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I love to minister at church, whether it's acting or leading in worship. And I believe that a bond can be built between people that labor together for Jesus. There is a fellowship, a camaraderie; something good gets built between two people who work and minister together.

 But recently I've seen something that builds an even stronger tie; something that creates a closeness that working together doesn't create.

 Playing together.

 Picture this: me, almost fifty, with my pastor (over fifty), riding a knee-board (normally used in summer water sports), being pulled by a four wheeler over an ice and snow-covered lake. Now, that's fun. That'll bond two guys together for sure.

 Doing seventy on a snowmobile. Wiping out on the knee-board (yes, we both wiped out, and I have the bruises to prove it.)

 It was a funny thing; how this all came about. I had a choice. Would I sit on the couch (lazy Sunday), or get up and get out. I chose to get up, but I didn't know I would be snowmobiling and four-wheeling on Indian Lake that day; I just took a step that made me available for that. In my mind, was simply going to "pick the kids up."

 There was a bond that formed between Lee and myself that day. Laughing together. Being fourteen again. Forgetting about what we had to do and just having fun doing what we could do. Something clicked. Like Jesus taking His disciples away for a while to rest from the crowds.

 I wonder if they found the same kind of bonding just hanging with Jesus that I felt just hanging with my pastor.

You should try it sometime. No obligations, no "have-to's", no requirements; just fun. You know ... fun can really be fun sometimes.


(Photography by H. G. Furcinitti)

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