Keep the Fire Burning

I’ve spent countless summer and fall nights gathered around a camp fire. I have a lot of fond memories of time spent with family and friends around a crackling fire. That’s why when I first heard this story it grabbed my attention.

Amy Grant is a musician and she owns the Hidden Trace farm in Tennessee. On December 31st, 2016 she lit a fire and asked people to come spend 48 hours tending the fire. The goal was simply to keep the fire burning. The fire was extinguished on May 21st, 2017, at the start of spring. The next year and every year after since, a fire has been lit on December 31st and the fire is tended until the start of spring when it is extinguished. The power of having to tend the fire in this rustic environment has given people an opportunity to process their life. As they tend the fire they sit and think about the fires in their own lives that need tending - priorities, relationships, etc.

I love the imagery of tending a fire with the purpose to keep the fire burning for the important things in our life. If you don’t keep adding wood to fire, it will eventually burn out. This is asimple but tedious, never ending process. True for a fire and true for our own lives.

The other important image of a fire is that sometimes you forget to rekindle the fire and it appears to burn out. You look in the fire pit and you see nothing but a pile of ashes. Now if you know anything about fires, you know buried under that pile of ash may be some coals that are still hot. They just need a little tending to. Gently blow on them, add some kindling, and before you know it that fire is raging hot again! True for a fire and true for our own lives

If you’d like to hear more about how Amy Grant started this tradition of keeping the fire burning, watch this 9 minute video.

JOURNAL ACTIVITY

As the calendar prepares to roll over to 2025, what a great opportunity to sit and think about tending your life.

What is an area of your life - maybe it’s a hobby, a relationship, a priority, etc - that needs tending in your life? What can you do about that today?

How is the fire burning for your club/sport/activity? What do you need to tend to keep that fire burning?

BONUS: Want to take this activity a bit further? Why don’t you find a safe place to start a campfire of your own, sit down with your journal, maybe a group of friends, and talk or reflect on this week’s journal activity. I know its winter time, that highlights the importance of keeping the fire burning!