Faith – Love – Joy

Heading out on the trail

Heading out on the trail

This past weekend was such a precious time with family! In reflecting on the sweet memories, three themes stand out…faith, love, and joy.

Usually, when our family does a weekend getaway, it’s planned weeks or months in advance. This time was different.  We realized our 13-year-old had a four-day weekend off from school, and just decided to spend a couple of days camping and trail riding in the Ouachita Mountains.

Totally spontaneous…an activity we’ve never done before…just pick a camp that sounds good and go!

It turned out to be such an amazing weekend!

Gorgeous panoramic views!

Gorgeous panoramic views!

First, the weather was perfect…lows around 28 F at night and highs around 65 F in the day with clear skies. That’s almost unheard of in February!

Then the camp we chose (Idle Nook Horse Camp) turned out to be wonderful…nice folks, great facilities. And…it just so happened we were the only campers that weekend…we had the whole camp to ourselves!

Neither we nor our horses had any experience riding steep rocky trails, but we all adapted. And we had so much fun!  Lots of adventure…lots of laughter…lots of joy…lots of love!

A very steep rocky grade...scary!

A very steep rocky grade…scary!

We had a minor setback, Saturday morning, with the discovery that one horse had lost a shoe on the previous evening’s ride. We were fortunate to find a farrier willing to meet us on short notice to replace the shoe, and were still able to ride that afternoon.

Reflecting over the weekend, I keep thinking of the interaction of faith, love and joy. Spontaneously choosing a camping trip in February…to a camp we’d never visited…for an activity we’d never done…that takes a bit of faith.  Faith in each other to have fun through obstacles…faith in our ability to overcome obstacles and find joy in each other’s company…faith in God to protect us and bless our adventure.

Winding through the woods

Winding through the woods

Crossing those fast-flowing mountain streams and traversing steep meandering paths required our horses to have a bit of faith in us as riders. And riding up and down steep rocky slopes required us to have a bit of faith in our horses.

That sort of faith comes through relationship…is an expression of love…and yields deep joy.

 

A mother-son Valentines kiss!  :-)

A mother-son Valentines kiss! 🙂

Your thoughts?

 

[Linked to Messy Marriage, Wild Flowers, Wellspring, Redeemed Life ]