We left the comforts of home around 2:30pm today and immediately hit a storm heading north. The rain was coming down so hard, we almost had to pull over. We checked the radar and saw it was suppose to rain until 10am tomorrow morning. This would not allow us to complete the climbing wall as we had planned and would have made things very difficult for us on day #1…however, within about 10 miles, the clouds opened up and the sun shined through! I remember thinking if only this sunshine would stay…and sure enough, it did! We arrived at Cran-Hill at about 4pm and without a drop a rain, we unloaded the trailer. After talking through expectations with the boys, we headed to dinner. The boys listened as the Cran-Hill kitchen staff gave us the rules of the chow hall.
After dinner, the boys thanked the kitchen staff and we headed to the climbing wall…with the sun still shining! What a great experience! The boys were able to push themselves to their limits and beyond…I loved hearing the encouragement from the group as one of the boys on the wall would say, “i’m done, I can’t go any higher.” After some helpful and encouraging comments they would push themselves to go one or two rocks higher than they thought they could! What an accomplishment this is!! We all cheered as a few of the boys made it all the way to the top and rang the bell! Check out our Facebook page @RRanchMI.org for more pics!
After the climbing wall we came back to our cabin and showed the boys how to start a fire with a flint & steel. We had chocolate chip cookies around the fire as we wound down. A few of the boys struggled to get to sleep tonight due to the excitement to new friends and a new place, but we are all adjusting well. Overall, it was a great day and I am looking forward to getting to know these boys even more this week. Please continue to pray for patience and guidance for the leaders.
So glad the boys have had the chance to push themselves and support others so early on. They will NEED to work as a team if they really want to make this adventure a success. I challenge each of you boys to look deep, and dig deep as you learn to put your team first. This may sound silly but you are all on a journey together with different struggles and strengths. You will be pushed to discover your own strengths and struggles and I encourage you to be as open as you can and let the team support you.
No matter how alone you may feel today just know that the men around you are called by God to be where that are right now because you are worth it. You are surrounded by people who care about your future and if you give them a chance and open up they will be a friend for life. Just like that rock wall, this week is a chance to push yourselves and move past some of those obstacles in life one peg at a time. And the people around you will be there every step of the way. We will be praying for you all and am so excited to see what you can do and have done already.