Men's Retreat 2016 at Montgomery Bell State Park

For the 3rd year in a row, our church (New Song Christian Fellowship) held its annual Men's Retreat at Montgomery Bell State Park. And of course, I opted to camp in the park campground instead of staying in the park inn. For the past 2 years, I have been able to get a campsite on the creek. You can read about last year's rainy weekend here: Men's Retreat at Montgomery Bell.

That Friday, I got off work early and headed out to the park to give me enough time to check in, get set up, cook dinner, and then head to the Friday evening worship service at the Inn and Conference Center. Unlike last year, Aaron was able to join me at the retreat. However, he had a mandatory cross country practice after school - so he caught a ride out to the park with some friends. This year, I reserved site 106, which was a lot roomier than the site I reserved last year. I arrived at the park around 3:30pm and quickly backed the trailer into the site and got things set up. That gave me plenty of time to have a relaxing dinner and head to the 7:00 worship service.

The guys that Aaron got a ride with didn't reserve a site in time, so I offered to let them "squat" on our site - which is completely legal. Each site allows 1 tent along with the RV, and a total of 8 people. After service, we headed back to camp, and the guys set their tent up (in the dark) between our trailer and the creek. After a few hours around the campfire, we all turned in for the night.

The morning worship service was scheduled for late in the morning to purposely give everyone the opportunity to spend some quality time with the Lord and have a relaxing breakfast.

Our campsite on Saturday morning - with the guys' tent set up behind our camper.

The creek behind our campsite offered a great place for some quiet time with the Lord.

After a relaxing morning, we all headed back to the conference center for our Saturday morning worship service. As with all our services, our morning session started out with a powerful time of worship.

Aaron had a cross country meet in nearby Dickson, TN. This particular meet was the championship meet for the Mid State Cross Country Association, so it was not a meet that could be missed. Because of that, we had to leave the worship service early in order to get to the meet.

Despite being in the middle of October, it was actually a pretty warm day - with temperatures in the 80s by the time Aaron ran.

Aaron, with the rest of the Summit High varsity team at the starting line.

...And they're off!

Aaron charging up the last big hill on the course before heading to the finish line.

Despite the sun and warm temperatures, Aaron actually did pretty well. After the meet was over, we grabbed some quick lunch and headed back to camp.

By the time we got back to camp, the men's retreat was over, and the guys had cleared out their gear and headed home.

After a long-hot day at the meet, we decided to relax a little...

Aaron getting in some "chill time" after his meet.

After relaxing around camp for a while, we decided to go on a short hike before dinner. We hopped on the blue-blazed Wildcat trail at the back of the campground and headed toward the iron ore pits and Cumberland Presbyterian birthplace memorial.

The Cumberland Presbyterian Memorial Chapel

A replica of Rev. Samuel McAdow's home, where the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was founded some 200+ years ago.

After our short hike, we headed back to camp to cook dinner. After dinner, we enjoyed some time around a small campfire before heading in for the night.

The next morning, we got up early, showered, had a quick breakfast, and packed up camp in time to head out to join our Church for Sunday morning prayer and Worship service.

Montgomery Bell State Park is probably our most frequently visited state park for good reason: It's within an hours drive from home and is probably one of Tennessee's nicest parks. It's perfect for a quick retreat and a relaxing weekend.