Embracing Adventure

About a month ago we went on our first hike of the season. We chose a hike 30 minutes out that as promised as child-friendly. Child-friendly hikes are basically pretty flat and boring hikes, at least when the ground is still thawing and muddy from the seasons changing. We finished the hike quickly and decided that we would venture a little further. Looking at the cropped map in our borrowed library book it seemed as if we could follow the road the cars took to another hike that seemed a little more interesting. We guessed it would take another 30 minutes to get there. We set off an hour and a half later we realized we are wrongly guessed where the road was taking us. We looked at a larger picture of the map and realized we would need to walk about four more miles until we reached that other hiking spot, never mind that our car was still at the original starting point. Oh, also it was 4:30pm before daylight savings occurred so the sun was already setting. We made a plan and decided to cut across where there was no path. There was a creek/river/body of water that we hoped was dry enough at a point to walk across.

We could of panicked and yelled at each other, but instead we looked at each other and decided going off the beaten path would probably be more exciting anyways. I mean the general area we were in was not that large, and we new roughly where our car was. We still had plenty of food and water so off we trekked. The marshy water was still partly frozen at party and we got increasingly nervous that we might just have to get wet.

It all ended up being fine.

Miraculously and totally unplanned we ran into our original hike. It was easy to make it back to the car from there and this all occurred before the sun went down. We sat in the car and breathed a small sigh of relief and grinned from ear to ear. What started as a pretty boring hike turned into an all out adventure and usually I tend to freak out at unplanned adventures. They make me nervous and I try to avoid them and if they happen and I am not ready, I usually find someone to blame other than myself. But I didn’t. I think I was given the strength to stay calm and just enjoy the scenery. It wasn’t a dire situation so no need to make it one.

All of this is to say that next year will be one grand adventure. Kyle will have three ten week internships over the course of the year, which means that we will be moving every ten weeks to a new location with a toddler and an infant. At first it made my head hurt. A lot. The more I thought about it and tried to plan it, the more I could feel my anxiety rising. I prayed about it and received the inspiration to, “Embrace the Adventure.”

Next year will be an adventure and I can choose to plan and have anxiety over it all, or I can relish in unknown adventure ahead of me. I am sure it will be full of moments where I want to pull my hair out and scream at the top of my lungs but I will choose to let it stretch me and strengthen my character so that I can learn to live life with grace (divine help), humor, and no fear of the unknown.