These Boots Were Made For Hiking (and That's Just What We Did!)

Veritas 2014 at the Pacific Ocean!

Forging Trip : August 5-13, 2014

There are two quotes we share with our Seekers each year that explain succinctly the purpose, drive, and goal of our forging trips. I'd like to share them with you so you can understand the mindset our Seekers held during this trip.

“No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training…what a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”-Socrates

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day...we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” -God: 2 Timoth y 4:7, Romans 5:5

This trip, more than others, pushed us beyond our physical limits, brought us to God-created and inspired places only our imaginations could conjure, and plunged us deep into the vast waters of God's love for us. We experienced what it means to be men and women of God in an ever emerging spiritual, physical, and nutritional world. Those were the goals of our trip in a nutshell, but I don't believe any words, pictures, or anecdotes can truly convey  the magnitude of importance, or change, resulting from this 2014 Forging Trip. But I'll do my best to share our journey with you.

Texans like to say that Texas offers every kind of landscape: prairie, ocean, desert, mountain. Now, I am Texan-born and bred, but California has us beat on diversity of scenery in a single US state. In a distance of less than 200 miles, we experienced rugged mountains speckled with vibrant wildflowers and crystalline lakes, aqua waves crashing into craggy cliffs along the Pacific coast, and enchanting forests lush with ferns and magnificent, towering redwoods. Now, Texas is wonderful, don't get me wrong. But California? Sigh... California is lovely. We spent our last two days driving down the scenic Highway 1 and exploring San Francisco's wharfs, food and sunshine, all while Texas was experiencing 110-degree heat. Sorry to rub that in. :-) But we had our challenges too.

Did you know there are 26 bones in the human foot? When you hike 11 miles in the heat of the day you become very aware of each of the tiny 26.. wait.. did I say 26 bones? Surely I meant a million bones. That's what it feels like after you spend 8 hours traversing down a valley, up a mountain, over a ridge (or five), around a lake (or four), through a thicket, down a mountain and back up a valley... It feels like you have a million tiny, fragile bones in each foot and that you have broken every single one of them. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but really, your feet hurt. A lot.

By day three and mile 30, our five-teen/three-adult group had easily reached a consensus: this was the hardest hike Veritas has ever done. It's not really enough to just tell you how far we walked. It's a matter of how steep these trails dipped and how often they rose up and down. If I tell you we hiked a day without our packs, you'll think we had an easy go of it. When you hike the terrain we hiked, it doesn't matter how much you're not carrying, it is long and hard and tiring.

If something is easy and no one complains, there's no cause for celebration. But when something is as difficult and exhausting as the hike we took our Seekers through, and when those Seekers refuse to give in to the desire to quit or complain, it's time to pop the top and celebrate!! (Or, in this case, drink purified mountain lake water and jump into that lake for a refreshing swim before a celebratory dinner of... lentils. Or something equally exciting! :)) Seriously, though. These Seekers are extraordinary and strong young people in body and spirit. The purpose of this taxing trip to the beautiful state of California, the purpose of hiking miles and miles through mountains and beaches and forests, was to FORGE ahead -on this quest for health and character and finding the One who brings it to all fullness.  And that is exactly what we did.

Here are a sampling of images from our trip.

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Trinity Alps of California

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

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Newsletter-22

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 Follow the rest of our photo journey on our Facebook page here.

2014 Awakenings accomplished, 2014 Forgings foreshadowing

Awakenings accomplished: Without getting too wordy, per my usual, and trying to let the seekers speak for us all, I shall briefly tell you of our successful Awakening trip.  From food to fun, pain to elation, questioning to more questioning answers, anxiety to deep contentment, I believe all who experienced this 2014 Awakening trip would agree that we could not have asked for more or better.  All of the challenges this trip provided were faced and dealt with expertly, from our oldest veterans to our newest greenhorn; and we as staff and volunteers could not be more proud or overjoyed at the progress, and growth, by all (even ourselves!).  This being said, I will leave the majority of the trips explanations up to our Seekers (who led most of the trip anyway); so, if you would like a more enriching engrossment of the Veritas experience, here are a few one liners to whet your appetite, followed by links to our Seekers' perspectives:

All healthy, gluten free, dairy free food: Check.

Explore new areas of town and Carson National forest: Check.

Brave gusty gales of freezing wind: Check.

Discover that the soul is vast, yearning, connected, and full of life long questions: Check.

Hear how Christ brings it all together for our full joy in life: Check.

Conner's perspective:  'Familiar yet New'

Ariel's perspective: 'Always more around the next corner'

Tessa's perspective: wrote a piece on her's and Ariel's  website, 'New Mexico, New Me'.

