Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Tell About It Tuesday -- "While We're Waiting" Weekend for Dads

I am so excited today to tell you about our very first "While We're Waiting" Weekend for Dads, which is coming up this weekend, October 7-9.  Brad and I and our friends, Larry and Janice Brown, have been spending the last few weeks preparing for this event, and I just have to say that it's going to be awesome.

The Sullivan family owns several hundred acres in the tiny town of Briggsville, Arkansas, which is located in Yell County.  You've probably never heard of it.  According to Wikipedia, the entire county has a population of only 22,185 people, and the population of Briggsville is a grand total of 114 people.  So yeah, it's a pretty rural area.  This is where Brad and Bethany do most of their deer hunting, and where our family "picture in the road" was taken. There is a four bedroom house on the property that used to belong to Brad's aunt, and when she passed away, it became the "hunting lodge."  That's where the guys will be hanging out this weekend.

They're going to be gathering on Friday evening, with no specific arrival time since they all have different work schedules.  The plan is to spend Friday evening just hanging out, snacking, and getting to know each other a little bit.  Things will really kick off on Saturday morning, with a big country breakfast, followed by a time of sharing their children's stories.  They'll take a break mid-morning and spend some time riding 4-wheelers on the numerous trails around the property.  If they're lucky, they might even spot a few arrowheads where the soil has been plowed up around the recently planted foot plots.

They'll have lunch beside one of the ponds on the property, and then spend the rest of the afternoon finishing up sharing their children's stories.  In the late afternoon, the guys are going to pair up and sit on deer stands around the property, armed with digital cameras.  They'll be instructed to basically take pictures of anything that moves, and prizes will be given for the guys who take a picture of the biggest wildlife (whether that's a deer, a wild hog, or possibly even a bear) and for the guys who take pictures of the biggest variety of wildlife.  Larry is bringing his laptop, so they will be able to download all their pictures for viewing and judging.

By the time they return to the house, a steak dinner with all the trimmings will be ready for them.  After dinner, they'll spend the remainder of the evening discussing issues they all face as bereaved dads, and then hit the sack.  Sunday morning will start out with another delicious breakfast, and the weekend will wrap up with a worship time and a presentation about how Dads can live well while they're waiting to be reunited with their children in Heaven.

Sounds pretty awesome, doesn't it?  If you know a bereaved Dad who might enjoy spending a weekend with a bunch of guys who share both his faith and his experiences, send him to the While We're Waiting website, and have him register.  There's only room for one more Dad for the upcoming weekend, but Brad and Larry will be hosting another Dad's event the weekend of May 4-6, 2012, and he might want to go ahead and reserve his spot now.  Should be good fishing that weekend!!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

What neat thing! Sounds like God keeps adding to and blessing the ministry you guys have. Not a small thing...