Editor's Column

by Allison Brandow

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Search For Sun
Leads to Loving God

Tata ta. Vzzz.

I rolled over in bed, abruptly awakened from deep sleep.

Tata ta. Vzzz. Tata ta. Vzzzz.

My cell phone beeped and vibrated. I reached toward the head of the bunk and grabbed the glowing phone. Five a.m. I leaned back into my pillow, wondering why I had set the alarm for such an early time.

Then I remembered. Today some of my friends and I were going for a sunrise hike at Wildhorse Canyon.

According to my research on weather.com, the sun would rise around 6:30 a.m. Our goal was to reach the top of the west hill before that time so we could enjoy the view before and after the sun rose. We wanted to pray and worship before descending.

From a distance, the climb looked simple. The path stretched straight up. It didn't zigzag, and it wasn't long. But at Ariel's suggestion, we allowed an hour for the hike.

At 5:30 a.m., Ariel, Rachél, Erin and I met outside Room 115. Then we walked toward the pool and turned toward the uphill path.

The entire valley was dark, but we could see light outlining the eastern horizon. The hills stood as bluish silhouettes around the camp.

As my friends and I began walking to the path, the chilly air seeped through our layers of clothes. Rachél pulled her hood up and tightened it around her face. Erin returned to her room for an extra shirt. Ariel added socks to her feet before re-strapping her sandals.

After passing the Blob and crossing a bridge, we paused. Ahead was a cold hiker's most dreaded obstacle: sprinklers. These sprinklers rotated to water both the lawns and the sidewalks we needed to walk on.

Rachél and I jogged forward when the sprinklers aimed toward the lawns. Ariel and Erin followed, but some water hit them briefly.

By the time we reached the bottom of the hill, I was sniffling from the cold. The minutes passed as we trudged along. The hill was steeper than I had imagined. Being the wimp I am, I had to stop to rest after 25 or so steps.

We kept walking. About 20 steps later, I stopped again. The others stopped, too.

Turning around, we observed the valley below. We saw the buildings more clearly than we had 15 minutes before. The yellow outline on the hills glowed a little more brightly.

When we reached the halfway point, the path became steeper. Erin suggested zigzagging to make the climb easier. Rachél discovered that the right side of the path had more footholds. So we continued, one of us zigging left, another zagging right and the others walking straight along the side of the path.

Around 6:15 a.m., we reached the top of the hill. We caught our breath while viewing the dark hills that stretched for miles. The sky was a light Cinderella blue on one side and slightly darker on the other.

The sun seemed to take a long time to rise. Multiple times I thought, This is it; in a minute we'll feel the warmth of the sunlight. Slowly, the taller hills around us caught the light.

Then the sun popped up from behind a hill on the opposite side of the canyon. The light glimmered in the sky and poured onto our hill.

We sat, enjoying the warmth from the bright dot in the sky. We sang, prayed and talked for an hour-and-a-half before descending.

On that hike, I remembered the importance of pursuing God.

Multiple times during our hike, my friends and I had reasons to give up. At first, the cold air could have pushed us back to our warmer rooms. The sprinklers could have been a good excuse to turn around. And where the hill grew steep, we could have stopped and stayed there.

In my life, like during the hike, I have to remember my purpose. The purpose of the hike was to see the sunrise. My purpose in life is to know and love God.

If I want to know and love God fully, I need to pursue him. I need to read the Bible even when I'm tired. I need to worship him even when I don't like the music.

I can't stop pursuing God because doing so is hard or because I'm satisfied with where I am. I have to want God more than anything else.

I need to pursue him because he is worth it, just like the sunrise was worth the climb.

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