alive in the age of worry

yesterday my sister and i went on a hike to mcafees knob. it was spontaneous decision-that probably should have been thought through more... with it being so hot we decided to leave here at 830 to get up there before it really got hot. a few things went wrong on our hike...1) my sister wore chocos (which we had heard are great for hiking. no they're not). they gave her blisters. i switched with her for a few miles-it was awful. 2) the heat wasn't too bad when we started but halfway through it was HOT. 3) we didn't think about trees that had fallen down from the storm. it was more of an obstacle course of getting over the trees than a nice walk through the woods. we were close to the top (or so we thought) and were tired, hot, and had blistered feet. not gonna lie neither of us had very good attitudes and began to get discouraged. we had passed a few people none of them really saying much, but the last lady we passed (when we had really almost given up to find the top) told us, "oh you are so close! just a few more feet! it's worth it" those words were like a breath of fresh air. sure enough the woman was right. the view was so worth it. Our God is an artist to say the least. on the way down we took the fire path (only to find more trees in our path that we had to climb under or over). i began to get worried that we would come to a fallen tree that we would not be able to get by. however, even though some looked scary and impassable we made it through. it was quite an adventure. our hike reminded me of obstacles in life. for me a lot of the time i worry about what is to come. the problems that will arise later on. but by taking each obstacle one at a time, you can surprise yourself of how much you can conquer. on your journey you can encounter some pretty remarkable people that can say a small word of encouragement to push you the extra mile (pun intended). without the 100 degree weather, blisters from chocos, or fallen trees my sister and i would not have gotten to have the conversations we did. the true " sister bonding experience"

 my feet ache, and my legs are sore. but it was so worth it.