Notes to my Grandchildren 5
What is one of your favorite trips you have taken? What made it great?
As a young child, I wasn’t always the most adventuresome. I was often reminded by family I sat at the bottom of the Washington Monument and the Empire State Building with my mother, while my dad and sister made the journey and memory of seeing the world from those great heights. Granted, I was only 5 and Sarah was 8 at the time, but as I grew older I always had a feeling of missing out on a great adventure!
It’s hard to say at what point in my life I decided to never sit at the bottom and hear other people talk about their adventures. I am not saying I decided to become the next great explorer, but I did decide to take advantage of every opportunity to explore and to make my world as big as possible.
At the end of the summer before I started college, my future brother in law rallied a group of guys from the church in which he was working as youth pastor to hike 5 days on the Appalachian Trail in the Great Smokey Mountains. I had always loved being outdoors and our family had done a little Camping (more like Glamping) so this sounded like something I would enjoy. Living in Florida, the North Carolina Mountains seemed like a whole new world for me and I was excited about the opportunity.
The trip was a major influence in my life. It was harder than I expected and exposed some weaknesses in my fitness level and how much I relied on modern technology (this was 1971 so what I missed was Air Conditioning, a mattress, clean drinking water, a refrigerator, etc.). After completing the hike, many of my attitudes would start to change. I began to treasure God’s creation even more. I valued modern technology, but also valued the ability to live without technology. It was good to live out of a back pack for a few days. It was good to sleep in a sleeping bag, in a tent, on the ground.
Over the course of my life, I would make about 20 hikes and covered close to 800 miles of Appalachian Trail. On several occasions I considered going off on my own and trying to hike large sections of the trail by myself. It just never was appealing. I realized what I valued most was the people with whom I was sharing the journey.
My brother in law, your Uncle Rob, would create a ministry which would hosts several hundred people a year and introduce them to the hiking experience. Through Wilderness Trail, he provided primarily youth and young adults an opportunity to grow in their love of God by experiencing God’s Creation and even more important to grow each person’s love of others as they shared the journey together.
A key scripture which has guided Wilderness Trail and my life is Galatians 6: 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
One of the reasons I am writing these notes for you is to help equip you for life’s journey.
Don’t miss the opportunities which are presented to you. Push yourself to climb to the top! If you need to rest, stop for a moment, but give it your all.
Value the people with whom you are traveling. As I look back at my life, I am so amazed and grateful I was given the opportunity to travel all over the world. I have stayed in tents and I have stayed in all inclusive resorts. I don’t have enough time to describe all those experiences. Memories and people matter the most. They are the most important!
Below is the logo for Wilderness Trail. It illustrates Galatians 6:2.
