Such a Heavy Back Pack

Last weekend, my teen boys went to Acquire the Fire teen conference. They both came back all pumped up about living a more abundant life. I am always so excited to hear all that they learned, who they saw, and my favorite, how the powerful weekend has impacted their lives. My thirteen year old son has been reading this really awesome book ~ The Great Divide by Mike Guzzardo. I love for my boys to read meaningful books that will challenge them to live extraordinary lives. I got caught up in scanning the book, that I didn't want to put it down either... so... Today, we read aloud several pages from the first chapter in this powerful book. I want to share with you some of the most impacting ideas that I have dwelt on today. Following Christ into a deeper relationship with God is like climbing a mountain. However, we each show up to make this journey with a heavy backpack filled with a lifetime of fears, sins, insecurities, and other hindrances that we have accumulated. Sometimes, we have purposefully filled our pack ~ thinking the things we have added will aid our assent to a life of freedom and fulfillment of our God-given destiny. Unfortunately though, even these seemingly good things weigh us down and cause us to rely on our own judgment rather than on God's leading. As we are lead higher and higher in our journey, we are asked to remove the things that are weighing us down. At each steep path and close rocky way, we are given the choice of releasing some of our burdens. When we refuse to relinquish control, we are forced to make camp or try an easier route. Inevitably to climb higher up the mountain, we must go through the roughest ways. And as we do, we must begin to rely more and more on the Lord's guidance and wisdom. "When we cling to our heavy burdens, it's almost as if we set up camp on the mountain of spiritual progress... Yet all the while, far above our camp, the pinnacle still awaits ~ the abundant life and calling for which God set us apart at the beginning of time." Let's continue on this journey. Let's not stop to set up camp. Let's leave the heaviest burdens behind and press on unhindered to the mountaintops. We went around the circle and each child shared his heart about what God was revealing to them needed to be left behind on the trail. And this momma cried with joy.