Thinking Big!

"A trail is a promise of possibilities, an idea as much as a line on a map." Brarbara Hodgin

I am a detail person. When I was a school administrator, I was famous for my detailed lists. I remember one staff meeting in November, close to Thanksgiving when we were doing our best to focus on the staff meeting agenda rather than counting the hours until we were off for the holidays. To begin our meeting, I showed the staff a copy of a letter from my mother about our family plans for Thanksgiving. It was a detailed list of everything we were eating, who was bringing what and what time everyone was arriving. The format of her letter looked so much like my staff meeting agenda it was scary! We got a good laugh out of it and finished our staff meeting before everyone's eyes glazed over. Lists, charts, graphs, details...it's in my DNA.

I tell you that because being a detail person doesn't always lend itself to immediately enjoying new and big ideas. The last six years I worked as a sound engineer for The House Modesto. It is a great job and I plan  to return after my hike! But I learned something about myself. When people think big, I get nervous. I remember sitting in meetings where people were throwing out ideas for the next big event. I was usually quiet during the meeting and at some point I would start frowning. Occasionally, someone would notice and ask me what's wrong? I would smile and say, "I'm trying to use my little brain to think of all the details required to make this big idea happen. You are making my head hurt. Once I can wrap my mind around it and know how to make it all work, I'll be smiling again...just give me a few minutes to process."

I like hiking because it uses that part of my brain that loves details to plan and prepare, but the actual hiking is simplicity itself. Walk. Follow the trail. Eat when I get hungry. Drink lots of water. Keep warm when it's cold and cool when it's hot. Wear a hat. Watch for snakes and poodle-dog bush and don't lose anything. Rest when I get tired and stop to smell the flowers and enjoy the views once in a while. Eat as many Snickers as I want.

Hiking frees my mind to focus on new ideas for my life, my family and my future, and I get some of the biggest and craziest ideas when I am simply putting one foot in front of another. When I turned 50, I read the book: Second Wind for the Second Half: Twenty Ideas to Help You Reinvent Yourself for the Rest of the Journey by Patrick Morley. The book didn't have a huge impact on my life when I read it, but I think I was still in denial that I was getting older. Well...I feel it now and while I am hiking the PCT, I plan to invest some time thinking about the next 20-30 years of my life and what God might want to do in and though me. I want to be a better person, a better husband, a better father, and be motivated by God's love and grace more than I am today. I want to smile more, laugh more, cry more and love more. Jesus, I need you.

My eyes are dry, my faith is old

My heart is hard, my prayers are cold 

And I know how I ought to be 

Alive to You and dead to me 

Oh what can be done for an old heart like mine 

Soften it up with oil and wine 

The oil is You, Your Spirit of love 

-Lyrics by Keith Green 

Keep calm and dream on!