Stephen De La Vega

Angels Landing stands 1,488 feet above the valley floor at Zion National Park in Utah, United States. It is perched behind me in the photo. I stood on Scout Lookout , the turnaround point of my hike with my wife and son. There were good reasons we didn’t continue to Angels Landing:   1.     My son was only 10 years old at the time and one misstep could’ve been fatal. 2.     We would’ve had to file within a string of hikers, so the rest of the way would’ve been at the pace of the crowd. 3.     We were exhausted! Whew!   So, Scout Lookout was where we celebrated and looked forward to the remaining, mostly downhill, 1.9 miles. A 3.8-mile round trip doesn’t sound long, but this hike was strenuous. Very strenuous. The trail was 81% paved, but that doesn’t mean the steep elevation gain with an incline of up to 23 ° under nearly continuous sun exposure was easy. The only hike that was more difficult for me in terms of physical e...

  The Stanley Cup . One of the most revered trophies in professional sports. The cup itself has never changed, and it is the only professional trophy to display the names of every player of the championship team each year. As a hockey fan, I’ve seen this trophy in person. Not as my home team skated around the ice with it after winning the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That hasn’t happened yet. I’ve seen it in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto where it stands protected and honored most of the year. One thing I appreciate about the great sport of hockey: There isn’t a lot of glory outside of teamwork. Don’t get me wrong, the sport has its share of superstars, but, in its typically low-scoring gameplay, even the superstars thrive only within well-managed, cooperative team play. Teammates continually support and assist each other with humility as they work in unison to get the puck past the opposing goaltender. I imagine most hockey players are not in the game for individual glory. Maybe t...

In February we celebrated Valentine’s Day in nearly every country of the world. It’s the month of love and romance. Relationships are on the mind and heart. In this post I share 3 characteristics of friendship between two people who shared something deeper than a romantic love. They shared an inspiring friendship that possibly rivals the best of relationships. Join me in the retelling of a story of brotherly love set in the drama of triumph, fear, dysfunction, jealousy, murderous rants and scheming, loyalty, and courageous faith in a God who wins battles for His favored nation and for His own namesake. Resolution #5: I Will Nurture Quality Friendships A king’s son and his father’s future successor were the best of friends. Their friendship was probably as good as it gets. It was a deep, brotherly love built on common ground, mutual trust, and enduring commitment. This is how King Saul’s son Jonathan characterized his friendship with David, who was the future king of Israel: Jon...