 8’ tarp, had to flip the entire tarp over without anyone stepping off it onto the rug. |
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There were prizes, but everyone benefited more from the insights we all shared into one another, both from the challenges, and the discussions that were deftly managed by individual table/team facilitators, prepared in advance to enable them to achieve an admirably high level of interaction, drawing out our guests and getting them, not only included, but motivated to share of themselves. |
And, finally, sufficiently primed and ready, Mike Van Auken, from the Boston Church inspired us with his own interpretations of not only what the value of a man is, but why, based in scripture and his rich life experience! Using biblical knowledge paired with entertaining anecdote, he neatly summed it all up as an ongoing challenge to delve deeper into, for both the brothers and our guests, and tied it up neatly enough to just say so that’s it...our value is in no way more defined than in Christ’s gift on the tree…and the Father’s loving generosity in the giving…undeniably…now what will you do with it? |
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To flirt with cliché, “A Good Time Was Had by ALL!”
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