Up

Northern California hosts some beautiful scenery, some of which I was able to enjoy this past weekend up near Mt. Shasta. Our family and all our adopted cousins came up (and down) to spend three wonderful days in the picturesque Sierra Nevada Mountains. (The Autumn Rain & Lavender and Old Lace, The Penguin Boy, and A Circle of Quiet are all honourary cousins.) We spent three wonderful days under the gray and blue mountain skies hiking, camping, and fellowshipping.

On day two of the weekend, we teens went on a hike, accompanied by the dads. When all was said and done, we’d hiked about seven miles and had a 3,000’ elevation change. Translated, that means it was one steep hike! But the views at the top were awesome!

Along the way there were many times where it would have been much easier just to turn around and go back. The trail was very steep and hard to climb. It was rocky and slippery. One minute the sun was burning our faces, and the next it was cloudy and raining slightly with an icy wind. But we kept pressing on toward the summit; no one gave up. And at the top, we were rewarded with an absolutely beautiful view of the valley and—most importantly for us guys—our lunch!!!

In all seriousness, life can be just as tricky and treacherous as this hike. It can be all sunny and fine as your bouncing along one day, and then you wake up the next and you’re standing at the foot of a huge mountain, with the rain pouring down upon you. You can easily get tired and discouraged to fight the good fight of faith, which Paul talks about. But just keep pressing on! Unlike we did on the hike, there is not a topo map for life. We do not know how much longer there is before the Lord returns. We cannot see how close we are to the summit. So we must keep pressing on up the trail! There will be downhill parts, and there will be uphill parts. But in the end, every single inch uphill will be worth it!

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” ~ Galatians 6:9