So this past weekend, myself, a great friend from here on campus (Nathan), and three of my favorite Madisonian adults (Tim, Tom, and Wayne) braved the miles of hiking, the pounds of packing, and the possibility of rain to trek into the mountains of the Great Smokies for the weekend. We had been plannning this trip for months (since November) and the anticipation was boiling over. Nathan and myself joked that our lives at JBC were on the line since we had borrowed a canoe from the head of financial aid and a handheld GPS from one of our professors, but thankfully that canoe didn't sink, and the GPS didn't go in the water.
It didn't take very long for our excitement to start to wane as we came face to face with the fullness of what we were trying to do. As we started to head across Fontana Dam in the late afternoon (not quite the early morning start we had hoped for!), packs heavy on our backs, and miles ahead of us before the first night's camp, we began to really understand how difficult our trail was going to be. But with all the physical difficulties, all the doubts of completion, the long hours of wandering through the dark hoping we were still on the trail and praying the campsite was just around the next corner; even with the realization of having somehow missed being arrested, God showed us how amazing He is.
More times than we can count along the way, God kept showing us how much we needed Him, and, as Tim later put it, how much we also need each other. Had any of us thought it through a little bit more, we would have realized that each of us had at least a few items that we knew someone else also had, and yet we felt the need to have our own in our packs...only adding to our already heavy loads. Through all the unexpected challenges along the way, the weekend was incredible! We had the opportunity to spend time in the middle of God's creation, with only the "essentials" that we could fit into our packs, and the opportunity to spend time with each other as we were amazed by the things God's hands made. The trip didn't go completely as expected, and some rearranging will have to be made for the planned next trip, but God used this weekend to show us how much we need Him, and, at least for me, to remind me how small we are in comparison to what He has created, but how much He loves us.
If you haven't been to the area around Shuckstack Mountain, NC, you should make it a point to get there. If you haven't spent real time with brothers and/or sisters in the faith you trust and love, you should do that too. But most importantly, if you haven't had the time to spend some quiet, intentional time with God, He's waiting for you to call.
