Treks & Texts '22 (BH Edition)

The year 2022 has been a year chock-full of travel. During the past two months, I've traveled around the country from Nebraska to California to Hawaii, along with overseas in Japan. As the proverbial cherry on top of this blessed year of excursions, my family took a trip to New York City.  I have a love-hate relationship with NYC, which may not be surprising. The city is full of spectacle, both in street performers, Broadway and obviously, the titanic buildings. It is a sight to see, and I truly believe that everyone should visit NYC at least once in their life. Once you get past the spectacle, however, you're left with overwhelming structures, claustrophobic spaces, and disconnected, lonely, overworked people.  As a young man from Oklahoma, I thrive in wide-open spaces (even if I don't admit it). My life is highly influenced by my sensitive sense of smell and desire for sunlight. NYC in September at least has sunshine, but the bad smells make me want to run for the hills (...

During all of the craziness of the beginning of school, I was able to find a few moments of reprieve within nature. Although these moments were bookended by blazing Texas heat and Southeast Asia-inspired rainstorms, there were beautiful moments in the past two weeks. One such moment took place on a retreat for my church's college ministry. It was an exciting and welcoming excursion that consisted of 50 college students driving to Best Day Ever Ranch in Grayson County, Texas. During the first evening of the retreat, we were sent to our cabins to get unpacked and situated. When I walked inside the quaint log cabin, I was greeted by a veranda and a marvelous sunset.  My roommate and I marveled at the descending celestial body, both quiet and pensive. The trees complimented the deep growing indigo sky while the sun blazed like a fading explosion. The sunset above was so beautiful that it spurred some of my friends to visit our porch the next evening during sunset to get the same perspe...