We were 25 minutes out from landing in Portland, OR. It was late. My oldest daughter and I had been traveling for several hours by this point.
Sitting there trying to keep our eyes open while watching an episode of The Office, we both noticed a commotion a few rows in front of us. Then it hit us. The unmistakable smell of something awful. Something that you don’t talk about in polite company.
Some unfortunate soul apparently had an accident in their pants. On the airplane! The only thing worse than the smell was the feeling this poor soul had to be experiencing.
25 minutes later upon landing we had never been so excited to exit an airplane. While it was not the start to our week together we had expected, it surely would make for a good story to start our adventure.
Bekah and I had landed in Portland, OR for a few reasons. The first was to visit a close friend of Bekah’s who recently moved to Euguene, OR. Next up was an attempt at climbing Mt. Shasta, a 14,000 foot mountain in Northern CA. Then we would head to the main reason we were on the West coast and that was a Father/Daughter week at a camp called JH Ranch.
I had been involved with JH Ranch years earlier and always knew that if the Lord took his time in returning, I would do everything I could to take my children there. And now that the time was here, I found myself more excited than I thought possible.
Arriving at the Ranch late on a Saturday night carried with it all the butterflies of the big game. I wondered if the years of anticipation would live up to the hype or if things would fall flat, or worse, if things would go as bad as they had for our mysterious friend on the airplane.
Doing the best I could to take all those emotions and push them aside, I steered the rental car onto the property.
Once we checked in and found our cabin we spent an awkward evening walking around trying to not look lost. And while we eventually found someone we knew which made us feel more at easy, the thing I noticed the most was how Bekah and I were navigating the uncertain times together.
The next day greeted us with a rodeo breakfast followed by an actual rodeo. Then we were formally introduced to our 7 other teammates and spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the lake. The evening brought our first experience at what the Ranch calls the "Big Top" which is an actual Big Top tent where we worship and attend talks each evening. That first day had many memorable moments, but the one that stands tallest in my mind was the feel of Bekah’s hand in mine as we walked through the cool evening air back to our cabin talking about the days adventures.
The next several days brought rafting adventure, ropes courses, more Big Top talks, more swimming in the lake and 7 new best friends in the Dads on our team. I remember watching Bek and her new friends catch tad poles as their main event of the day and thinking how those times when they get to just be little girls was becoming less and less. I also took pride in watching Bek lead the entire camp in prayer and realizing that the times that she will be a young women will be more and more.
There is honestly too much to write here in this article, but the thing that continues to come up in conversation as I tell people about the week is the time Bekah and I spent together. I have stories and things learned, but as I drive around in my truck I think less about the principals taught and more about time spent with Bekah.
I see us laughing uncontrollably while exiting the plane in Portland. I see her so excited it is hard for her to speak the closer we got to seeing her friend in Eugene. I see her feet resting on the dashboard as we listened to Eddie Vedder and she sees Mt. Shasta for the first time. I see her hair blowing as we drive off the mountain talking about our adventure listening to Anne Wilson. I see her sitting across from me during our solo times at the Ranch.
Most of all, I simply think about how wonderful it was to just spend uninterrupted time with my daughter.
Life is busy.
Trips are expensive.
Work demands our attention.
Other family members need our time.
All of those things will never go away.
But the thing that stood out to me above all from my week and a half out West with my daughter is there is no substitute for one on one time spent with another person. Those times are not easy to come by, but if we organize our life around things that really matter, we can find the margin to carve out opportunities for them.
Whether it is a date night to Chik-fil-A, an overnight camping trip, a concert just the two of you or a longer adventure somewhere in God’s amazing creation, those times will never return void.
Blake Hamby
TMD Contributing Writer
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