Hiking, friendly faces and the road to the ocean...

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Two days ago, when I last updated, I was heading for Yosemite National Park. Well, I made it there safely and took in the sights there. The first day, I made my way to Yosemite Vally, which is the famous part of the part that everyone streams to. And boy where there people there. In the valley, there were cars and people everywhere. That night, there wasn't a campsite to be had, so I had to drive 16 miles west to get a campsite.

Sorry, I think today is one of those days where I just sit down and type random bits of information. I'll try again.

Coming down into the park, there is awesome scenery with glass smooth, gray cliffs rising thousands of feet above you on either side. Between these cliffs, a river runs lazily through a valley covered with trees and meadows. Now, normally, there are waterfalls coming into the valley, but Bridalveil Falls had about a whopping 2 gallons going over it per second and Yosemite Falls had absolutly nothing. That's what I get for being here in early September.

After a quick tour of the valley, I made my way to the campground and after some struggles and some tests on my patience by God, I found my way there. That night, as I was journalling in my tent, I heard some familiar music, so I went exploring to find where it was coming from. There was a group sitting around a campfire singing worship songs, so I asked if I could join and they said "sure." They were a Korean Group for Campus Crusade For Christ from San Diego and I ended up being with them for about an hour and a half singing, sharing stories and praying. One thing that I found interesting was our prayer time. We were told to pray for the people on our right and left, but we did so outloud, all at the same time. To those listening, it was a jumbled mess of words, but it was a neat experience. Those of you in Korea, can maybe know what I'm talking about. Needless to say, it was a blessed time to spend with Christians around the fire in worship.

The next morning, I got up to go and hike. I had decided to hike the Yosemite Falls trail, even though, there were no falls. It was a hike that was, when all was said and done, about 11.2 miles and took 6.5 hours. I'm not sure what to try and describe to you, whether to focus on the physical aspects of the hike or what I was thinking. Maybe, both will have to wait until I am back or am feeling more creative in my writing. Either way, I made the climb, up through the rocks and trees, across the "river" that did not flow over the falls, to a point a couple thousand feet above the valley... a place of amazing beauty and solitude. At this point, I was again humbled on how I can be so prideful at times in things I have done and yet, there is a God who laid the foundations of these granite cliffs, who formed the valley, who planted every tree and helped it grow. Who am I to claim any glory in anything I do? It was an amazing place to sit and overlook God's creation!

From that point, I worked my way down and felt very happy... like after a long conversation with a great friend. The road down continued that conversation as I just talked with Jesus through the trees, over the rocks and across the sand. People I met, I attempted to treat as I thought Christ would. It was truly an extremely challening hike as well as an awesome, prayer filled time.

Oh, there are so many more things I could say about my thoughts, but again, time and space limit. Right now, I am in Modesto, CA and tomorrow, will head to San Francisco and then up the coast. We shall see who God has in store for me to meet and what sights to behold. He is so good!

God bless you all and I am still looking forward until we can meet again!

Tim