Campfire Talk by Nick Benson

June 17, 2025

Hello everyone! If you don’t know me I’m Nick Benson, I’m a first year on Life Squad, and I go to the university of St. Thomas.

A couple summers ago I went on a camping and hiking trip to Colorado with the church. We drove down in vans together and spent time bonding together before we split into two groups and commenced our adventure hiking and camping in the mountains of Colorado. After days of camping, we decided to take the trek to the peek of the mountain and meet up with the other group. All was going good for the first half of the hike, but as we continued and the weight of our backpacks began to feel like more and more, the hike became hard and my body began to ache. We met back up with the other group and it felt like we were so close to reaching the peak. As we got higher up the mountain and the elevation became more, the less oxygen we had and the harder it was to breath. A group of us from both groups fell behind as we were exhausted, but we continued to hike up the mountain together. Everyone in the group was struggling and we would have to take breaks almost every 10 seconds to catch our breath so we could continue the hike. At this moment my body was in pain and the the peak didn’t seem to be getting any closer.

We are called to keep going when it is tough, to try getting out of your comfort zone and persevering.

2 Chronicles 15:7 says, “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”

As my friends and I persevered, we each pushed each other to continue hiking and eventually made it to the peak. Without the group pushing each other to continue going I don’t think we would have had the strength to make it to the top. But once we got to the peek, I was so happy I kept going.

At that moment I witnessed one of the best views I have ever seen. I instantly became filled with joy as all my hard work had been paid off and I finally could sit down and appreciate the journey I went on. I looked down and saw how far I came and felt like I was truly connected spiritually in that moment. It was like I was being shown that all the hard work I went through mattered. I felt like I was in harmony with the nature and the scenery around us. In that moment the only thing I could do was take a well deserved seat and appreciate the special journey I was on. This reward after pushing myself so much was the perfect ending to the hard fought journey I went on.

I encourage all of you to persevere and keep working hard, whether it’s through a rough patch in your life or just a simple thing like finishing a hike, good things are coming for you once you get to the peak.