It's been a bit since I have posted. The holiday Season has been crazy, and unfortunately, planning has kind of been put on the back burner. It seems every time I get my focus off of our hike, someone sends me a message telling me how our story is encouraging them, or I am asked to elaborate on our plans and why we are doing this and it makes me start thinking and planning again.
I left off of my Giant series from our church, but this last entry on that subject is incredibly important and a good reminder right now. When I first started researching the AT, I was seeing how much money people were pouring into the "right gear". It had to be this, because it was more lightweight, or it had to be the newest, hottest item or there was no way you would make it on a thru hike. The same applies for how much people were stressing being in shape, and the proper training, etc. This was really stressing me out even though I knew without a doubt that this was something that I was being called to do. How silly was I to forget one of my favorite bible metaphors where it talks about how God feeds the birds of the air and he cares so much more about us, so therefore wouldn't he provide and care for us and give us what we needed. When you look back on some of the most remarkable heroes and prophets in the bible, NOONE expected them to do anything extraordinary, especially themselves; yet God equipped them with what they needed to accomplish His will for them.
Having spent some time focusing on this, it finally dawned on me that we didn't have to have the latest, greatest gear. There are people that have been hiking the AT for decades and some, like Grandma Gatewood, carried nothing but a sack over their shoulder and they completed it. Yes, we may carry more weight and some of the stuff we have may not be as shiny and new as others, but I am going to let the nay sayers say what they want. All that matters to me is that we are able to accomplish this and be as comfortable and safe as possible. In the story of David and Goliath, when Saul finally agreed to let David go fight, he insisted that David put the armor on that the rest of the soldiers had.
Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these", he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose 5 smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine 1 Samuel 17:38-40
David was used to the weapons and clothing he wore. He would not have been able to defeat Goliath had he used what everyone else was telling him he needed to. He trusted God to guide him and provide him with what he needed. In the same sense, I am trusting that whatever God provides us with we will be able to defeat our giant with it. David also trusted God with the abilities God had given him, which i touched on in my last post. God has been conditioning us for years without us even realizing it. Yes, I may be overweight and not in the best shape physically, but this is part of my giant, and I trust him to give me the strength, stamina, energy, and support systems I need to be able to conquer it. I am also trusting him for health and safety from injuries that would potentially put a stop to our journey.
Some may say, well, that's all well and good, but why not start with smaller, personal giants and defeat them slowly and then work your way up to the big one. In the words of my pastor "You've always been told to start small and work your way to bigger things. NO!!! Start with the biggest giant and defeat it and the rest will flee!!!"
Giants are meant to be defeated, and with defeating my giant, there will come a reward. My prayer is that that reward will be sharing our story and helping to inspire others to victory.
Comments
You must login before you can comment.