Press Forward!

Last year Rob and I volunteered to be "Ma and Pa" at our church's Youth Conference Trek, where we would lead a "family" of 12-18 year old kids for a long weekend on a pioneer handcart reenactment.  We would be helping the kids push the handcart, camping, cooking outside, and walking about 20 miles over a 3-day period.

Pa and Ma, ready to go!

For the last few years Rob has been in charge of these yearly Youth Conferences, and I was really excited to get to finally be a part of one.  It seemed like they were always great spiritually uplifting experiences.  And a lot of fun!  So, basically, I was totally on board with the idea.

Then, a few months later, we got a little surprise in the form of a positive pregnancy test!  When we did the math we realized I'd be 7 months pregnant by the time Trek rolled around.  My attitude began to shift from enthusiasm to anxiety.  Would I be able physically to hold up?  Would it be safe? Wouldn't it be smarter to just ask some other couple take our spot this time around?

The BEST "Big Brother," Zak

Rob and I both prayed about it, and he felt strongly that we should continue as planned.  I didn't feel a strong answer, but my anxiety mostly abated so we decided to go for it.

"Just keep walking! Just keep walking!"

A few months later, after a lot of hard work and preparation (MUCH more than I had expected!!), we were ready for the trip.

We donned our pioneer-style clothing (which looks EXTRA cute when you've got a big ol' belly...), packed up the minivan, said goodbye to the kids, and headed out to the Houston frontier.

"Pioneer children sang as they walked, and walked, and walked, and WALKED"

Over the course of the 3-day trek, we walked/pulled/pushed the handcart for about 20 miles (through some major mud and water), slept for about 20 minutes, and built some really sweet relationships with really fantastic youth.

An early morning

I learned a few things:

• I can do hard things.  It was physically much harder than I anticipated.  I was in pretty good shape (for a 7-month pregnant lady), but being on my feet constantly was tough.  But I made it! 
• God hears and answers prayers.  There were a few times when I was walking that I felt physically maxed out.  My back started cramping and I didn't think I'd be able to keep going.  I said a silent prayer for help, saying, "Okay, Heavenly Father, I'm doing this for You and for these kids.  If you want me to be able to finish this, You have to help me. Please."  Within minutes the cramps would subside and I kept going. 
• This whole experience was a good metaphor for life.  Sometimes life isn't about having fun or doing what is easy.  It's about doing what you've been asked to do and moving forward to the best of your ability.  Often, when things are hard, we just want to sit on the side of the trail in the mud and let things go.  However, that doesn't help the situation b/c then we're just stuck in the middle of nowhere, sitting in the mud!  We have to keep moving, keep trying, and most importantly, keep involving God in the process.  He WILL help us.  Sometimes we don't notice it right away, but if we keep trying to do our best, before we know it we'll have walked another mile, some friend will show up to help us push our carts, or we'll notice somebody in greater need than ourselves.  

Pa with the kiddos

Overall, while I wouldn't necessarily recommend doing a trek in your third trimester, I'm DEFINITELY glad we did it.  I was so impressed with the youth in our family, and it was a great learning and growing experience for me.  

Another tender mercy: nobody in our family got ANY blisters!!! 

The women's pull