Sierra Sisters

Last year, my husband and I were on the Truckee Pyramid Trail near our house when we met a young woman hiking with her dog, Flora.   We both were believers in Christ and we both had a heart to help women who impacted by human trafficking via the Freedom Challenges.    Clearly, we both loved hiking and the outdoors. We had so much in common that we decided to share contact information with each other and meet again.  She had these attached to her daypack to share about the Freedom Challenge.

A month or so later she met me for a hike off the Mt. Rose highway along a stream lined with aspens.  She joined me for my first cookie exchange in Reno in December.  

She invited me to join the local Sierra Sisters hiking group that she's a part of which trains for the Tahoe Freedom Challenge each year.   The Tahoe Freedom Challenge is one of many Freedom Challenges.  The Sierra Sisters ministry is based out of Life Church Reno is taking off like wildfire.   The group gathers every Saturday to complete a training hike for the challenge, however there is no obligation to signup for the challenge to participate. 

I noticed early on that I was not able to hike at the pace of the other women on the trail.  There were a couple other ladies that hiked with me at the back of the pack.  It was clear that I really needed to address the issues I had with my knee and my cardio fitness level.   This simply reenforced what my sister had witnessed when we'd been together a month earlier.     I love the way the gals in the group encouraged me to do what I needed to take care of myself.

Even though I wasn't able to hike at their level the sister's have always encouraged me to keep coming to the hikes.  I join the group when I can to hike as much of the trail they chose as I can manage.  I so look forward to discovering new trails here in Reno.  These gals know all the coolest places to hike.  These gals are definitely trailbabes.

I decided not to signup for the Tahoe Freedom Challenge myself for a couple of reasons.   Partially due to my fitness level, but also because of all the family health situations that were occurring at the time.  In addition, as a director of the India Partners board, I am committed to representing and supporting the programs they have in place to support children born to women who have been trafficked in Mumbai. 

Although, I'm not personally raising money for the challenge, I want to do my part to get the word out about the incredible work the group is doing.  It's been awesome to witness how the women in the group are working together to educate people about this critical issue and to see how passionate they are to make an impact.