Pickles' Patch Article: 'Burdens'

In a few short weeks I will be embarking on a new adventure! I have accepted a call to work with a church in Winchester, Virginia as their children's minister. They are a brand new church and my job will be to help them build a program for their children from the ground up. As you can imagine, this experience has the potential to be scary and nerve-racking as I have no job, will be sleeping on a couch for the first few months, and will be living far from my family and friends. But never fear, because the Lord is near! I have no worries about the future as I have cast all my burdens upon Christ. I learned to do this a long time ago; and that is the story I'd like to share with you today!

My eldest brother Petar first introduced me to the world of backpacking several years ago. With nothing but a pack on your back filled with food, water, and clothes for the trip; we trek several miles into the woods and get lost in the splendor of God's creation. For my first time we took a short 5-6 mile backpacking trip. The trip was almost too easy, with little hills, clear skies the whole way, and not a snake in sight! I left the woods that weekend feeling refreshed and in love with this new sport. I decided to go on another backpacking trip or two. It was on one of those fateful trips that I learned a great lesson in life.

We had decided to pursue a longer hike through the Smoky Mountains... so my brother Petar, his best friend Christian, and Christian's coworker Robert, decided we would do an 'easy' 20+ mile hike. 'Oh, there might be a few hills,' they had said, 'but not too bad.' So I said, 'LET'S GO!' Packed with plenty of water, food, clothes and a hammock, we began our journey into the Smoky Mountains. The first day started with an easy 7 mile hike down the mountain to our first campsite. It felt so good to be back in the woods, I practically ran the whole way down! We set up our camp and began preparing some dinner when my brother and his best friend walked over to Robert and I. They informed us that they may have done some miscalculating and that the following day's hike might be a little higher and harder than we had anticipated. That night I braced myself for the following day, knowing it couldn't be 'that bad' and feeling ready for the journey. 'I' could do this... 'I' had done it before... hadn't they seem 'me' practically run down the mountain?

Saturday morning we awoke and began packing up the camp. We started our hike with an easy pace, stopping every so often to catch our breath and rest our feet. Up the mountain we continued... on and on... on... and on... and on.... it was at this point that something weird happened. I began to get tired. My pack seemed to be weighing a little extra heavy on my back, almost as if with every mile we climbed, someone was putting extra rocks in my pack. Pretty soon even the breaks didn't help. Pretty soon the breaks made it even worse... because every time we stopped, it was harder to get back up. We kept climbing though. At this point my legs became tired from the high altitude of the climb. My back was hurting from the heaviness of my pack. My lungs were struggling for air. My entire body seemed to be sweating from every pore it had. Pretty soon I felt nauseous from the exhaustion of this climb. Robert and I decided to take another break while Petar and Christian continued up the mountain. And that's when it happened.

That's when I reached my lowest point- in a very high point of the mountain.

As I sat against the hill, (since the path that curved up the mountain was only a foot and a half wide, FILLED with snakes...) in a large patch of poison ivy (well, maybe just grass... but it very well could have been!) , I had an emotional meltdown. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't go back down the mountain, because I'd still have to go back up those 7 miles I had trekked the first day. I couldn't stay in the middle of that trail, because there was nowhere to set up my hammock unless I wanted to roll down the mountain in the middle of the night. I definitely couldn't keep going up the mountain... my body simply didn't allow it. My pack was too heavy, my legs hurt too much... I couldn't even imagine how much of the hike was left.

*

Still sitting there, sulking in my own pity party, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. It was my brother Petar. He was coming around the bend of the hill up ahead. He was almost running... and what's this? He didn't have his pack. As he came closer, I could finally make out what he was saying... 'Guys! You're so close! You are SO close! The top is just around the corner! You don't even know JUST HOW CLOSE YOU ARE!'

My brother came up to me, reached for my pack, and put it upon his back. He helped me up to my feet and just kept repeating how close to the top we really were. Slowly, but with a new fervor, I began to follow my brother, tears streaming down my face, as he carried my pack the rest of the way up the mountain. He was right, the top really was around the corner, and reaching that top was a monumental moment in my life. I had done it! I had climbed my highest mountain. I had made it to the top... but unlike my thoughts the night before, I had NOT done it alone. It was with my brother carrying my pack that I had made it to the top. It was with someone else carrying my burdens, that I was able to reach the summit.

Can you guess what lesson I learned that day? You probably already know what I'm going to say... but I'll say it anyway. Psalm 55:22 says, 'Cast your burdens on the Lord, and He will sustain you'.

You can't do it alone. We can't do it alone. We weren't meant to do it alone. God sent His own beloved Son to die on the cross, to bear our burdens, so that we may have life everlasting on the top of that summit. We weren't brought into this life to try and make the journey on our own. It is with Christ and through His blood that we can continue on this journey. Sometimes God will even call us to make a journey that's uncomfortable, like that one I'm about to take. But that's the beauty of casting all our burdens on Christ. Even though it will still be a difficult journey, and the hike may be hard, it is so much easier when we allow God to not only carry our burden, but be our guide.

 First day's hike!

 "Help me up guys!"

"hold on hold on...let me get the camera!" Click, click ... click click click click clickety click ... "OK, now give me your hand."

 ...And so the trek begins...

Beauty.

 Mountain: Conquered.