The Best Hike Ever

Last Thursday morning, while we were at Shepherd of the Ozarks, our entire family went hiking on the New Beginnings Trail. The trail is a contemplative and meditative prayer walk. Each of the stations along the way tell the message of the good news of Jesus Christ.

The first station tells about how God, as Creator, created the world and everything in it, including human beings, for his pleasure and to exist in relationship with Him. The second station tells about how humans rebelled against God and how every one of us makes the same choice to live our lives our way without regard for God. The Bible calls this sin and says there are destructive consequences in our lives as a result. The third station tells about how human beings try different ways to remedy the negative consequences of our sin, but all our attempts are in the end insufficient to bring us back to God and the lives we were made for. The fourth station is labeled "The Cross" and it tells about how God payed the price for our sins by sacrificing the life of His Son on the cross and how that sacrifice is the bridge to a restored relationship between us and God.

Just up the mountain from this sign, there is a large cross in a clearing in the woods. As we were reading the sign, we noticed that my middle daughter, Katie, had wandered off. We thought she wasn't listening. But she climbed up the mountain to the cross and laid at the foot of the cross a bouquet of flowers she had been gathering. She then hugged the cross, and as we were about to walk on, she said, "Does anybody want to pray?"

I said, "That would be a great idea, Katie. Would you like to lead us?"

She said, "Yes," and had the rest of us climb up to the cross to hold hands with her. She prayed and thanked God for giving the life of His Son to pay the price for our sins and told God how much she loved Him. After she got through, we were getting ready to move on when I noticed that Katie continued to cling to the cross with a sad look on her face.

I have been talking to Katie for about a year now about what it means to put your trust in Jesus as the Leader of your life and the Forgiver of your sins. So, I asked Katie, "Do you think you are ready to put your trust in Jesus." She said, "I want to, but I don't know if I can." So, right there at the foot of the cross, I talked to my little girl one more time about what it means to follow Jesus and led her in a prayer to receive God's gift of eternal life. Sitting on the ground with her, it was me, the cross, and my little girl.

Man, that's the greatest joy in all the world of being a parent. That was definitely the best hike ever!