At age 10, Abraham Hill got a revelation about himself in the middle of a workout with his dad. “I don’t allow myself to do hard things, I quit before I need to. I have more than I can give,” he said while wearing his 14 lb weighted vest.
This workout was part of his father, Tiger’s, secret plan to prepare Abraham for a surprise father-son trekking trip in the Himalayas. With seven other men and their boys from the Big Island, this group flew to Nepal and hiked high into the mountain villages.
“The trip was costly and inconvenient. It was happening during the busiest season of my life. But I never regretted the time and investment I made in Abraham. It was all worth it.” Tiger reflects, “Nothing comes close to the feeling of being a dad.”
“As I’m taking Abraham through this experience, all my memories of me and my dad flooded my brain. He taught me to be a waterman, he took me through these amazing experiences that shaped me. Now I’m shaping Abraham into who he’ll be when he is a father. He didn’t complain, he didn’t ask anyone to carry his pack. When we hit hard moments during the trek, we could go back and reference our training and say, ‘If we did it then, we can do this now. Let’s keep going,’” Tiger shares.
One day, after the trek, Tiger was helping Abraham wrestle through his frustration for having more household responsibilities than his younger sisters. Because of their adventure together, Tiger knew he could challenge him, “What you’re feeling is manhood. That’s what men do, we take responsibility for things no one else wants to do.” The trek forged a deep bond of trust between them.
It’s impossible to overestimate the power a father has to shape his children. The time, effort, and intentionality to be a good father are costly. But like Tiger remembered as he trekked alongside his boy, these are the moments of Abraham’s only childhood. He will carry these memories for the rest of his life. The cost is worth it and makes us ponder, what can we do to invest in the precious people in our lives?
