The Storm

Our men's group decided to go to Red River Gorge this past weekend. We are doing a book study on "Wild At Heart" by John Eldredge. Wild at Heart had been stirring in John for many years before it was written. There is something fierce, passionate, and wild in the heart of every man. That is how he bears the image of God. And the reason most men live lives of quiet desperation is because men have been told that the reason why God put them on earth is to be a good boy. To be nice. But every man longs for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. This is a great book. One I think every man should read. This book is what inspired our group to get out into the "wild".
We embarked on our trip on Saturday morning at 0700 hours. I was pumped and excited to see what God had in store for us. I haven't been camping in a long time, so I was anxious to do something I once loved doing. Red River Gorge is located in Eastern Kentucky in the Daniel Boone National Forest and is only a two and half hour drive from Cincinnati. It is a great location filled with streams, hills, natural rock formations and bridges, primitive campsites, and the Red River of course. It is truly one of God's most beautiful "earth" creations.
After a stop for a quick breakfast, we arrived at The Gorge at 1130 hours. The conditions were dry, hot, and humid. We set up camp and began to plan our day. Kieth brought some rock repelling equipment and I brought two mountain bikes in hopes to find some good trails. We ate lunch and decided to set out on some hikes to find a good repelling location. We ventured to "A Dangerous Place" which is a beautiful lookout (or overlook) for a huge section of the forest. We could see "Half Moon Rock" from where we were and decided that would be a great place to repel. When we got there, we discovered a guy and his family were already set up there. This cat was crazy. He was descending the rock "Aussie Style" which basically means he was running down a 90 degree angle (or less) that was almost 100 feet from the ground, face first. We set up our rope and opted for the traditional style of repelling. Kieth was basically the only one who had experience at this, but we all accepted the challenge and went for it. I was not nervous or scared at all. I trusted. I trusted Kieth and I trusted God. It was a leap of faith. And before I knew it, I was half way down. It was Awesome!

After a vigorous climb back up, we decided to pack up and head back. There was a storm pushing in and a 15 foot wide rock, 100 feet in the air is not the best place to weather a storm. We returned back to the campsite, started preparing dinner, and that is when the storm hit. The rain storm hit hard with gusting winds, thunder and lightning, and monsoon rains that soaked everything. It lasted for about 25 minutes and then broke for a while so we decided to finish dinner. That storm was nothing compared to the one that was about to hit.

It rained all night and I barely slept because of a headache I had all evening. After tossing and turning all night, I decided to get up and break down my tent. I was going to go for a bike ride, but it was too wet and muddy, and I was wearing my last dry change of clothes. As I was putting some of my personal belongings back in the truck, a couple of the others woke up and decided to do the same thing. The original plan was to wake and cook up a hearty breakfast, and then to set off for some alone time with God individually. The problem with that was, our fire was doused and we had no more dry wood to restart it, some of the food was left out and was now completely saturated, and the enemy had penetrated.

Opinions were made. Comments were used. Assumptions were casted. Moral was broken. Anger set in. God was denied. Excuses were used. And before we knew it, we were all up in arms. So, how does a group of men, who claim to be strong in their faith reach such an impass? What went wrong? What next? Where do we go from here? We immediately regrouped for some emergency prayer. This is where we are strong as a men's group. This is one of the things that I love most about this group. We are not afraid to speak to God. We are not afraid to lift what is on our hearts up to Him. We are a band of brothers who are passionate for God and long for His wisdom. We prayed and asked for strength. We prayed and asked for clarity. WE PRAYED!
I am looking forward to our next Tuesday night gathering so that we can further discuss what had happened and how to better prepare ourselves for the next storm. As the group Casting Crowns says it, "I will praise You in this Storm, And I will lift my hands, For You are who You are, No matter where I am, Every tear I've cried, You hold in Your hand, You never left my side, And though my heart is torn, I will praise You in this storm".