Joy in the Journey

Written April 25th
Last night we enjoyed getting together with hubby’s uncle who lives in town. We don’t get to see him very often, so it is always a pleasure when we get to. We had a good visit despite the fact that we were reminded of the importance of bringing snacks and plenty of toys for our toddler, especially when we visit a home that is not used to having little ones around. (I forgot, and we learned our lesson well.)

This morning we wanted to something fun, but laid back as a family, so we headed to Kennesaw Mountain National Civil War Battlefield Park. We figured with “mountain” in the name, it should have some good hiking, and we were not disappointed. When we stopped in the visitors’ center for a map and asked the ranger what hike he would recommend, he looked at Bug-a-Boo and said surely with a toddler we wouldn’t want to climb to the top of the mountain, and recommended a couple other flatter trails. We thanked him and headed out to climb the mountain. Bug-a-Boo did a little hiking on his own, but for the most part hubby carried him. It was hard work, but the views and enjoyment of nature along the way were so worth it. Just before we got to the top, we came across a surprising man-made feature we were not expecting – a road and a parking lot. Apparently you can easily drive to the top, which after climbing 700 feet in a mile seemed rather unfair. In talking about it though, hubby and I agreed that if we had driven to the top, we wouldn’t have appreciated the view nearly as much as we did after hiking it. We would have missed so many little things, like when we spotted a squirrel eating a nut, nearly camouflaged just off the path. I pointed it out to Bug-a-Boo since he hadn’t seen such a thing before. He then said, “Eat, eat” and proceeded to do a very amusing imitation of the squirrel nibbling away on the nut. Also the rest we received perched on the large rocks overlooking the valley would not have been nearly as refreshing than after having worked hard to get there. As we headed down the mountain, we talked about how that seems a good comparison to life. The easy road to the good views may be nice and tempting, and for some it is great. But when the journey is hard, there can still be great joy in it, and the harder journey can make us appreciate the pleasant destinations so much more. I hope I can remember this lesson next time my path seems all uphill and full of heavy burdens.