It Was A Hiking & Chick-fil-a Kind of Day

I rolled out of bed at about 8:20 a.m. this morning in order to prepare to head to church. Despite being tired from the night before, I was so excited and ready spend the morning at Burgess Falls with my youth group. Ever since Matt, my youth pastor, mentioned it I have been overjoyed because I love hiking. I threw on some pink running shorts, my purple Nike tennis shoes, and purple Ron Jon Surf Shop hat. My dad drove me down the road to HUMC where we all met up in the parking lot. I waved goodbye to my father, and stood around with some of the youth until we were ready to depart. Everyone was encouraged to take a bathroom break, and shortly afterwards we loaded up to hit the road. Originally I was going to ride the church bus, but another adult had to be on there so I volunteered to get off. I ended up riding in a van with three adults and three other youth and it was a very calm ride to the park. (Not gonna lie, I could tell I was dozing off just looking out the window and watching the landscape pass by.)

After arriving at the park, Matt informed the group that we could traverse the trail at whatever pace we choose as long as there is an adult present. Most of the group stayed pretty far in front of those I walked with, but it was nice not being overwhelmed by massive amounts of people. I chose not to bring my camera with me this time since I didn't want to risk damaging it which made the hike less worrisome on my part and I could just fully enjoy what was happening. I normally walked along the trail with Riley and Emily, which were two of the people I rode in the car with on the way there. The scenery was absolutely beautiful, with the red, orange, and yellow hues covering the ground and the light peeking through the tops of trees illuminating the trail. There were multiple places to stop and view parts of the waterfall, and it was just so incredible how large and beautiful everything there was! The most challenging part would have to be avoiding tripping on tree roots and the stairs that led down to the top of the falls.

The top of the falls is where we had to stop due to the flood damage that caused them to close of the stairs leading down to the bottom. Our part of the group were some of the last people to get there, so we spent a couple minutes walking around checking everything out. Many of the youth had taken off their shoes and were walking in the water (shown below).

I thought about getting in the water as well, but wet feet mixed with socks is not a feeling I get very excited about. The rocks we walked on were pretty level, which is where we ended up having our planned devotional. Two college kids named Jacob and Micah led the discussion about questioning your faith, especially as you get older. We took a group picture together after the short devo and then were encouraged to just spend time alone reflecting wherever we wanted. This part was one of my favorites. It is just so easy to get caught up in every part of life: the future, the past, schoolwork, etc. and it is rare we allow ourselves time to stop and process everything. I found a rock right in front of the falls drops downward and just stared out into the water and observed what was around. It is amazing what you notice without any distractions. There were the leaves floating down to the water lazily, being pushed forward by the current. There was the green moss, dripping from moisture gathered from its position near the falls. Stray branches would find themselves moving along in the water, but be forced to stop when something blocked their way. There was the uneven surface of the water that reflected the bright sunshine making the water appear warm and inviting, almost as if it was still summer. After a couple minutes, a huge, fluffy dog made its way to water right beside me and started to drink from it. The owner was holding onto his leash followed behind him; eventually the dog splashed around in the water for a while. I would consider that observation irrelevant, but just the pure joy the dog expressed as he pranced around in the shallow water put a smile on my face. But all too soon it seemed it was time to head back to the parking lot to go home.

(Something I didn't actually think about until just now is how the water is always in constant motion, never stagnant. And that reminded me of a lesson the wife of one of our older youth pastor's shared two summers ago on mission trip: how water is like our faith. A faith that keeps pushing to do and learn more grows and thrives, while stagnant water develops things that can sometimes decrease the quality of the water.)

The walk back to the cars did not take very long yet it was still just as beautiful. Our next stop was lunch aka one of my favorite places to eat... CHICK-FIL-A! I was so thrilled to hear that's where we would be stopping. It was so delicious and filling, considering I didn't eat breakfast beforehand. I sat a table with Tenor, Jeremy, and Josh and enjoyed my Dr. Pepper, waffle fries, and chicken nuggets. We hung out there for a while before loading up and making it back to the church around 3:15 p.m.. It was a quiet ride back, too, since one of the teenagers moved to the church bus so it was just Emily and I, then three adults.

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and wish I had more opportunities to go out and do things like that. I am so thankful for such an amazing youth group that I can not only fellowship with, but go on adventures with. 

Love always,

Allison