Date: 2016-07-12
From: US 40 - 1045.4

To: PA 16 - 1066.6
Miles today: 21.2

This morning, we enjoyed watching the pot bellied pig mosey around the back yard as we ate our breakfast. We checked our ice supply for day 3 since the last purchase and "Seewald the second" (our new cooler) has not let us down yet! We then hit the trail again midway through Maryland. The section in Maryland is fairly short. Some hikers will do what is called the four state challenge in which they start in Virginia, and proceed to hike through West Virginia, Maryland, and into Pennsylvania all in the same day (approx 44 miles). It would have been a fun challenge, but timing didn't work out with our 4th of July trip. That said, we crossed the Mason Dixon line and finished the day together in Pennsylvania! We are officially in the North. We enjoyed hiking on the "Apple latchin' trail" (the common southern pronunciation) and the famous Southern hospitality that came along with it. While we live in Texas, neither of us our from the South. Reflecting on the culture, there was one thing that bothered us. We were disgusted by the racism that still haunts our country. Not everyone in the south is racist of course, but there were plenty of reminders of the wicked past and present afflicting our country. Dixie flags, highly offensive to African Americans, are defiantly waved in every city. This region that is referred to as the Bible Belt has chosen not to imitate Paul in direct disobedience to our command to do just that. Paul said, "I become all things to all people in order to save some". Being intentionally offensive is not going to show anyone the love of Christ unless the thing that is offensive about you is the righteousness of Christ in you. Followers of Christ are to have nothing to do with any offensive symbol other than the cross. Not convinced that racism is still a problem? There was the town we stayed in with the billboard (very recently removed) which said "if your ass is brown, get out of town, before sundown." There was the city we passed where the "Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan" lives. And then there was the family we visited who commented "southerners are nice to people who look like them". This family didn't look southern. We really enjoyed the hospitality, and hope that it is some day it is available to everyone, but know that the only hope for this world is Jesus Christ, where hate is overcome and there is neither "Jew not Gentile, male or female, but all are one in Christ". The only separation God recognizes is light from darkness (John 1), i.e. good from evil. Martin Lither King Jr said it best, "I have a dream that one day a man will be judged not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character." As we become more like Christ, all of our biases are replaced with love for a Saviour who separated us from our sinful past regardless of the color of our skin, the language we speak, our gender, etc. We saw great examples of this too- the Indian family near Damascus Virginia that picked up homeless people, the "predominantly white" church in Johnson City that had partnered with their "lower income (predominantly black and Hispanic)" schools, the ethnically diverse church in Washington, D.C. that wasn't afraid to discuss racism, and our encouraged knowing that Jesus Christ is working in this world to heal the brokenness!On a lighter note, it's time for a beard update! Some of you may have noticed that we stopped posting a weekly beard picture some time ago. The fact is that after the initial transformation from "shaved adult male" face typical of Western culture which worships youthful appearance to "wooly mammoth face" more common in the Arctic and Eastern cultures which place a higher value on warmth or age, the changes are hard to detect on a weekly basis. In addition, there are plenty of pictures of the beard. Today is significant however because it represents the approximate halfway point of the beard, which is now 16 weeks old and will be removed at 30 weeks. The beard has many benefits, such as keeping non-wifeys away, scaring children, giving something to stroke while deep in contemplation, storing food for later use, acceptance among the hiker community, etc. There is, however, one major drawback to the lack of grooming, the tickling factor associated with an untrimmed mustache. When presented with an offer to keep it trimmed to rest respectably above the top lip in exchange for a reprieve from the occasional belly button assault, Porter replied "I'm keeping the belly button." Needless to say, there will be no relief in sight from the nostril tickling, food absorbing 'stache. It is now . Dont worry, all you beard fans, it remains unscathed. We were especially reminded of God's faithfulness today. Porter went to meet Sherpa and found a nice log to sit in while waiting for him. Something about the seat wasn't right so she decided to keep walking a few more yards and found a different one. When we met up, we saw a tree fall on the first seat! Isn't it great to remember that God is in control of our lives?During the hike, we ran into several hikers we knew. We saw sunshine (Was calling him the wrong name- spaceman, in previous posts) and his new traveling friend Alyssa who just started and is going to hike to Maine with him. She seemed like an upgrade from his previous traveling companion, a black lab. Apparently, He dropped the dog at home because Pennsylvania has a reputation for being really rocky. We also saw Pocahontas walking with Dusty. They told us that Skooch flip flopped and is hiking South from Maine. Hopefully we see her on our way North. We have also started to see Southbounders who started in Maine.