Last weekend, 25-38 men (depending on the day and time) from Trinity and a couple of friends close to Trinity joined in for a deep and meaningful retreat along with lots of laughter, some beer, and some dad jokes. We were considering spiritual formation as it takes shape in the midst of life. Family, vocation, and crisis, according to Richard Foster, have a way of shaping us or inviting us to pay attention to what God might be doing or saying to us in those places of ordinary life. Seven men shared honestly their stories from these three areas. In small groups, we talked with each other about these three areas and experiences that have shaped us along the journey. Awesome, honest. open, relaxed, meaningful, tender, real, and authentic were all some of the adjectives used as we talked about our weekend experience at the close of the weekend around the communion table. Yes, there was "Moody Ball", ping pong, and just sitting around the fireplace and talking, too. But "keeping it real" had center stage.