glorious wilderness

My brother is hiking through the backwoods trails of central Colorado as I type. He's on a YoungLife trip referred to as "Wilderness," and Memorial High school typically takes students on the trip after their junior year at school. Its a huge spirtual and physical challenge as kids hike for 10-12 hours each day, carrying all of their own supplies, setting up their own tents each night, and dealing with things like family turmoils from home, boyfriend or girlfriend drama, college decisions, and just the general trials of growing up in your late teen years.

It was an incredible week, one I referred to for years as one of the best weeks in my life...and that description is probably true today. I was envious and excited for my brother as he packed on Saturday, throwing all of his name brand equipment together - "look what I got on sale at REI!" Oh, sure, it was on sale, gentch. His sweet girlfriend - really my friend too - made trail mix and cookies for him to take on the 18 hour bus ride.

It brought back memories of my own trip, and all the fun I had: hiking when you thought your legs would fall off, stars so thick you thought you were imagining it, singing songs, memorizing bible verses, dealing with tough issues and silly things that made you laugh til your face hurt and tears welled in your eyes.

I'll be praying for my brother and all those kids on the trail this week, thinking happy thoughts for their safety... and jealous thoughts that I'm inside a classroom in Southwest Houston while they glance to their left and right to see forests and the Continental Divide.

I know they'll have a fabulous time. Thank goodness I'm headed to Wyoming/Montana in a week, otherwise I'd probably have begged to hide in the back of the bus and join them. This is the verse we chanted while we hiked several times each day:

"The Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like that of a deer and enables me to soar to new heights." Habakkuk 3:19