The Shephelah

After a long and personally anxious travel day, I woke up still uneasy and exhausted feeling my heart and body unprepared. As we walked the first few miles I continued discouraging myself about feeling unprepared. However, once we reached our first stopping point at a part of Canaanite ruins something in my body shifted. As I began to realize i was standing literally and physically in a place so foreign exciting to me, I felt a sudden energy and eagerness for exploring new and sacred places through an unbelievable opportunity. We continued our hike and Pastor Scott and Jason Carlettini began breaking down the very parts of the Bible we were experiencing.

I then took a new understanding that somehow i can be a Christian for my entire life and yet what I have learned over the years barely scrapes the surface of the symbolism and detail of the story within the Bible. However, i am not saying i am suddenly a ball of energy and stamina for the next few days. This is a physically and spiritually challenging trip and I will be exhausted at times and will probably still struggle with discouraging myself. But what i hope to take from this is that the stories of those faithful in the Bible did not come easy or carelessly. These stories hold grief, pain, and loss, but out of them comes a story of hope. So i will willingly and eagerly run towards the new parts of the hope within the story that i will come to learn for the rest of this trip.

Chloe Breig