Hi-Ho, Silver! Away!

Is it “Hi-Ho, Silver!” or “Hi-Yo, Silver!”?

It doesn’t matter. I’m probably not the one on the white horse. And I’m certainly not the Lone Ranger. But the famed Four Horsemen are riding off to Tyler State Park this morning for our annual Advance. And, as fast as the masked man rode down the trail at the end of every episode, that’s how I’m going to feel when I take off here in a couple of hours.

It’s just been a long, hard past four or five weeks. Gearing up for Missions Month and planning a new Small Groups cycle at the same time is too much. Extra meetings, extra website articles, extra brochures and handouts, extra meetings, extra speakers to schedule, extra meetings. And on top of all that: extra meetings! And these people still want to hear a decent sermon Sunday!

Nobody wants to hear about it, I know. But God in his providence is giving me this great weekend of encouragement and refreshing and revival just when I need it most.

I’ve written at length here about Jason and Kevin and Dan. I don’t have any closer friends. And I don’t know any men who are more dedicated to our Father and his Kingdom than these brothers. My time with them — during our monthly lunches, our quarterly family get-togethers, and, especially, our annual weekend camping trips — is always uplifting and encouraging. We pray together. We talk about our families and our kids. We study Scripture. We talk about God’s Church. We help each other with advice and insights. Jason and I talk about preaching. Dan talks about ministering to the margins and planting churches. Kevin keeps all of us grounded and connected by talking about the big-picture of the Kingdom. And we all four come away stronger and better and closer to God and each other.

I’m a little concerned about our vehicle. Jason’s meeting us in Tyler. But the other three of us are leaving from Dan’s house in Forney in Kevin’s brand new Lexus SUV. I know, give me a break. First, Kevin doesn’t need to be driving a Lexus. Second, nobody needs to drive a Lexus to a campout. I don’t know what we’re going to do. It just seems wrong on so many fronts.

I’m not worried about the weather. We froze in Cleburne two years ago and froze last year in Tyler. Not this time. Perfect.

I pray our Father blesses your weekend like I know he’s going to bless mine. We’ll check back in Monday.

Peace,

Allan