Yesterday I had to drop my son off at UMD for an honors band festival so I thought I would take the opportunity to do a little hiking on the North Shore (Minnesota’s “coast” on Lake Superior). I spent about 5 hours hiking in Tettegouche State Park. I had two goals, take some nice pictures and spend some time with God.<\/p>\n
My pictures ended up being about birch bark and pine cones (it was a macro-photography day) and my conversation with God took any number to paths.<\/p>\n
As happens often my mind wander from the beauty surrounding me, the noise of the river crashing over the numerous falls and ripples to the quiet of the woods once I left the river valley. As I thought about these three things – surroundings, noise and quiet I couldn’t help but compare it to my journey through life of late.<\/p>\n
One thought that came to me was that I haven’t been doing a good job living out one of my key beliefs – loving God.\u00a0As I pondered this I came to see that lately I have been consumed by my surroundings – work, family, life, etc and by the “noise” this has brought into my time with God. I have been spending time with God but I haven’t been able to listen well, to be fed by the time.<\/p>\n
As I left the river behind and entered into the north woods I was able to hear a lot of the sounds that were masked by the river. I have come to see that I need to readjust my daily and weekly routine so that I can get away from the “noise” and in so doing be in a better position to hear God, to be refreshed by God, to love God.<\/p>\n
I’ll be spending the next few day figuring out a new rhythm of life to once again center my life on God so that I am better able to serve others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yesterday I had to drop my son off at UMD for an honors band festival so I thought I would take the opportunity to do a little hiking on the North Shore (Minnesota’s “coast” on Lake Superior). I spent about 5 hours hiking in Tettegouche State Park. I had two goals, take some nice pictures … <\/p>\n