Winter Hikes

Tippy River State Park

Sunday afternoons and evenings often find me chillin' on the recliner, watching the Simpsons and the news.  It's quiet around our house on Sunday nights since both kids are in youth group now, and my wife teaches the 5th-6th grade program.  And then one day about two years ago, a buddy asked me if I wanted to start hiking with him on Sunday nights.

Hmm....give up my warm comfy chair to hike in, sometimes, the teens, drudging through knee-deep snow trying to keep up with a guy who is a half-foot taller than me (or close).  Sure, I love being outdoors just that much to endure such craziness.  While those trips have become less frequent in the past year, we do still manage to hit the trails occasionally.  And we talk-a fair amount-which is hard to do when you're winded and trying to keep up.

Stretching far (ok, an hour or so) and near (local greenways trail), we have successfully hiked every state and county park, forest, and preserve-or so it would seem and would follow it up with a hot supper complete with coffee.  No offense to my high school friends out there, this was not your thing-I get that, but man would I have been all over it.

There is something about the woods, even in winter, that direct our thoughts to our Creator, of course it helps that the hikes come on the heels of a Sunday sermon.  Regardless, I'm reminded that we are but just a small part of this bigger thing around us, separate because He created us in His image, yet entrusted with the ability to destroy or nurture what cannot protect itself from us.  In that sense, it is as though God gave us a parallel between Himself and man.  What we choose to do with His creation is a reflection of how we view the Creator Himself.  So far, we've not done that great of a job.