Dolly Sods Wilderness

I was able to apprentice a backpacking trip to the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area in West Virginia this past weekend. I helped lead the 5 day trip for Geneva College students with three other CCO staff. We covered roughly 14 miles over the entire trip, with one day of rock climbing in the middle. What really stood out to me was the extreme difference in terrain from the north section of the wilderness area to the southern section. The north Dolly Sods is very much like Maine or Canada... wind-sept, rocky, and low-lying vegitation... pretty easy hiking. The southern part is dense forest with tall trees and streams and rivers. The frequent ups and downs of the trail and the water-crossings made hiking more interesting. The weather made the adventure a little more "hard-core" than we had expected. We had snow the last two days. It finally stuck the last night and we woke up to three inches on the ground. It was a chilly trip!

I enjoyed the time with the students, but always knew in the back of my mind that I'll probably never see them again. That didn't stop us from having good conversation along the way though. The theme of the trip focused around the changing of seasons... not just from Fall to Winter to Spring, but the seasons of life, particularly our spiritual lives. We looked at the Scriptures, read some articles, and did some journaling and discussing. One young lady in particular was able to apply the topic to her life as her family has been struggling with her mom fighting cancer. We talked about the value of community and fellowship through the low times. What a joy it is as a Christian to know that there really is hope... that people do change. God is in the business of changing our hearts! It might be Friday... dark, confusing, sad... Our Leader "dead" as we know it. BUT, Sunday is coming... redemption is coming... resurrection is coming! How wonderful to be living on this side of Jesus' death and resurrection! There is hope. There is assurance of better things to come. For those who choose to follow Jesus, any season can be faced with strength and hope. In everything, blessing or dispair, rain or shine, in plenty or in want, in dark or in light... it's all about God... it's all to His glory. It is not about us. When we realize it's about Him, "the things of this earth grow strangley dim in the light of His glory and grace." Enough preaching...