Let me start by saying what a wonderful time we had at Summit this past summer with my three kids. Rachel who is 16, Kyle (9), and Ryan (7) all loved our adventure. We had endured one of the toughest years and were embarking on our new life after divorce this past summer. I knew we needed time to get away and rebuild what we had left of our family. It all happened in such a timely way.

I didn’t quite know what I was getting into becoming an intern at Summit Adventure. A recent graduate of a private liberal arts university in Rhode Island, I moved to Bass Lake in search of adventure and experience—and that is surely what I have received. I have been learning to radically depend on the Lord and trust in His good and perfect plan.

Well, haven’t you been praying for this?” That’s what my mom asked, while laughing, after I finished telling her about my six-day stint on Summit Adventure’s College Semester Program 12-day backcountry expedition. I paused for a second. That wasn’t the response I was expecting, but God sure had been answering my prayers.

Summit Adventure is based in Bass Lake, California, right outside of Yosemite National Park. With such an amazing course area in our backyard, many people are surprised to learn that we offer programs far away from our home base. One of our favorite course areas is in Southern California, where for the past few years we have been partnering with schools and churches to offer a course that combines rock climbing and rappelling in Joshua Tree National Park with service on Skid Row in Los Angeles.

We are just past the halfway point of our 6 weeks in Ecuador and it has been remarkably good. I wish I could say I was now fluent in Spanish but I am still regularly making the most ridiculous comments. Yesterday I was trying to encourage an Ecuadorian pastor and his wife to eat the healthier brown rice instead of the Ecuadorian standard white by saying “mucho gusto.” I was trying to say that I really liked the brown, but ended up saying that I was “pleased to meet them.” So they remained unconvinced, but laughed a lot at least.

In Hold Mine Hand, Tom takes readers deep into the lives of his family. Tom opens his personal journals and shares hundreds of his sons’ quotes to reveal what they consider most important: parents, family, God, grandparents and friends. Often funny and sometimes tragic, Hold Mine Hand applies fresh and unforgettable insights to everyday parenting and life.