a walk in the park.

I should have posted this a few weeks ago, but I guess it's true when people say "Better late than never". I had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Spring so I could get out of the house and into the Great Outdoors! There is nothing like taking a hike in the Valley in springtime.

So my girlfriend, Heidi, and I packed a bag and headed up to Shenandoah National Park. We didn't quite have a plan set, but we knew we weren't going to let the day go to waste. We settled on the South River Falls trail (which has always been one of my favorites) and commenced our trek! The sun was bright and there was a cool breeze blowing - God was definitely planning to show off His creation.

Along the way, we both decided to get a bit adventurous. Heidi scaled a massive rock-face, while I maneuvered my way across a treacherous bridge...okay, maybe we weren't staring death in the face. But we sure felt like intense wilderness voyagers.

There's something about hiking that always puts me at ease. Now, I can't sit here and say I've always been the outdoor enthusiast, but in the past few years it's something I've grown to love and appreciate. I have my best friend and college roommate, Jeremy, to thank for it. It's hard not to be blown away by nature. When you really take a moment to take in the magnitude of it all, it's easy to be made humble.

For me, taking hikes or spending quiet time in the presence of my Creator and His creation, puts me back in a centered place. The fact that the One who molded mountains and valleys, trees and streams, also molded you and me is astounding. Whew! It kinda hurts my head just thinking about it. We are incredibly small in the grand scheme of things. Yet, God reaches out to us, loves us, and offers us lives of grandeur as if we were the most important things on Earth! And when I dig deeper, I find that, in fact, we are the most important thing to Him. He is our Father and He searches for and pursues us constantly. That's HUGE!

I want to leave you with some more pictures and the challenge to get out! Take a hike. Go explore the wonderful creation laid outside for us. You definitely won't regret it. And maybe one day in the future we can enjoy a walk in the park together. 

  

Looking out over South River Falls.