Enjoying the View

With the long holiday weekend, we decided to go yesterday to Table Rock again and hike the trails. Luis has been itching to get back up there, and the kids couldn't have been more pleased. We decided to take a relatively easy trail, being our first time going and having Lily with us. I can't think if anything worse that being halfway up a mountain, miles from your destination, with an almost 2 year old who has reached her limit. So we opted for Carrick Creek trail, a modest 1.9 miles (The first half of it was completely uphill...I almost died!). I managed to convince Jonathan that all we needed was my one backpack, but I had to bargain with him and take his pencil and notebook, along with our water. When I found out that the pencil and notebook were for him to write down all the neat things he saw, I realized we had a problem. Jonathan is five (turns six in five days). He just finished Kindergarten. He loves to write words...but it takes him a long time to write them, while I have to spell every word out for him. Can you imagine being on a hike and having to stop every time he wanted to write something? M-U-S-H-R-O-O-M...A-M-P-H-I-B-I-A-N....I think you see my point. So, instead of squelching his idea altogether, I decided to make him our camera man. That way, he could take pictures of whatever caught his eye, yet keep walking. Well, I must have had over a hundred pictures from that hike alone. He took shots of leaves and stones, feathers and mushrooms. Anything he thought was interesting. Anything and everything because he's five...and to a five year old, everything is interesting and new.

"For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me." Matthew 18:2-5

Why is it when we become adults, we lose that childlike simplicity? Why do we complicate everything? If it weren't for Jonathan, I would have missed so many interesting things along the trail. Even Luis got in on it and spotted a rabbit and a fabulous huge feather that was camouflaged in a stream. Little things...things that would have been so easy to walk right by...but aren't those little things what make life so beautiful? Lily's hugs. Nani's phone calls. Ladybugs. Saturday morning pancakes. Soccer training with Dad in the back yard. Piggy back rides. Friday night movie night. Family. Love. I have to admit, I stress out a wee bit about lots of things...and don't get me wrong, I know there's a time and place for everything. I guess I just needed a reminder that it's OK to relax, laugh, and just let things roll. It was really nice to enjoy the view from 4 feet off the ground. Thanks for the reminder, my sweet Jonathan.