From September 30 to October 4, the impact360 class was joined by Professor Goddard for a hiking excursion at Camp to Know Him to put spiritual disciplines into practice within God’s creation. We began our hike with a fifty pound backpack and an anxious outlook at the up-coming journey. The first hike consisted of roughly five miles through woods, fields, and rocks. We hiked uphill, downhill, and through water where the gentlemen of the group kindly offered there assistance. Our breaks were short-lived but very appreciated as we unsnapped our backpacks and took a refreshing sip of cool water. Without our backpacks on, we felt free and relieved of such a heavy burden. We learned to carry each others’ burdens along the way as we became weak in the flesh and mind.
By the end of the week, we were almost accustomed to carrying our heavy backpacks. I, personally, found my “happy place” at one point and refused to take mine off on breaks no matter how much people voiced their concerns about my physical well being. I finally figured out where this heavy weight rested well and I could still enjoy the beauty and company around me. At the end of the day, we had a whole new understanding of what it means to lay your burdens before Christ. Sometimes, we don’t even realize we are carrying such heart ache around. We can joke, laugh, and conversate well while holding onto the bitterness that sin and the world has caused. In my case, I even refused to lay it down. I chose to hold onto it despite the weariness of my body. If we would just learn to let go of our burdens and give them to Christ, He will heal our broken hearts. There will be pain in this world since we live in such a fallen place. We can take heart because we know God has overcome the world and he can mend our “broken backs!”