Following His Lead: Our Hike

Last week, we hiked up Mt. Leconte outside of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, just the boys, Tully and me. It was a fun time, even though it came in the midst of a very busy six weeks for us. We chose the Alum Cave Bluffs trail, which is the shortest, at 5.5miles, the steepest, but the most scenic. We took our time, almost five hours--but we arrived in time to drink a bunch of hot chocolate, get a short rest, and then hike a little more to the summit to watch the sunset. It was exquisite.

Years ago I read the book Shogun, and remember one part in the book which describes how the Japanese in that time period would invite friends over to watch the sunset. Each sunset is unique and breathtakingly beautiful in its own way, and the Japanese would sit in silence together as the sun went down, just soaking in the beauty of the moment. We did much the same thing, well, as silent as one can be with five boys who've just conquered a mountain, and we praised God for designing sunsets for us--how each is unique with the various pinks and oranges, purples, and blues in the clouds surrounding, and how each one points us straight to the Creator!

This was at the beginning--they were all perky!

"HOW much LOoooNnn-GER??!" This was near the end--we were so proud of Elijah--he didn't complain or get tired until we were almost at the top! "I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength" became his favorite verse during that hike!