Enjoying the Silence

I have been here for about 4 days. I have already met some very interesting people. The employees are an extremely eclectic group of individuals. They all have the unique personalities and quirks. This sort of thing happens I guess when you bring a group of people together that are transient people or seasonal workers. They may work at the Ski Resorts during the winter and then come down to work in the National Parks during the summer. I wish I could live like that, on the road, living out off of what I can fit in my car. It's seems so amazing to have that kind of freedom. Honestly, though I feel like I would miss the community that you can experience when you live in the same place for a while. I already miss Durham a lot and really miss Emmaus Way. There are a few other people here that I know are Christians and a few that I think might be on the edge, but are really just searching for anything. I have really enjoyed my time here.

Yesterday, I went hiking on Peekaboo Loop. This trail was about 5 miles long, dove 1500 feet into the canyon and then we had to climb back out at the end. It was pretty brutal at times. It drizzled rain most of the day yesterday which turns red clay in to a weird sticky mud. My boots had an average of about 1-2 inches of mud on them at all times which made hiking intersting considering my feet felt like the weighed about 10 lbs more than usual. I went with 3 other people. Victor, who is from Thailand, Rebecca, who is from Montana, and Kelsey, who by my surprise is from Charlotte, NC and goes to UNC @ Chapel Hill. I was slightly amazed when I found that out and we had an instant connection because of the fact that we basically live in the same town. It's so amazing that I can drive 40 hours across the country only to find someone who drove the same 40 hours only a week before me. I really enjoyed the hike. There weren't many tourists out hiking because of the rain so it really gave us some time to be alone. The only thing we heard most of the time was the squich and squelch of our muddy boots.

Friday night after work, I decided to go on a walk by myself to read, journal, and mainly just get away from everything for a few minutes. I wandered upon a trail called queens garden. For one of the few moments in my life I experienced true silence. It was in this silence that I was really able to clear my mind and begin to hear God. While I sit up on a hill in the canyon in dead silence listening to God, I just imagined all the hustle and bustle going on elsewhere in the world. It's amazing to me that I can just sit and listen to beautiful silence in the shade of the canyon, while other people are running around with always something else to do, fighting through traffic, fighting with their spouse, fighting with their church. I feel like there is always something to do no matter where we are in life. There is always another appointment to get to, another paper to turn in, another person to keep in touch with. Why don't we take more time for ourselves? Why do we get so caught up in this world that we forget to take time to simply sit in silence with God? I am the first to admit that I am terrible at this, it is a lot easier for me to sit in front of a computer or tv and find something to take up my time. One of my goals when I get back to Durham is going to be take time every day or so, simply to get away and rest in silence. I would encourage anyone, no matter where you are or what you are doing to take advantage of any time that God provides for you to find silence. It is in the silence that we can truly hear God and truly understand what it is that God wants for our life.