I Need Adventure!

Sometimes life gets mundane. We do the same things over and over. “Same time. Same Bat channel.”

Do you ever feel like you’ve got to get away or you might explode?

That was me a month ago. I needed adventure and a dash of spontaneous fun.  

So, Jason and I did something we’ve never done before. We made quick plans and took off to a place of delightful eye-candy—The Grand Canyon.

Rich hues of mountainous splendor. Drop-offs near our feet. The excitement of seeing something for the very first time. Sure, we’d seen pictures and clips in movies. But experiencing it ourselves was another story entirely.The first day we did the tourist thing as we hiked the South Rim on the 4^th of July. The views were fabulous as we looked down. Thousands of people joined us on our trek.

But it wasn’t until the second day when we hiked into the canyon that we truly experienced the depth and detail of the massive mountains all around us.

 

And it was hot. 107 degrees at Cedar Ridge.

On that day, we truly found our adventure. We hiked down a mile and a half to Cedar Ridge. We weren’t as daring as some. We only walked until half of our water supply was gone. There are signs all around urging people not to walk down to the river and back in one day—a twelve mile hike roundtrip. But even at a mile and a half we felt like adventurers winding down into the rocks and heat. We could imagine early settlers viewing these sights. Native Americans living on the green patch far below, so contrasting to the rugged stones all around.

 



We were right there. Experiencing it. Breathing in the air of The Grand Canyon. And eating lunch, of course!

 

The hike back up was much more difficult than I’d imagined. In the past when we’d climbed mountains, we climbed while we were fresh and came downhill when we were tired. At The Grand Canyon, it’s the opposite. You hike down while you’re fresh and hike UP when you’re tired.  

But putting one foot in front of the other, and admiring the glorious scenery around us, we made it back to the top. Tired, but happy.

I had my adventure. Now, I can't wait for the next one! :)
 

Weeds in Me

It’s time to dig out the weeds in my berry patch—again! Every year I do it, and every year weeds return. It doesn’t matter if I dig down to the bottom of the roots or not, they’re determined to invade my berry patch like a plague. The above picture shows half my garden after I’ve hand-pulled weeds. The next one shows my very weedy, grass-overgrown patch—like the first half was before I got to it. If only I could figure out the trick to getting rid of weeds permanently.

Kind of like weeds in my life.

Those things I thought were gone forever, at an unsuspecting moment, pop up. Look at us. We’re back to bother you! Habits and thoughts I know are washed away taunt me like those naughty weeds in my garden. I give a problem to the Lord. It’s gone, right? But up a weed shoots at some unsuspecting moment, reminding me it can overrun my garden if I’m neglectful.

Is there a cure?

Soaking in the presence of Jesus is the only consistent life-weeding I know. Distractions are rampant on every side. Responsibilities and entertainment pull us this way and that. Yet, it’s exactly when I’m distracted and overly-busy that weeds in me grow out of control. When I’m focused on God, lost in Him, delighting in worship, things bother me much less. The weeds seem to be choked of oxygen.

Yet, I'm human, and I realize those grubby weeds are going to come back again. But I’m determined to stop them from overtaking my life—and my garden.

What do you do about weeds?