Forgings foreshadowing:

This trip will be a completely new experience for our Seekers.  We have the knowledge, we have the skill, and we have planned and ironed out the logistics as best we can; however, brand new state, brand new environments, and brand new trails...well... this is going to be interesting, exponentially more challenging, and way more exhilarating to accomplish.   The massive peaks of Shasta National Forest, high altitude alpine lakes, and towering trees of the redwood forests await over a grueling six day journey that culminates in the various views and novel attractions of San Fransisco.  Actually, need I say more?  Here is to August 5th, and let the forging begin!

Forge: defs. by dictionary.com

to form or make, especially by concentrated effort; to move ahead slowly; progress steadily; to move ahead with increased speed and effectiveness.

Soon to Summit Wheeler!

It is a brisk, chilly night and smoke rises from the chimney of the large cabin nestled up against a hillside enveloped by pines. With the faint babbling of a small river just behind the clearing, the warm lights from the cabin windows are inviting inward.  Drawing nearer, the tantalizing scents of a home-cooked meal permeates the air, pulling with overwhelming anticipation.  Senses are heightened by the sounds of soft melodies of guitar and violin soothingly calling from the room just inside.  Almost within reach of the heart-awakening scene and just outside the door, the music fades, the slight tinkling of silverware can be heard, and a singular voice projects a prayer of thanksgiving and blessings to Him for the bounty that surrounds. As the prayer ends, a cacophony of speech rises, ebbs, and flows, and with the invigorating discussion building the front door opens...shift Sweat is pouring off as the edge of a ridge comes into view, and with it, the feeling overtakes that just on the other side is what the last four grueling miles was all about. Legs burning, the pack pressing down ever more, there will be no stopping now as new life pulses and revitalizes the muscles that moments earlier seemed on the verge of collapse! Just a few more paces to go, just a few more ragged breathes that calm and deepen with each step, just a few more and then the crest. A 360-degree expanse explodes before eyes that cannot drink it all in as the entire world seems to lie below in one awe-inspiring moment. Suddenly the immensity of the earth surrounds: its grandeur, its beauty, its complexity all shouting, reflecting, and pointing toward an Author of boundless creativity that awakens something deep and finds the spirit wanting...shift

Heart pounding, muscles tensing and working furiously, and water spraying up as the raft deflects roughly off a boulder that seemingly came out of nowhere. Commands reach ears from somewhere behind and the entire raft shifts safely away for the moment as the team follows the command. They brace, ready and anticipating the next challenge down the raging river. Months of strenuous physical training kicks in, and the challenges that continue to beat at the team and the raft are overcome one by one with an unanticipated strength coming from within. Is this what being physically prepared did? The energy, the confidence, the ability to adapt and overcome against all the battles and tempests ahead. If so, then let the good fight be fought, continuing to be forged through test and fire; so that at the final hour when victory is at hand and rest comes at last, all that is heard is, "Well done, my good, and faithful servant"...shift

I hope this has stirred something in you, because, our Awakening trip to Red River, New Mexico, is coming up quickly! By the time 100 degrees hits North Texas, we'll be enjoying the brisk chill of mountain air (not to rub it in anyone's face or anything). June 22-30 we will be taking our five hard-working Seekers on a 4-day hike through Carson National Forest for the first trip of the year, the Awakening.

We plan to stay near the stretch of Red River's main street, so we'll have a couple of days to enjoy the town as we acclimate to the elevation before beginning the hike. The entire trip's timeline will center around summiting Wheeler Peak, which never gets old, even to the few Seekers who have already done it once or twice. We are excited to be taking our veterans on a slightly different route than they're used to, as well as give each of them the opportunity to lead their own session of journal discussions. These group talks will center around questions about the Bible, which will make for some lively—but amiable—chatter.

So here we are, excited and ready for another Veritas Life Adventure with our dedicated Seekers! Wish us well and we appreciate your prayers over our group as we travel.

Overcome Fear with Perseverance

"...Although I’m pretty sure the others were scared at some point, I’m positive I was the one who had the most to overcome." -Tereza Baca, 1st-year Seeker We are very proud of our Seekers, and we just have to give a special shout-out to Ariel Engebretsen and Tessa Baca, both of whom are fantastic writers and together help head up an entertainment/news website called Beatnik Basement. A few weeks ago, Tessa wrote up an article about perseverance. <---- You've GOT to check it out!

We Made A Short Film! (Sort Of)

Back in April, we introduced this year's six Seekers to the adventure that is Veritas!  In our short weekend at Camp Hoblitzelle, we had a blast getting to know and trust each other during the team building exercises, which were a series of games that required a combination of unity, communication, creativity, and lots and lots of determination and perseverance! The high ropes course might not have required group unity, but it sure took a lot of individual strength and courage! But don't just take our word for it; check out our video of the weekend's highlights!