CHAPS Mtn

We were on our fourth day of an eleven day trek, already well into late morning and in anticipation of the afternoon storms. It loomed in front of us ... obviously the trail did not go around this mountain. From a distance we could see the trail snaking up this geological hurdle in out path and we counted ... twenty seven switchbacks before we peaked and walked over the top on our way to Piedra Pass. There were no choices...there was no grumbling that I can remember...we knew what we had to do...take one step at a time and occasionally pause to look behind to see where we'd come and the progress that we made. But then there was more trail ahead, so we could not linger. The storms were coming.

We did make it, though we agreed that we walked too far that day and resulted in what we have come to call "the Piedra shuffle". As we sat in the comfort of our tents just as the afternoon squall blew in, we looked back at this peak that was unnamed on the map and determined that, at least in our logs, it would be called CHAPS mountain - Cook, Hunt, Allen, Pierson. We simply walked one step at a time and were rewarded with a simple meal and shelter from the storms. That has been twenty years, but the memory is still clear.

I used to journal, or at least I made the effort for a time. My friend - KP - still journals ... I think he tweeted before there was Tweeter. This morning I looked over my last "journal entry" and realized I still have many of the same prayers, many of the same concerns. "I look back over the few notes I've made over the past four years and I am haunted by the fact that some of my prayers and concerns remain the same. I still ask for God to seek and nurture relationships in my kids - who are no longer kids. I struggle with words and direction in new beginnings ... for some reason I still think I'm in charge, when I know that God will direct our path and raise up people for this work. I'm simply planting seed."

Guess I need to be reminded from time to time that I simply need to take one step at a time and occasionally look back to see where I've come. I'll not walk too far today ... GOD will provide my simple needs and I will have shelter from the storms that are coming.