Article December 19, 2011 ISSUE

Fun-packed (& pain-free) winter weekends

By Shelby Barner

Earlier this year, I attended a DiscoveryBound Winter Weekend event in Buena Vista, Colorado. I was having a great time with my friends! After a while, though, my big toes started to become painful. My ski boots must not have been a good fit for my feet, because while skiing my feet kept sliding around and my toes would jam into the front. I didn’t notice at first, but after a while it actually became hard to walk. Once I realized what had happened, it probably would’ve been a good idea to start praying, but I was having so much fun with my friends that I didn’t want to pray at that moment. I was just trying to shrug it off and focus on the fun-packed weekend. Following the event, my feet felt better.

Then spring break came along, and my family and I went skiing for a couple of days. I was excited because I enjoy skiing, but at the forefront of my thought was the memory of the last trip, when my toes were in pain and I wasn’t able to walk. The first day on the slopes we were having a fantastic time! But when we were headed back to our lodging, I could feel one of my toes acting up again. It was a little painful, but I was still shrugging off praying about it because the pain wasn’t that bad and I didn’t want to take the time when I could be playing outside in the beautiful mountains instead.