Our hike

On Saturday we went on a hike in Morgan-Monroe State Park. We went on a trail we had hiked on before, but took a different longer stretch of it - about 8.5 miles in total. The section we hiked took us through a backcountry area that features "open camping," meaning you can camp wherever you want along the trail or off it a ways, and there aren't really designated camp sites. We will spend part of this week planning a camping trip to that area for next weekend.

The hike was great for all of us - me, Amy, the dogs, and even Samuel. He does very well on hikes and is rarely, if ever, fussy. The dogs were seriously in need of exercise and outdoor stimulation, as were Amy and I. I carried Samuel in his pigpack and Amy carried a small backpack with water in it. We really took advantage of the three and a half hours on the trail to communicate about all kinds of things. We talked about theological things, bouncing off of one another our understandings of issues such as why God wants us to pray when he already knows our hearts, and why a prayer that is not answered along the lines we want it to be should not have a weakening effect on our faith. We also talked at length about physical fitness, if, why, and to what degree it may be important for both of us to maintain it. Amy is trying to find some authentic motivation to make physical fitness more of a value in her life. I too am trying to understand its place and purpose in my life now. I don't normally have a problem motivating myself to exercise, but I want to make sure the time I put into it is consistent with what my priorities ought to be today, not just what they have been in the past.

Anyway, we decided we will try to hike 16 miles each week - a 6 mile hike every Wednesday, and a 10 mile hike every Saturday. I think this will be a good habit to establish. Hiking definitely brings us together as a family, and it conditions us for most of the environments or situations we consider that God may call us to. It will also help us maintain a healthy, outdoor embracing mindset that we can pass on to Samuel and any other young ones we are charged with raising in the future.