Sons of Thunder 2008

The accolades for the Father/Son retreat, "Sons of Thunder" just kept spilling forth from John and Brayden last night. This year, there was a huge showing of guys and their sons from our church, which is so rewarding for John, as this is a ministry he truly believes in. I don't think a single attendee regretted for one moment devoting the weekend to such an incredible time bonding with their son or dad.

On to the pictures, which will give a glimpse of how all of the "boys" spent their time:

Up first, Brayden fishing. He was up early with the big group of buddies that were all gung-ho for catching the "big one". John loves the stoic expression of Brayden here......
Traig snagged an 11 inch fish by 6:30 am, hence the big smile on his face-
One proud Andrew with his Daddy-
Andrew was reeling his fish in, here- notice all of those loving dads lined up.....
While Brayden may have gotten skunked in the fish department, he did catch himself another kind of wildlife.....
On to some of the team-building activities, Brayden being pulled up by buddy, Jonah, with all of the dads below offering assistance....
Ready and suited for paint ball-
Unlike Harlow, Tadmor does not have a swimming pool, but rather a big pond/mini-lake. This is one of the key attractions on the lake-
That is Brayden ready to jump that HUGE distance down -in order to send Traig (kind of) flying... I'm so impressed!
The height that Traig reached when John jumped down was record-reaching - in fact it made the end of retreat highlight DVD. Traig was thrilled by the experience!
This is Mark - the brave dad - who chose to dive in with the boys, and get absolutely filthy-
I just love this, boys being boys! (However, I'm still soaking the swim trunks in Oxyclean - the soaking water is very brown!)
I think this picture just screams Father/Son bonding, don't you?
Finally, a picture of John and Brayden prior to setting off for their "Blind-Man Walk" where they took turns leading each other on a rather difficult hike- John said Brayden did an amazing job leading him downhill, really communicating clearly and looking out for his daddy's needs. Also in the highlight DVD was a film clip of John talking with Brayden during their "Quiet Time" - with John laying down and Brayden leaning next to him. They were actually discussing spiritual things when it was taken - it was such a beautiful moment caught (without their knowledge) of them. John was explaining to Brayden about how God speaks to us. I think many of the men who attended the retreat experienced God speaking to them this last weekend.