Wilderness Pictures

In The Wilderness

My life has been full since I last wrote. It has been so good and I feel like I have a new perspective. On June 23rd, I got in a van with 3 gals I didn't know and headed West. In Creede, Colorado, our road trip ended....little did I know that my life was getting ready to change. On Sunday, I along with 16 other ladies (who I now call friends) loaded up our backpacks with nearly 40lbs of community and personal items and started our walk into the mountains of Colorado. I had no idea what to expect of this trip and what I learned was not at all what I had envisioned.

During our 6 days in the "Wilderness" we walked a total of about 23 miles. We walked anywhere from 2 to 8 hours depending on the day. Each evening we set up camp, spent time alone with the Lord and spent time together as a group and laughed until our sides hurt. Camp was not what I expected. I pictured tents and a fire at night.....nope - we didn't have tents, we had these things called flies. They were tarps that did not come all the way to the ground and provided little to no warmth from the nighttime elements. On 2 of the nights, we slept under the stars. It was all fine and dandy until I heard the Coyotes hooping it up in the near distance. No fires either. Thank the Lord for layers and "Hot Hands" to keep me semi-warm at night. I didn't sleep well at all on our trip. If only I could have packed my Tempur-Pedic, I would have been just fine :) But the cool thing was that even though I didn't sleep much, it was always enough to get me through the next day.





The best part of the trip was spending time with the gals I was with...there is something about being in the woods away from the television, telephone or any unexpected interruption that allows for some amazing conversation and vulnerability. Each one of the ladies shared their life story with the group. It was so meaningful to be entrusted with such personal information of what these gals have gone through in their lives. What blows me away is, no matter how perfect someone looks, there is always pain and everyone has a story....we all need the same things in life - to love and be loved and accepted for exactly how we are. I know that telling my story was a very freeing experience. Some things that I have hidden deep inside myself, I spoke of freely. Through the tears, I was able to empty out some pain and it felt good. I realized how important it is to have someone or a group of people who you can trust that you can share your "stuff" with. Everybody has it. You are not meant to carry your burdens alone and what I found is when I got it out in the open, it didn't seem so heavy anymore.

As you can tell, I learned a lot. I expected to be amazed by God's beauty in the mountains and although it was nice and of course beautiful, that is not what the purpose of the trip was for me. God taught me about the beauty of relationships, honesty and vulnerability. So Tina, Jen, Carrie, Kathleen, Ginger, Michelle, Karen, Julie, Julie Kate, Erin, Carla, Amy, Kara, Beckie, Megan, Lindsay, thank you for sharing your lives with me and helping me to be forever changed. I am honored to call each of you my friend.


Top Ten Things I Learned In The Wilderness:

1. Who knew God would pull me out into the Wilderness with a bunch of women I didn't really know to teach me about my marriage. Go figure....I was reminded that I married a wonderful man and I learned that I have a lot to learn about giving him the respect and love that he deserves. I am a work in progress. He is worth the work and our marriage will be better for it.
   
2. I learned that some people don't know where freckles come from :)
   
3. I will never look at rocks, snow or pine cones the same as I did before. On that subject, I learned that I can go to the bathroom in the woods no matter how badly I don't want to.
   
4. I learned that I have anxiety when I don't have a watch on. I never knew this about me. The guides strongly recommended that we leave our watches at base camp and I followed their suggestion. It drove me absolutely crazy not knowing what time it was, especially at night when I couldn't sleep.
   
5. I learned that you can add just one different ingredient to pasta and make a different meal almost every night of the week. And I also learned that stale brownies are really really good when you know you don't have any other choice to feed your sweet tooth.
   
6. I learned to like water even from the tap. As long as it doesn't have iodine, dirt or bugs in it, I'm good. For those of you who have not camped before, you cannot drink water directly from a stream....so we would collect our water and put 8 drops of Iodine in it before drinking. Little did I know that I am not crazy about the taste of Iodine, but when you are thirsty, it isn't that bad.
   
7. I learned the importance of being present. This is a struggle for me in that I tend to always be thinking of all the things I need to get done. I am trying to cherish the moments that I am in. My kids will only be this age now, I don't want to miss it because I am thinking about tomorrow.
   
8. I learned that being away from my kids for 8 days is a really really long time. I could have melted into a puddle when I saw Caleb and Foster run to me and call my name. There is no better living picture on earth of unconditional love.
   
9. I learned that 40 lbs on your back is heavy and when you get a chance to take it off, it makes you feel like you are going to float.
   
10. I learned that my hair looks really really bad after 6 days without washing, but not as bad as Erin's and I have a clear understanding of the importance of a daily shower for me, but probably not as important as it is for Jen :)