God gives us a flip-flop!

They say “when you make plans, God laughs”. Isn’t that the truth?! There are countless things in our lives that have NOT gone according to plan. But we are human beings, not human doings….or robots. We are continually changing both physically and emotionally, and our environment is in a state of constant change. So the truth is no thing or moment or feeling will EVER be/stay the same. A lot of people I know are fearful of change, because it feels unsafe. What I’m learning is that REAL life for me begins when I leave what’s safe and start accepting the change. Start trusting…God, people, and the process.

I grew up in a Christian home, and was taught about a loving, merciful, and graceful God. Thankfully this God has never let me down. But there have been times, even years, when I stopped trusting, talking, and relying on Him. It wasn’t a conscious decision, but when I was asked to explain or defend my belief system, I was usually left giving a generic answer or just admitting that I had “more research to do.” I even told my mom at one point I thought I might be Jewish, and have secretly wanted to live Amish or Morman…so many teams, to which one should I commit?

Thankfully, through my (slow, painful) process of recovery and attending 12-step meetings, I learned that I CAN have my own personal concept of God as I understand Him (or Her, or It)….and my God teaches me lots of lessons through challenging me to accept, investigate, and reflect on what life hands me. He also has taught me that everything in my life is the result of what I have either consciously or subconsciously invited into it.

This weeks’ lesson is about accepting the change of our Appalachian Trail plans. Originally, we planned to start in Maine at the Northernmost terminus, and head south all the way to Springer Mountain, Georgia which is the Southernmost terminus. Starting in Maine and doing a “thru hike” is considered the hardest way to go. Only approx 25% of thru hikers go SOBO (southbound) and even less of those actually finish due to the difficulty of the mountainous, rocky terrain. However, we didn’t train for this trail as long as we would have liked, and our feet and knees are reminding of this sad fact with..every…step. Our combined age of 86 isn’t the only disadvantage; being from “flat Florida,” and having double-plantar fasciitis doesn’t help. Lol.

We are flexible with our plans and have asked plenty of experienced hikers for their advice. Believing that sometimes God speaks through others, we know we need to continue on, but we needed help to know where/how. We decided to “flip-flop,” which basically means to go back and forth in order to finish the trail…so WV, Harper’s Ferry, & Shenandoah Valley here we come! The weather is “perfect,” the terrain is ideal for us beginning hikers, and the bugs will be (somewhat) decreased. We are recollecting ourselves, healing up, and exchanging (lame) gear in Bangor for the weekend and will catch the Greyhound  bus to WV. More to come!!! God Bless…xoxo