Wild at Heart Boot Camp Review

I've been home for almost two days now and I find that I'm still struggling with how to write about what happened this last weekend. How do you describe something that can really only be experienced? How do you speak publicly about that which is deeply personal? I don't have good answers to those questions but I know that I want to, need to, tell you at least some about what happened in Colorado this last weekend.

First off, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who prayed. This weekend was deeply opposed at every level. Our prayers were needed and they were effective. Sadly, I can also say that not everyone had the same kind of prayer coverage I did. There were guys who clearly got taken out for all or part of the weekend. I didn't and for that I thank you so much.

During the weekend, John Eldredge said a couple times, "Jesus is better than you think He is." If I was summing up what God had me realize this weekend in one sentence, that would be it. Jesus showed up in ways that I wouldn't have imagined. Before I left, God told me this weekend was about both Him caring for my heart and drawing me further up and further in. I didn't realize at the time just how closely connected those two things were. The second would not have happened without the first. God fiercely loved me this weekend. He drew out my true self in a way that I'd never experienced before. And it was good. It was very good.

I don't think we fully appreciate just how much life is available to us in this life. Yes, we're a work in process that, as Paul reminds us, won't be completed until the day of Christ. Yes, there are wounds that will not be healed until we see Heaven. Yes, the battle will continue to rage and evil will often seem dominant on the Earth. But there is an abundance that God has for us here and now and it would be an absolute tragedy if we missed that. Just how much is available? More than we think. A lot more. I tasted it this weekend. It was amazing but it was still only a taste of the riches God has for us here and now.

It was also a weekend of initiation and adventure. During the Friday morning session, John was talking about how when men speak of the best times of their lives the stories will often be stories of adventure. As he was speaking I found myself thinking that I have a few of those sort of stories but not a ton and it would sure be nice if God would provide opportunities for more. That afternoon, a group of guys and I went horseback riding. We were less than two minutes out on the trail when it started to hail. At first it was just a little and then it unleashed. The horses went nuts, running around in circles and getting ready to buck. Meanwhile, the coral had been left open slightly and a bunch of horses got out and started charging down the trail at us. The ranch hands came running down the trail screaming at us to get off the horses. Having not ridden more than a time or two I had no idea how to dismount. But I managed to half jump, half fall off the horse and get to shelter where I watched it hail so much it looked like it had snowed. Once it cleared up the ride was beautiful but my favorite part was the beginning. It was wild, it was scary and it was an absolute blast.

Another highlight from the weekend was the fellowship. You'll remember from my prayer requests that I mentioned that I was most nervous about going alone to a camp of 400 guys I didn't know. It was a complete non issue. I had so many wonderful conversations and made a lot of good friends over the weekend. One example that stands out was when I was going hiking Saturday and as I started out on one of the trails I ran into a guy I hadn't talked to before and didn't talk to after. He said hi and we proceeded to talk for the next 45 minutes about what God was doing in our lives through the weekend. It was awesome and such a gift from God.

There is so much more I could say, so many stories, so many ways God showed up in my life but there's very little that I could truly give justice to with my words. Something like this needs to be experienced and for the men reading this, I hope you do. This is not just another men's retreat or a Christian event that fades into memory as soon as it's over. What goes on at these retreats is deep restoration and healing. I watched men in their sixties and seventies find healing for wounds they have lived with their entire lives. That kind of healing, and the life God promises, is available and a Wild at Heart Boot Camp is a great place to start finding it. For the women, Ransomed Heart also does Captivating retreats a couple times a year that offer the same healing and life to the femine heart.

Remember, Jesus is better than you think He is. It's true and He is desperately waiting to prove it to you.