He Guides my Feet

Habakkuk 3:19                                                  He Guides My Feet

“The Lord gives me strength, He makes my feet as sure as those of a deer, and he helps me stand on the mountains….” (CEV)

I took this picture fifty-three years ago.  Norma and I, her twin sister, Dorla, her husband, Ernie, and another couple, Wayne and Sue, took a camping trip to Glacier National Park where we spent much of our time on hiking trails.  This was a 7 ½ mile hike to Granite Park Chalet, where we slept on rugged bunks wearing all our clothes and all the blankets we could get.  We noticed something interesting as we walked up to the bunkhouse.  Sticking out from the door were numerous long, sharp spikes.  We were told that they discouraged the grizzly bear from knocking down the door and entering.

Each couple had a child of about two years of age with us, and each couple alternated carrying their child in a “Gerry” pack from which the kids could look at the scenery or take a nap.  All three of the kids were good campers, and they gave us insight to the sights through their eyes.

The trail began at Logan Pass, went along the Garden Wall that overlooked a deep valley with a river and a long lake, across snow fields, across rocky slopes that ran along the edge of the Garden Wall, and ended up at Granite Park Chalet with this magnificent view of aptly named, Heaven’s Peak.  What a glorious hike it was.  Even when the view was not long distance, the things close by were interesting—interesting included rocky mountain sheep.  Once we got to the chalet. we saw a group of people and a ranger looking through a spotting scope.  When we asked what they were looking at, they let us look at the grizzly bear mother and cub less than a hundred yards off the trial we had just hiked.

I believe this hike to be a metaphor for my Christian life.  I have walked this walk alongside my wife of sixty years.  We were joined on this journey for many years by Ernie and Dorla until they both moved on to an even more spectacular place, heaven.  Throughout my Christian life there have been many exciting times, from teaching in Christian schools, to having a Christian ministry to campgrounds across the United States.  Now we are providing church services in an assisted living home two Sundays a month.  In between the exciting times, there were years of living for and learning to know our Lord Jesus better day-by-day.  There have been times when the “spikes through the door” provided protection, and there were times when we later on looked back and saw times when the “grizzly bear” had been close to where we walked.  At the end of this hike mentioned above, we saw Heaven’s Peak, and we had a safe and beautiful place to stay for the night.  At the end of my Christian life here on earth, I will see the real “Heaven’s Peak” as I am welcomed into the best place I could ever stay, except this stay will not be for a night—it will last forever, and it will be in the company of my Lord, Jesus Christ, who created every bit of the beauty I saw on the trail to Granite Park Chalet.  I’ll look for you there.