Joy in the Journey

<p>When people heard of my plan to walk forty days on the Appalachian Trail they were interested. They were curious. They humored me. I had camped but never outside a campground never carrying a backpack and never alone. What? Alone? No! Not alone! Had I not read the reports? Had I not heard the warnings?<p><p>My response initially was that there are bears and boars and snakes and rabid things and bad mouse droppings and lunatics and treacherous trails. There are terrorists; I still fly. Surely I would bring a gun or a dog or a man? And they secretly began to hope that I would not make the hike.<p><p>Corrie Ten Boom wrote in her book <i>Hiding Place</i> that she read Psalm 91 daily while in a German concentration camp. My friend read Psalm 91 daily while her son served in Iraq. They did this because they believed in the ever-present Emmanuel God. I adopted Psalm 91 and told the worriers to pray for feathers. I carried a feather over my shoulder attached to my pack for protection. He will cover you with his feathers and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. (Psalm 91:4a New International Version)<p>