the trip along the way

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up (Galatians 6:9).

The summer after my son, Taylor, turned 13, we took a trip with some other boys his age and their dads to mark this milestone in their lives. We drove from Oklahoma City to Buena Vista, Colorado, to hike Mount Elbert, the second highest mountain in the continental United States. As dads, our goal was to take our boys on a trip they would never forget. We succeeded!

Our goal was to make the hike a challenge. It was! We wanted to show them the path to manhood.

We almost wimped out.

We set off with great enthusiasm from the trailhead at about 6:00 in the morning. The ascent took us eight hours. We passed the tree line about half way, progressing with air thinning and lungs weakening into the growing shadow of deceitful Elbert. Our legs were becoming jellylike, and each step grew more sullen. My son and I were alone toward the end, throwing ourselves against the mountain, painfully urging on each step. Our morning enthusiasm had given way to afternoon despair. Taylor complained passionately that we couldn't make it.

Whatever I might have hoped for in the planning of that trip, I could not have imagined a better way to get into the head and heart of my son. We sat down for extended periods, staring at the next 20 steps.

“Do you see that rock, Son? It is only a few steps. We will walk to the rock, and we will rest again.”

“No, Dad, I don’t think I can make it!”

“I know you can. We will do it together. There is no turning back.”

I have a picture of my son and I standing on top of Mt. Elbert Peak that I keep in my bedroom. The experience we shared on that trip was priceless! When I look at at that picture, I don't think about the difficulties we had making the ascent, I think about how much my son and I learned about each other- and life.

The journey is not nearly as much about climbing the last peak as it is about the experience along the way. It's all those steps leading up to the peak that make life so full.

The gospel is not just about destination, it's also about destiny. God is a God of history who is moving us through eternity. Truly, Christianity is not an event, it is a journey.