About 50 people attended the dinner and ceremony in the Arborbrook gym. The few hours leading up to it were a little hectic.... I had bought all of the ingredients to make 24 servings of baked ziti earlier in the week, but when we woke up yesterday morning we discovered someone had left the fridge door open overnight and we had to throw all of the food away. Pete quickly ran to the store to buy all new ingredients before heading to Wingate for their graduation ceremony.
We changed locations the day before due to pending thunderstorms, so we were quickly setting up tables and organizing the room that afternoon. The Eisman family helped us figure out the configurations and place settings, Mom and Dad arrived bearing cake, flowers, and bread, and Strider and Sidney were on hand to help make lemonade, light candles, etc.
Then we rushed home to get changed and get the food.... only to be trapped by severe storms and flooded roads! Pete was stuck at Chick Fil-A and the rest of us were stuck at home.... and then our power went out.
Anyway, we all made it to the gym eventually and it turned out to be a lovely evening. Hunter gave a charge to the boys about becoming faithful men, being honest, and doing the small things well. He concluded the talk by giving them their very first Man Card. :)
After dinner the dads all gave their blessings to the sons. It is a powerful thing to hear such words from a father's mouth, and some tears were shed, making the boys feel even more uncomfortable than they were already feeling. Haha!
At the end all of the men in the room stood in formation with candles and the boys passed through the "gauntlet" to the other side where Pete presented them with certificates.
We pray that they will look back on this rite-of-passage as a time that is meaningful and formative in their walks with God and in their journey to manhood.
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