Already Looking Forward to My Next Birthday

My birthday couldn’t have been better. I spent it in a little cabin on a small island filled with wild blueberry bushes in the center of a lake in the middle of nowhere fishing for speckled trout and walleye with my three sons (the only place better for a birthday might be heaven).

We were on our annual fishing trip to Camp Anjigami and their Ogas outpost cabin in northern Ontario. As I sat down for breakfast on the morning of my birthday I couldn’t have been more content and blessed as I ate wild blueberry pancakes prepared by my sons while looking ahead to a day of trout fishing.

In reality this trip’s become a significant part of my life and one of the highlights of the Perry men’s year. It’s an annual ritual where we hang out, have fun, talk about life and experience God’s creation together – just the four of us. There’s really no other reason to make this trip each year.

But there are three other benefits that I count as a bonus:

First it provides a brief but needed change of pace after the intensity of 9 weeks of summer camp.

Second, I always find perspective being disconnected and away from the normal events of life while spending time with my sons.

Finally, there’s no other setting where I sense the presence of Christ in my life more than when I’m in His creation, away from it all. It spiritually nourishes my soul in a way that no other place does.

So as I read the words I’ve just written I realize that as long as we can plan this trip over my birthday I’ll always look forward to growing a year older.