Chandler Mountain Challenge

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Had an awesome time climbing at HorsePens40 during the Chandler Mountain Challenge on Super Bowl weekend. It was a crazy weekend with lousy weather, but an awesome to hang out with family and meet some new friends.

My cousins and aunt and uncle live in Birmingham, so we drove there on Friday and stayed overnight. My folks flew down from Troy, MI to see us (and my mom's sister). That was a miracle in itself, as my mom's health has prevented her from doing much for a couple of years now. Amazing what a little brain surgery can do for ya! (You heard me -- brain surgery.)

Anyway, we drove up to HP40 through rain and sleet on Saturday, hung out for an hour waiting to see if the weather would clear, and then...drove back to Birmingham. Comp postponed to Sunday...Super Bowl Sunday!

The family all agreed to climb on Sunday and hustle back for at least the second half of the "big game." So off we went on Sunday morning. And it was COLD! Too cold for Jackson to even want to climb for the first 4 hours of the comp. (Smart dude. He still won his age division even though he spent a few hours learning the finer points of checkers from Howard Schultz, the HP40 owners' father.) I know they say the cold air helps with friction, but if you can't feel  your fingers, what good does friction do ya?

Cassidy, Kimberly and I climbed...OK, Cassidy and I climbed. This was Kimberly's first time outdoors and she just couldn't do anything hard. I got so caught up in finding Cassidy and myself stuff to climb, that I earned the crappy husband of the year award for not paying attention to my wife. She persevered and toward the end of the day we found some routes that were perfect for her. She ended up taking 3rd place in women's!!! Cassidy took 2nd. My women rock!!!

As for me, I learned how easy it is for me to get caught up in good things and ignoring the best things. Taking care of my wife was a best thing, and it took me all day to do it - and, I'm ashamed to say, a few weeks to realize how bad I'd made her feel. I get so caught up in my own world so often that I miss the bigger picture.

As a husband, my job is to put my wife first - emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually. Too often I forget to take care of her, often in the guise of, "I don't want her to think that I think she can't handle it." Honestly? That's just a copout. What I really don't want is for her to cramp my style. Pretty self-centered.

So guys, if you're reading this, here's my take: God gave us our wives and it's our job to take care of them first. Just like Christ takes care of his bride, the Church, to the point of taking on all the penalties for our sins. I am supposed to put my wife first, ahead of what I feel I deserve or I'm entitled to.

I can't wait to take her back to HP40 and spend the whole day finding routes she can climb. I want her to love rock climbing, not for me (OK, a little for me), but because it makes her feel like she's accomplishing great things. At our age, we need new accomplishments!

By the way, the folks from Solid Rock Climbers for Christ http://www.srcfc.org/ put this event on, and they did a great job, especially considering the conditions. I was excited to be able to share a little bit after the climbing. I talked about faith in a person - Jesus - not in a religion. The competitors were very gracious. I spoke quick...it was cold and there were prizes to be awarded!

Thanks to Brad Killough and his family, Ryan Bolen, Jonathon Parker and the Schultz's for a very fun day, and a good lesson.

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Photo credits: Kimberly Clemmer