My first backpacking trip was with my dad over the summer in the Smokies. We spent the days hiking and talking about old times, and times in the future we are excited about. We met amazing people and had conversations with strangers about how amazing the Lord is.
While it was so much fun and I would not have changed a thing about the trip, it was hard. Sleeping in a mouse infested shelter, not being able to shower, and getting rained on was not what I had imagined for my first backpacking trip. Four days seemed like a breeze when we started, but now I just wanted to go home. The last night of our hike, me and my dad went on a hike to Charlies Bunion- a beautiful overlook of the mountains.
While the beauty of the sunset over this scene was captivating, what caught my attention was a little bird who lived in a bush two feet from where I sat. This little “swallow” (as my dad called it) would whip around in the air as if it were playing only to come back to where I sat with my dad. The little bird would get so close to us, he had no fear of us.
I had been memorizing and meditating on Psalm 84 which talks about the Lord being our dwelling place, our home. The Psalmist says, “Even the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altar, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God”. I go with the Lord and he goes with me. He is my home. He makes a home, even for the little sparrows who have little worry.
I know these months will build endurance, they will not be a breeze. He is the refuge where I find my rest.
Over the course of our trip, I believe there will be many days when I need to remember: that the Lord is my home, that I can talk to my Heavenly Father about times past and times to come, that I will talk to strangers about how great our God is. I know that it will be hard, but what a journey of growth we are about to embark on.
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