The “Easy” Hike

I spent a great week in Gatlinburg last week with my family. We did lots of things and had lots of adventures (I’ll write about one specific adventure at the end of this post) and just enjoyed being together.

On the last day, we decided to try to find an easy hike to take with all the grandkids (Twelve of them, ages ten and under!) One of my son-in-law’s has an app that rates trails. He searched the app and found a hike not too far away that was rated “easy”. We all loaded into our cars and headed there.

It wasn’t long before those of us over 50 were questioning the “easy” label. There were rocks and roots throughout the trail. Certainly, it would get better?

But it didn’t. I have a rather bad knee and was struggling myself to keep my balance so when I saw my mom struggling, who definitely doesn’t want to fall at her age, I was a bit perplexed. A vision of us, falling together and laying hurt on that rocky path, danced through my mind.

Thankfully, it wasn’t long before I watched my son and son-in-law come alongside her. They continued to walk with her, supporting her as she walked through all those rocks and roots for the entire mile trail.

Sure…the hike was easy. For someone who is sure-footed, without physical issues, and without concern for balance or falling. We watched the grandkids hop like little goats across all those rocks and roots. But for those of us who are older, it presented an unexpected challenge.

As I watched my mom walk with those two young men, I had to think about what a beautiful analogy it was of the family of Christ.

When one of us is on a rocky path, we are to hold each other up and support one another. “Bearing one another’s burdens” as Galatians 6:2 puts it.

Is there anyone in your life who needs supported today? How can you encourage them?

And there’s another side to this, too, isn’t there? Perhaps you are someone in need of support but you are too proud to accept it.

My mom was very humble as she gratefully accepted the help offered to her. I called her this morning to ask if I could write about this and, as she gave me her permission, she noted that this her life and there’s nothing she can do to change it.

She has accepted her limitations as she has grown older with grace and humility and is a wonderful example to me and to my kids and grandkids.

Grace and humility…do they grow in importance as we grow older? Without them, we will end up miserable and discontent.

So let’s ask ourselves two questions today:

1. Who can I help or support today?
2. Am I too proud to accept help or support when I need it?

Things to think about as we walk through the path of rocks and roots in this life with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

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(Now…I want to share an adventure we had in Gatlinburg, but there is really no spiritual lesson to it. Unless it is to be careful not to think you are “above and outside” given warnings!!)

One morning I sat on the porch drinking coffee. As I went into get a refill, I heard lots of loud talking outside. I went to the front door to look out and, lo and behold, several car doors were open and trash was strewn about.

We quickly figured out that, during the night, a bear had come down the hillside and had had a feast. Three of our cars were ransacked.

Our son’s car was first. It was full of mud because the recent rain had made for a very muddy bear. The sad thing about their situation was that they thought their car was locked. Unfortunately, their extra key was in there and the car didn’t automatically lock as it always does. The bear had a real heyday in their van and carried their backpack up the mountainside. Strewn all through the hillside was all sorts of sundry items. We were thankful that the extra set of keys had dropped out of the backpack first and were laying on the driveway! (When my son climbed a ways up the hillside he found that their backpack wasn’t the only thing stolen by the bears. All kinds of things were up there on that hillside!)

The second car to be hit was our oldest daughter’s. She and her husband had even had a conversation in bed the night before about the cracker they had left in the unlocked van. Should they go lock it? They decided a bear wasn’t going to enter a van for one cracker. They were wrong. It did enter their van and found that one cracker!

And the third car was our car. My husband likes candy and had quite a bit in the car for our drive there. I guess bears must also like candy because it was all gone! It had entered in one of our back doors, climbed over the console, and must have sat on the passenger seat enjoying the treats because there was a bit of mud there, too. The funny thing was that I had suggested to my husband that we lock the car and he thought it was a ridiculous suggestion…!

We had heard the stories before we took our trip but we never believed it could happen to us! But it did. So if you are going to Gatlinburg, lock your car doors! Those bears are getting braver and braver.

Ironically, the following day, Eric was outside playing with the older grandkids. He was throwing a ball to the kids for them to catch, when the bear (I am assuming the same bold bear who broke into our cars) came wandering down the bank right behind the kids! Eric calmly told the children to come to him and they all went inside and then we all headed out to the deck, where we watched the bear ramble on to the cabin deck next door, go down a set of steps, and play in the yard between us for a time. It was quite the fascinating experience.

So, yes, bears are a “thing” in Gatlinburg. The stories aren’t just exaggerated for hits and likes. Some things you read are true! We’ve become a bit skeptical, haven’t we??

So that’s our “BEAR ADVENTURE” from last week!