Jerry’s On the Trail Again!
Jerry Hertzler continues his Colorado Trail Challenge, raising money for Love INC, and anticipates reaching the end of the trail this year. As he undertakes his first outing this summer during these uncertain times, he shares some thoughts. Click here for the pledge form.
First 2020 Outing – July 13-18 
“Your life is made for epic adventure. Do you trust that? I was blessed to be able to go to space a record-setting seven times, but the greatest journey I or any of us will ever undertake is the one to encounter our God of heaven here on earth.” Jerry Ross – US Air Force Colonel (ret.), member of the US Astronaut Hall of Fame and author of Spacewalker (from the book “Odyssey” by Justin Camp)
I’ve been looking forward to continuing my epic adventure along the Colorado Trail, even amidst the Corona virus pandemic. In fact, like many, I’ve been looking for opportunities to get out of the house safely after months of stay-at-home orders and a myriad of health department and governmental orders designed to reduce the spread of the virus. This first outing of 2020 helped fill the bill.
Few things in my life bring me closer to God than exploring nature on a trail through the mountains. It brings me a certain peace and helps me to keep the busyness of life in perspective. I hope you like the devotional below, adapted from Gather Ministries, 795 Folsom Street, 1st Floor, San Francisco, CA 94107:
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28)
“He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He
leads me in paths of righteousness” (Psalm 23:2-3)
How does God restore your soul? Where do you find rest? How are you most able to forget, even for a few moments, the pressures of this life? Where do you get reset and realigned? How do you connect with God most easily? Where are you most able to hear his voice or feel his guidance?
Is it in praying at your breakfast table in the early morning, before anyone else wakes? Or in reading Scripture on the treadmill or in your car over the lunch hour? Is it in a few minutes of stillness and solitude in the evening? Or in boisterous community around a table, with friends or family? Is it in walking or running or biking through streets or through hills? Is it in listening to music? Or in making your own music, singing in church perhaps? Or in something else entirely?
Recognize that God designed you, uniquely, to have ways—even amid the busyness—to find him, to find rest and restoration through him. You were designed to, every so often, just come home. So open your eyes. Search your heart. He has, no doubt, already shown you how.
What You Love to Do? Do That!