Beyond the shops

When planning our trip to Alaska my sister and I knew we were not doing a cruise ship along the inland passage yet we wanted to experience even just a glimpse of that "side" of the state so we decided to spend some time in Juneau. Juneau is a destination of many boats so we figured we would encounter the masses of cruisers and, like them, spend most of our time in the town visiting shops or on a couple of organized tours. For Hunter, strolling the crowded boardwalks lined with teaming shops of ANY town is akin to a dentist visit for a root canal! Thankfully Marlene and I came upon a lovely "local" at a visitor's center that opened our eyes to a number of her "out of the way" destinations, all of them "beyond the shops"! 

So far, with the aid of a rental car, we have hiked over rocks, barnacles, and muscles to Echo Cove, walked down to Sheep Creek to watch Hunter "wrestle in" chum salmon, drove up Basin Road where we hiked both the Flume Trail on Golden Creek and to Last Chance Mining Museum. Finally we found our way to Cope Park where we unpacked and ate our lunch listening to the nearby rushing creek. And those are just the past few days! Two more days await adventure seekers in Juneau!

During my night's devotions I realized there was an interesting spiritual parallel to "Beyond the shops".

I call it "Beyond the pew". I want to be a "beyond the shops" vacationer but it is more important that I strive to be a "beyond the pew" Christian! My relationship with Jesus should be one filled with adventure and spiritual challenges. May I never just follow the crowd or be satisfied with mediocrity. In stead I pray my life reflects "radical" Jesus in all I say and do!