A Month of Sundays

My seven year old Seth burst into the kitchen this morning with the salutation, "What day is today?"

I told him it is considered good form to make your first greeting something along the lines of "Good morning, how are you doing?" But I let him know it's Monday. "Oh, that's right," he said, "it was Sunday yesterday."

Actually his moment of confusion has an excellent explanation. We got back yesterday evening from a three-day Father & Son Retreat put on by Hope Baptist Church in Wake Forest, convened on the rolling farmland of my friend Scott Brown, pastor at Hope. There were over two hundred dads and sons there (and a couple dozen wives and daughters who volunteered to help feed this crowd), some from as far away as Jacksonville, Florida and the Bronx.

Framing the enjoyment of tent camping, canoe races, archery, and the biggest tug-of-war I've ever been in -- two hundred feet of rope and sixty men to a team -- we had six sessions of serious, challenging, convicting teaching about what it means to be a godly father or a godly son, everything from dealing with specific temptations, to working together, to the call of true manhood as a witness of the Gospel. Really, really good -- the audio files should be posted online soon.

The preaching was held under a huge tent which Scott keeps up on the property; Hope holds outdoor services there on many occasions, and we have spent many hours there in sermons, Memorial Day picnics, and the most incredible wedding reception I ever attended. The weekend culminated with Sunday services with Hope, as well as contingents from our own church, South Smithfield Baptist Church; Southwest Wake Christian Assembly; and Eddie Burrough's congregation from Rocky Mount (sorry, Eddie, I didn't catch the name).

So it's not surprising that Seth lost count of the weekdays. Seven hours of sermons in three days sort of rounds out a month of Sundays, I guess.

All seven of our hats off to Scott, his fellow elders Eddie Burroughs, Dan Horn, Jason Dohm, and Steve Breagy, and the team which did yeomen's duty putting this event together. What a great weekend. Thanks, brethren.