Day 18: That good kind of sore

Today turned out to be nicer than I expected,  so midday we decided to go ot for a quick hike.  Everyone has just eaten lunch. The sun was high in the sky.  The hills were luscious green.

We arrived at the trail head and miles bounded down the path at full speed.  I ran after him only to find he had slid on a muddy patch and was covered head to toe in gloppy mud. Of course the other kids took cue and danced happily in puddles along the way.  Five minutes in and everyone was completely filthy.

We went a little over a mile down the path. I could feel myself recharging. If I had a battery sign,  you would have seen a little lightning bolt going from 30% to 36% to 47%. It was perfect.  My four wild boys, bounding down the trail,  muddy, happy and full of life.  No one to chastise or judge them or me.  We could just be. Breathing in creation. Looking at wild flowers. Playing in the springtime streams.

At a fork in the trail,  miles decided to go full on and wade into the stream water.  We sat and rested.  I let him play for a while and decided we had gone far enough and should probably turn back. Miles could have played there for hours but the other kids were ready to go so I gave him 5 minutes,  4, 3, 2,1.... time to leave.

Epic melt down. 
I mean epic.

I had forgotten to bring the ergo and honestly had no intention of carrying him anyways due to the large amount of mud that covered his body.  But. He was screaming and it was time to leave.

The trail back was completely uphill.

Gripping an angry 2yr old while climbing up a slippery muddy trail is a workout. I was breathing like a locomotive.

We got back to the car and headed home.

I felt ...
Amazing.

Working out is this strange painful thing we push through that makes us feel awesome.

It's hard to get started but once I do, I always feel amazing and the tiredness is a good tiredness, the soreness is a good soreness.

I think spiritual disciplines are a lot like working out.  The discomfort is a good discomfort. The growth of the soul,  the stretch of the heart, the wrestling with faith and doubt and God.  Going rounds and feeling so done,  but a good done.

Every year I look forward to lent,  not because its an easy season but because it's a good hard.