Snow shoeing.

I have lived in Colorado for nearly four years. The national stereotype of the Colorado population is that everyone who lives here skiis or takes part in some form or winter outdoor extreme sport. I had some aspirations when I moved here that I would become a skiier or a snowboarder or whatever else was available. However, after one skiing experience in my first year where I was taken down the mountain on a snowmobile because I thought I was going to DIE, I gave up hopes of becoming an olympic champion. Not to mention the fact that skiing requires A LOT of money!

I have taken much more to the summer activities of the mountains: whitewater rafting and hiking. This past weekend at a good friend's bachelor party near Copper Mountain, I realized that there was an equivalent to hiking... snow shoeing. If you are not familiar with what this entails let me just paint a picture. Imagine you have all the gear necessary for skiing on your body, minus the helmet, but instead of putting on skiis you wear what could loosely be described as "clown shoes." Yes, the snow shoes makes your feet at least four times the size that you are accustomed to working with. This is to ensure that you will not fall through the deep snow. In addition, there are metal "spikes/claws" on the bottom of the shoe to keep you from slipping, or to fight off a bear if so needed.

We began our hike up a four mile trail in these snow shoes and I quickly realized that I inappropriately attached them to my feet. I had to stop about four times before the shoes were attached adequately and would not fall off. Meanwhile, the largeness of the shoes was causing me to walk in a leaping fashion forcing me to use muscles that would usually lay dormant during such an endeavor. About halfway through the hike, a sharp pain developed in my lower regions because of the good, albeit strenuous exercise. As I climbed and climbed I felt more and more like I was dragging one leg to the finish line and I hadn't even been injured! By the grace of God I got to see the beauty of creation at the end and during the hike, and I made it back to the bottom.

What I realized in this experience, being the theologian/pastor that I am, is my ultimate depravity. In the midst of pain and hard work, the only thing I could think about was my pain. As the beauty of creation swirled around me and declared the glory of the Living God, all I could think about was myself and when the hike would end. We all have to confront our sinfulness every day, and perhaps God was teaching me a faith lesson through snow shoeing. In our daily lives, it is so easy to be caught up in the worries and stresses of life that we forget God is sovereign. God is bigger than any pain or strain or problem that comes our way. And living a life that is Christ centered requires us to be dependent on our Savior. I once heard a great definition of stress and worry from Francis Chan: When we get stressed out and worried we think we are more important than we actually are, and that God is not big enough to handle our problems.

So... I recommend the activity of snowshoeing to you. If may be painful but it will show us some great truths about life: our own depravity and the greatness of God. May you cling to the hand of your Savior today!