Guys' Week

 

 

 

Reflections on Guys Week
By John Dodman
Coming out of Thanksgiving weekend having stayed with an awesome family I felt really excited about how I felt like I was at home even though I wasn't - our community is awesome for that. The drive to Alberta didn't feel like a 16 or so hour car ride, partly because everyone was so excited to be back together again. And then we hit Calgary. We unloaded the vans of all of our stuff at the girls' hotel and repacked all the guys' stuff back into the trailer so that the guys could head to Canmore.

As we continued on our ride to Canmore (where the guys were staying) I was half asleep when Aaron (one of my site leaders) stirred me saying, "Hey John, have you ever seen the mountains before?" I looked up to see the most beautiful set of mountains I had ever seen in my life. The moon was full on the cloudless night which seemed outline by the black mountains against the night sky. Thus began the tale of Guys Week '08.

Our speakers, Blaine and Gary, were awesome. Their passion for watching young people grow closer to God was so evident throughout the whole week. Their willingness to talk openly about sensitive issues that normally aren't talked about was so helpful. It wasn't just while we were in session, they were with us all the time, just being role models to us, showing us and teaching us what it means to be a man of God in this world.

One thing that sticks out in my memory was is the Calgary Hitmen's Hockey Game. We were all dancing for the McDonald's danceathon where you dance to win some food. While he was away from our group Gary mentioned us to the hostess and sort of arranged for a couple us to be involved in the next activity - a trike race! So, myself and Jason - from site 1 - raced off against each other!

Guys was lots of fun! However, I don't want to go into too many details because - What happens at Guys week stays at Guys week!