Sabbath, A Milk Man, & A Day Hike in the Snow

Sabbath– it was the 4th and most detailed of the 10 Commandments (so it must be important). It’s related to the verb shabath which means to “cease, rest.” It’s easy to neglect rest. Maybe we think everything can’t really get done in only six days. It seems that thought, though, is actually distrust in the way we were created to function. It’s like saying we know better than the designer of work itself and we simply have to work all seven days of the week.

My husband and I were recently reminded with the truth that we need Sabbath rest. It rejuvenates the soul and reminds you to faithfully labor during the week so that you can truly obey the created rhythms that are intended for us. So, we came back to what actually gives us rest. Sometimes it’s having a chill day at home, watching a movie or for me (cooking).

Sometimes sabbath means getting out of the house and into nature. Into the great outdoors where we can just Be Still & Know who the Creator is by being in his creation. On this particular Saturday (Saturday Sabbath seems to work best for us) that’s just what we did.

We wanted to sleep in until we could sleep no longer but instead we rolled out of bed and decided the day hike might be worth it. The weather app didn’t foretell a sunny forecast but it was Saturday and we had the time to go on an adventure.

We arrive at what google said was the road to the start of the hike but of course, it was a dead end road that in fact led to us to a milk man. Here, you can identity a milk man because in the morning he goes to sell milk & carries a little cylinder metal container with a handle to ensure safe delivery. We asked the milk man where the road for the hike was and he assured us this was not it. He directed the hubs as we turned the car around and offered to show us the way. We asked if he wanted to hop in and we were able to practice a little bit of basic conversation in our new language. He then pointed us in the right direction and went on his way, down another little road to sell milk at the market.

Thanks to the milk man’s accurate directions, we made it to the trailhead and parked next to the only other vehicle in sight, a motorcycle. We started up the trail, quickly started sweating, and before long ran into a group of six young professionals who worked at a nearby university. Despite our sweat, they offered us scorching chai out of a thermos they packed. Hospitality to total strangers is something I am continually humbled and amazed by.

After about two hours of hiking and a snowball fight with these new friends of ours, we came to a point where the trail no longer existed due to the waist deep snow.

Some of us blazed a new trail through the snow, up towards the top of the mountain (I guess it’s called a hill on this side of the world since a mountain is anything above 15,000 feet). Even though we couldn’t say a whole lot in their language, we were able to practice a little and learn a few new words.

At the top– cloudy but still gorgeous.

Lunch consisted of wonderfully massive pb and j sandwiches on homemade bread (with the bread machine I hauled from the States)–worth it. We were too cold to eat anything else.

Oh… and a “snow cottage” at the top too.

Lesson Learned:

At the end of the day, when our socks were soaked and our bodies exhausted, we agreed that the outdoor adventure was truly life giving. And that whenever possible, we need to take time to be in the great outdoors, especially on Saturday Sabbaths.