Don't forget to look up

The church hiking trip, organized by our small group, was today! There were big storms that moved through the area last night--luckily it was last night instead of this morning, as they originally predicted.

What it did mean was that there was no electricity. This wouldn't have impacted us, in a no-utilities picnic shelter, but it did mean they couldn't run the cash register, so our admission was free :)

It also meant there were trees over some parts of the trails, other parts of the trails were under water, and some normally "trickle" streams were raging rivers. The guys at the gate actually told us to not hike, since they hadn't surveyed the trails at all yet. We did hang out, play frisbee and football and play on the playground for an hour or so. Henry and Dan discovered "quicksand" on the playground--the sand was so wet that they sunk a good three inches down because the sand was so wet! But eventually we hit the trails.

Henry had an absolute BALL. He was totally loving it. We started with two of the higher (and more moderate) trails, and then we went for one of the "Moderate/Rugged" ones (partially chosen by Henry). They weren't kidding about the rugged ones--climbing up a mini-stream bed, through mud, over slippery rocks and up ladders. Dan chaperoned Harmony--I was very thankful for that, and as he struggled to carry her through a particularly rough spot, all I could see was Jesus carrying us. Cool mental picture (no way could I get a real one!)

At one point, waiting for someone to figure out how they were going to navigate another rough spot, I took a minute to look up and back. It was gorgeous--but I had completely missed it. I was too busy watching each step, trying to stay safe, semi-dry and upright. It was a good reminder to "look up" and see the bigger context of what God's doing around me, even when I'm slugging through something challenging.

All in all it was a great trip--the planning worked out well, we got to know some people and families better, and got some good exercise.

Thanks, Lord, for the beauty of your creation and for the reminder to look up and see what you're doing around me, not just focus on my personal steps.