WALK IN THE WOODS

For a few days this week I took care of my three grandchildren, ages 3, 6, and 7, while their parents were skiing in Colorado. I did not realize how much my assignment tired me until I got home. As soon as I walked in the door, I took a long, hot bath (I did not even manage to take a shower while I was “on duty" with my grandchildren). I ate supper and was in bed asleep by 8 p.m. I finally got out of bed the next morning after 10 a.m. but had no energy to do anything.

Even though it was an exhausting experience, it was also exhilarating and exciting. Each afternoon, when the two older kids got home from school, all four of us would go outside. The first day I suggested we go for a walk. They had a better idea: “Let’s go for a hike!”

When I am with my grandchildren sometimes I have flashbacks to times when my grandchildren’s father was my young son. I remember when he was their age that he loved to go hiking.

I will never forget an outing we had in Brazil descending over rough terrain to the base of a huge waterfall (actual waterfall to the right; click on photos to see larger size). Then we climbed up to the top of the waterfall and hung on to bushes to look out over the water cascading to the rocks below. From that day on, whenever I mentioned going on a hike, my son Seth only wanted to go if it was a “rough hike.”

This week I figured a hike in a suburban Atlanta neighborhood would hardly be a “rough hike.” As we headed out the backyard to the woods behind their house, the grandkids explained they wanted to go where they were not allowed to go by themselves without an adult.
Soon we were hopping back and forth over a creek, balancing along fallen trees, crawling under and around barbed wire, and walking up hills covered with briar bushes. Much of the time I was carrying three-year old Merrily.

It was an adventure for them as well as for me. They saw some terrain for the first time not far from their home. After awhile they got tired, but realized they had no idea where in the world they were or how to get back home. We came to a road and they knew where they were, but still not exactly how to get home.

Then seven-year old Olivia said, “Let’s stay in the woods and find the creek and it will lead us back home.” So we continued along, and in short time, Olivia shouted, “I found the creek!” Brother Ethan bounded along and Merrily and I stumbled behind. In just a few minutes we were back to their house. I’ve thought about our walk in the woods since then.

Life is an adventure! It can be just like a hike in the woods. Yes, I can find grassy green meadows to rest and frolic along the way. Yet much of the time life can seem like perilously balancing on a log, being pricked by briars, or prodded by barbed wire. Worst yet, at times, I can feel utterly lost and hopeless in life.

I am so thankful I have a Guide, a Savior, to lead me home. I believe my life journey is an opportunity to learn more about myself, and draw closer to God and to others. Along my own personal pilgrimage with Christ, I have explored and experienced various methods to encounter the amazing grace of God. Through these means I have found new strength to face challenges and fresh awareness of God’s presence.