Back at the Ranch

It never gets old. Sure a little stressful, maybe even aggravating, but never old. No matter how many years I do it in a row, even when I'm an old man, full of years, wisdom and experience, this will always be new and exciting to me. It never gets old.

I'm not going to get into a debate of the definition of masculinity, sexual preference, or anything of that matter; I am, however, prepared to offer this blanket and truthful statement: A boy is in his element in the wilderness. I don't care who he is, what he likes, or where he came from, give him a week in the woods and he finds the very thing he's spent all this time looking for... himself.

It's not about the scratching and cussing, the hunting and gathering, or even the lack of showering, it's so much more than that. It' about character, discipline, leadership, confidence, humility, generosity, strength, and courage. It's about taking up a boy and leaving with a man.

This week was our annual Wilderness Trip in Massachusetts, and it was nothing short of amazing. 24 boys, no electricity, no running water, no lights; nothing they want, everything they need. It's a different environment, different experiences, different risks, and all you can do is pray that they catch on as they go.

It's my 2nd year to run the week, and it is definitely outside of my realm of comfort as well. All in all, around 60 people attend, so to plan for all of them as well as the entire week's activities with a purpose behind them requires more planning and administration than I am accustomed to employing, beyond the fact that everyone is without the luxuries of life, which tends to make them less than pleasant. When you have a lot that you want to do, you want to get it all done, and to do that you have to wear an authoritative hat that I'm not used to wearing, hence "Dictator Matt" -- the nickname given me by Ryan Davis' cabin -- seen below

Perhaps one of my favorite parts about being in charge is I get to pick the teams, and I have fun with it. I mix them up so much that no one wants stand in the same room with their team, much less eat, sleep, and cooperate with them for an entire week. You've got guys who hate each other because of this, guys who have never talked because of that, you name it, there was a reason behind every team member, and it rocked their world. Now their personal success was based on the performance of the very people they wish to compete against, not with. I mean teams are hard enough for many people, but how much more so when you've never been able to depend on anyone your entire life? And now you're forced to share your most uncomfortable week with your arch enemy, and the only way to do it is to cooperate with him?

But that is the beauty of this week, what happened in NY, stayed in NY. This is a new place, a new world, a new experience, and a new opportunity to start over again.

There is always a dream you envision for how the week will turnout, how the boys will respond to each challenge, how they will rise above adversity, how they will overcome their fear and self-doubt. You imagine how they will bond together as a team and achieve things they never thought possible. It is a beautiful dream.

With the utmost confidence I can tell you that every year my dream comes true, not because it was such a well planned event (such a fact would be included in the dream), or that it ran without any kinks, or even that there were no problems with the boys. My dreams came true despite all these factors, and many more, because there is a God who desires to make men. To take them at their weakest and make them their strongest, to show them what masculinity really is, not just being manly, more than that, truly being a man.

I have no prouder moment at The Ranch than this week. To watch a young man save another resident who fell out of the raft, the very same resident he sent to the hospital only several weeks ago. To watch two other guys with absolutely nothing in common share a hug of congratulations. To watch a kid reel in a fish, hold a turtle, build a fire, split a log, take responsibility, lead courageously, follow humbly, work diligently, forgive willingly, and succeed honestly. Building character to make men.

It's the highlight of my year, not for personal glory, but for the satisfaction of dreams come true. A grand dream indeed, to send a boy up a mountain and watch a man come back down. I've been there three years, led it twice, and it is as meaningful today as it was the first time. Even when I'm old and grey, when wisdom and experience replace youth and vigor, when I've watched it happen again and again and again, I will never bore of watching God make men, to me, that will never get old.

# posted by Matt Foster : 11:42 PM