Life is a journey, so they say, as we all walk or travel through childhood, young adulthood, careers, family and ultimately the downhill final sprint to the end.  As a Christian, I try to walk a righteous path.  God talks so much in the bible about our life path.  In the familiar Psalm 23 we read that “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not be in want ……  He guides me in paths of righteousness.”  If you are like me, when I look back, I don’t always see such a straight path that I’ve traveled, but oh my, so many twists and turns.  You too?  I have fallen off the track and away from Christ, only to thankfully find my way back.  I’ve also traveled some rocky roads and difficult paths.  The way has not always been straight or easy. 

I love Proverbs 3:5-6:  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”  That sounds so easy!  Trust and acknowledge God – and the path is straight.  Then I came across this in Proverbs 15;19:  “The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns but the path of the upright is a highway.”  SLUGGARD?  I’m thinking that means slug-like, but I had to look it up anyways.  A SLUGGARD is a “habitually lazy person”.  Also synonymous with:  couch potato, deadbeat, do-nothing, drone, idler, and, lazybones.  I don’t want life to be a thorny path ‘cuz I’m lazy … I want to breeze down that highway!

One of the many things we like about living on the west side of the state of Michigan is the many parks and bike paths and places to walk, climb, or ride.  No matter what time of the year it is, you can find people walking, running, or biking and in the winter, skiing and snow-shoeing.  Ted and I have embraced this healthier lifestyle and are always looking for a new place to walk or ride our bikes.  One of my favorite places to walk is at Mt. Pisgah where there is a hike up 239 steps to the top of a sand dune with a great view of the Lake Michigan beach of Holland State Park as well as a view out over Lake Macatawa.  We thought we were doing pretty good on our first climb to the top that we only had to stop 2 or 3 times and we lived to talk about it!  We have observed people running up and down Mt. Pisgah, as well as people climbing up and down and up and down to the count of 12 round trips!  And that’s non-stop!  My first goal, as I kept going back to Mt. Pisgah to climb again, was to make it up and down just one time without any stops.  I did it.  I can now go THREE times without stopping.

This last week when I went I took some photos to share.  Spring is just starting, so I’m afraid my photos are pretty dull but that’s what is so interesting about Mt. Pisgah.  You really get to see the seasons.  I will see different trees and flowers come and go as well as watch the leaves change from light green to lush green to the golden oranges and reds of Fall.  I’ve also seen chipmunks, deer and pileated woodpeckers.  This particular day, I was taken by the path itself.  Just look at those steps from the bottom and looking up.  So many twists and turns!   And you can’t even see where it ends.  It made me think of my life path!  What a climb it’s been.  And I didn’t always see where I was going.  And it’s UPHILL the whole way.  What happened to that straight path? 

In contrast, let me share a picture of the view on the way down.  Oh yes, it still twists and turns but I still can’t always see where it ends.  But I DO KNOW that the journey down is much easier than the climb UP.  I found it all to be such an analogous comparison to life – and even a Christian’s life walk with Christ.  There is a path before me and although it twists and turns, there are handrails and a railing the whole way.  When we struggle with faith and stubbornly challenge God, He is still there to keep us inside the railing and even gives us His outstretched hand, like a handrail, to grab for support.  There are even benches along the way – in case you need to sit and rest.  The same is with life, when we sometimes find ourselves tired and God gives us time to rest in Him and recharge to keep going. 

I walk Mt Pisgah because I can and because I want to stay healthy and strong as long as possible as Ted and I enjoy these mature years.  As we journey on life’s path, Hebrews 12:12 reminds us to, “Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees”.  Yeah, yeah, yeah … I hate exercising, but if I can count climbing Mt. Pisgah as exercise, then I can enjoy it.  As I climb its’ twist and turns while watching the seasons change and pass, it reminds me to enjoy and appreciate life’s journey with Christ.   I don’t want to be a sluggard.  And I don’t want the road to end for a while.  Life is a blessing and I’m here to follow the path and run the race.

Hebrews 12: 1a to 2b:  …let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.

just Laurel

I also wanted to share this photo from Mt. Pisgah where I was standing on flat ground – this picture illustrates how steep the slope of the dune is – hence the stair climb to the top. Also – the bud in the foreground is a tease of spring time blossoming – this place will be green very soon!