As a man I have always found the outdoors or wilderness so - TopicsExpress

As a man I have always found the outdoors or wilderness so intriguing. There is something about going on a hike in the backcountry trying to imagine what the first explorers must have thought when they saw things like Mount Hood or the Columbia River. I have always been fascinated by the outdoors but by no means am i a hunter or a sportsman I barely know how to tie more than a couple knots. My parents were never into those things I just wasnt raised in that type of environment I played a lot of sports and that is taught me a lot about life. But I didnt spend my days wandering through the Pacific Northwest hunting and stalking elk or deer. not long ago I found myself with a group of friends in North Idaho a place called Miners Creek I decided that I wanted to go on a hike. So I took my dog Maverick and set off down an old logging road that was pretty well over grown by this time just me and him around 8:00 in the afternoon.wearing some shorts and a t-shirt and tennis shoes, not very ready to blaze my own trail. Mav walk in front of me making sure that the trail was all right ahead, the trail started to get even more overgrown. To the point where there was only about 2ft foot of space to walk through. I started to have this overwhelming feeling of nervousness come over me, I had no weapon no protection against the outside. But I has this desire to see what was at the end of the path. Id say about 2 miles in Mav and I came across a pile of bones white as snow. they had obviously been there for a while but I was still afraid because something had killed this and left it here. Something that I couldnt defend myself against. I wanted to continue down the path but I stopped right where that carcass was turned around and went back.as I think about the hike I think about the man I am versus the man I want to be. strength courage and commitment was a big emphasis in the book of Joshua at the beginning and I feel like God was teaching me in that moment. I felt like a kid again scared alone like when you couldnt find your parents. but now I know God was helping me figure out my identity as a man letting him teach me about fear, I want people to remember me as being strong in everything that I do, starting with my faith in God. Nature is where I find myself, my heart, my soul, and is where I see God most clearly I do not want to be a domesticated man I want to be the leader of my house my family and my friends and I know in these moments God is teaching me how to be that guy learning to be wild at heart.