Our family loves to go backpacking. There’s a “little” 22-mile trail we visit for a few days each summer along the Manistee River. The first year we went, my youngest child was only seven. 

We each carried backpacks. My daughter’s was a Disney backpack weighing less than 5 pounds, containing a change of clothes, fruit snacks, and water. 

My husband’s professional-grade hiking pack weighed in at 75 pounds and contained our tent, our stove, and most of our food. He hadn’t carried such a heavy weight so many miles since his days in the army.

Within the first few miles (my husband trekking along under the weight of a small mountain), my daughter declared that her tiny pack was too heavy. Without a word, my husband took her pink princess backpack, strapped it to his chest, and marched on. Free of her burden, our little girl hopped and skipped blissfully down the trail.

Our heavenly Father invites us to do the same thing—to lay our burdens upon his shoulders. Unlike us, he can take it without flinching or waking up the next morning with sore muscles. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

And in the meantime, we can mimic our Father’s love and carry one another’s burdens whenever we can! “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).