Heading Out To Whistler With Willingdon Ironmen Fall 2011 Retreat!

Men Sharpening Men: The Willingdon Ironmen Logo

4:30 PM:

     Well, it's the end of another working week and I'm back home. But I'm heading out again in just a few minutes, to leave for my first trip to Whistler with the Willingdon Ironmen's Fall Retreat! I'm really excited for this evening, as well as the next two days that I'll be spending with the men's fellowship at the Tantalus Lodge in Whistler, with our very own Pastor John Neufeld as the main speaker! I'll try to post here as often as I can about what I've been experiencing and learning everyday, with this year's theme being "Run To Win". Well, time to run through the final checklist and head out the door to meet Tim Leung at church for my carpool ride out there. See you all in the next update, hopefully tonight!

- The Wisdom Seeker

10:30 PM:

     Well, it's been an awesome opening day so far at the Ironmen retreat! There are more than 200 men here of all age ranges here. As I write this, I'm at the table watching my roomates Tim, Alex, Faber, James, Bryan, Bryant and my friend Johnson (visiting from his room) playing the game 'Settlers'. This brings back memories of the Campus for Christ Winter Conferences Johnson and I used to attend while in grad school.

James, Faber, Alex and Tim playing Settlers while I write my blogpost

     The trip here was most memorable, though brief. After work, I headed home, quickly packed my laptop and other minor things and headed out to meet Tim at Willingdon. When I got there, he was by parked in the church parking lot by the bus transporting some of the men to the retreat. I took a photo just before we left:

Tim hopping off the bus just before we all left.

      I had never been on the Sea-To-Sky Highway going to Whistler before. Although it was quite overcast and the light was fading as we headed onto it, there was still enough for me to get breathtaking views along the twists and turns along it during the one-and-a-half drive to Tantalus Lodge. When we arrived, we discovered an Ironmen check-in desk set up in the lobby, and a long line-up of men checking in at the front desk:

The Ironmen Welcome and Sign-in Desk

Ironmen Conference Poster

     Having grabbed a quick dinner and checked in to our rooms, we headed out to the Telus Conference Center for the first session. Following a short praise and worship session that began at 8:30, Pastor John began his opening talk for the weekend to come. And as he laid out the theme, I was thrilled that I had taken this faith step with the Ironmen, for his chosen topic is the fundamental theme of this blog, and the central pursuit of my life over more than a decade - Wisdom, and Handling the Conflicts of Worldviews.

     I will flesh out this post with the points that he made from his first talk tomorrow morning. For now, it's midnight and I'm going to have a shower and hit the bed. I'm looking forward to another exciting day tomorrow!

- The Wisdom Seeker