Discovering a Home: Lesson 1 From a Year of Hiking

               Last August, I committed before God, my church, my family and everybody to hike 50 four mile hikes over the next 12 months.  I needed a public commitment to motivate me to slow down, start exercising, and get into God’s creation.  It has worked.  Over the last 9 months I have hiked from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park to the Judean wilderness in Israel. 

               Yet, in spite of these exotic locations, I still needed a local trail in order to reach my goal.  I choose the Rhododendron Trail on the backside of Chenocetah Mountain in Cornelia.  Beginning at a stone marker near the Tower, the Rhododendron Trail snakes down the backside of Chenocetah.  As much as I enjoyed spreading my miles across the world, it was the weekly discipline of hiking my four miles on Chenocetah that taught me the greatest spiritual lesson. 

               I started hiking the Rhododendron Trail as a stranger, unfamiliar with the terrain, flora and history.  And I was really out of shape.  During my first month of hikes, I simple tried to go down, come up and survive. 

               Slowly, though, week after week, I began to get to know the trail.  Like spending 15 minutes in the dark, my eyes soon began to adjust to my surroundings and I began to really see. I discovered a portion of the trail once served as the old Cascade Falls Road carrying visitors from the Mt. Airy hotels down the mountain for picnics by the cascades.  I noticed signs of a forest fire - burned tree trunks standing vigil among a new growth of shrubs – and wondered why I had missed it. 

               By this spring, I found the trail calling me each week.  No longer a stranger, the comfort of the trail simply welcomes me and invites me to enjoy. 

        

    
   
              Often times, we approach God like I did hiking – a few times a year.  We enjoy the experience yet it does little to transform our lives.  At some point, though, with life in chaos or out of sync, we know we need more.  In these moments, God invites us to come spend regular time with him.  This requires a conscious commitment from us. 

               At first, we feel like strangers to God’s Word. As we start walking, though, our eyes open and we experience God’s presence all around us.  We make new discoveries every day.  Then, at some point, the commitment we once made no longer seems necessary.  We feel God’s presence tugging us home. 

               I hope to see on the trail soon and hear your story of God’s presence.