My daughter and I are about to go climb a small mountain together. We are not taking on Everest or anything close. Instead, we are driving up to the mountains of North Georgia and hiking a 5 mile trail up a mountain. Once we get to the top of the trail, we will spend the night at a place called the Hike Inn and then we will hike down and return tomorrow.

We have taken this trip once before, along with my oldest son. He isn’t going along this time, his choice, this isn’t really “his thing.” But, my daughter really enjoyed our last experience and is looking forward to this one. Along the trail she is likely to take multitudes of pictures. Last time, we were able to find four unique pictures she had taken, frame them, and hang them on one of the walls of our entry area. She has quite a knack for this.

The stopping to take pictures will be good for me. It would be easy for me to get caught up more in the challenge to get to the top, than to “see” everything on the path. I didn’t really think about this yesterday when I wrote about “seeing,” but God is giving me a great practical opportunity to practice today what I prayed yesterday.

Although I wish our whole family was making the trip, and one day I hope we will, it will be great to have some alone time to invest in my daughter. As I thought about this trip, two passages of Scripture have surfaced. First, and obviously for those of you who are really tuned in to the happenings at SouthEdge, is Genesis 22 where Abraham journeys up a mountain with his son Isaac. Now, the good news for my daughter is I haven’t been given any kind of word from God about offering her as a sacrifice. But, I do pray that we have an encounter together with God on that mountain.

The second passage of Scripture comes from Deuteronomy 6. There, God is speaking to His people through Moses and teaching them how to live. Moses writes:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 6:5-7)

I can’t wait to find out what we get to discuss and how I can use this time to impress on my daughter’s heart everything God is to me and for me, and help her to know that He wants to be that for her as well!

But, I am also excited because God is my Heavenly Father and He will be walking with me up this mountain and speaking to me as we walk along this road and lie down and wake up. I have asked Him to help me see more clearly. I wonder what He will show me.

So we are heading out to be together with each other and together with God. We are not racing, but taking a journey. We are hoping to “see” many things and discuss many things and more than anything else grow more intimate in our relationship because of the experiences and secrets we are about to share.

Where is it that God wants to take a walk or a hike or a climb with you? Where is it that you should take a walk or hike or climb with someone else? I hope that here, near the end of these 40 Days of Preparation that you will find a way to have some type of planned experience where you can meet with God in a different space, and even take someone else along with you. I can’t wait to hear your story!