How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news… Is. 52:7
“Bringing good” through the arts…
$1 = 1 Step
Every step we take, we bring something.
Help us “bring good.”
Beautiful Feet Studio Artistic Instructing Partner, Christie Taylor is set to hike a 599.1 mile portion of the Pacific Crest Trail in the Sierra Mountain Range this Summer 2017!
She is looking for sponsors to partner with her in building the physical, financial, and spiritual foundation for the ministry that will come forth from the partnership of Beautiful Feet Studio of Dance & The Arts and Hand Picked, Inc. 501c3.
To learn more about these two organizations click their logos here.
Help us “Bring Good”…Sponsor a Step today!
Week #1
Leaving the desert behind and boldly taking her first steps toward the glorious Sierra Mountain Range into large meadows and conifer forests, today Christie can see glaciated peaks in the distance…within reach, but not without a challenging and quite risky journey. For over 15 years, Beautiful Feet Studio of Dance & The Arts Owner and Hand Picked, Inc. non-profit organization President Kalette Alspaugh could see the high peaks of God’s Plan in the distance. While for many years, these beautiful visions of what God might do were only a dream tucked away in her heart, she walked step by step the path lit before her feet. This day by day journey through peaks and valleys led to this pivotal moment… the moment when her team/partners, members, sponsors, family, and friends all rally together for 40 days to pray together and give together to lay the spiritual, financial, and physical foundation for the ministry that is springing forth from the partnership between Beautiful Feet Studio and Hand Picked!
Week 2
On Day #7 of this journey, Christie will take a 17 mile detour from the Pacific Crest Trail to climb Mount Whitney, the highest summit in the Continental U.S. reaching 14,494 feet. Though the bitter cold may push her to quit at certain points, Christie will press on to see the beautiful prize. As she journeys on from what will likely be both a physical and emotional high point, the path to Yosemite will repeatedly descend into deep valleys just to quickly rise again over numerous high mountain passes. These ups and downs are not only in the physical realm, and Christie, as an artist herself, knows well the reality of the inner world reflecting on the outside. Similarly, the more than 15 year journey of being prepared experientially to step out in faith to begin Beautiful Feet Studio and press toward all it has been called to be has not been an all-around steady and level path. It too has had its dramatic drops into despair coupled suddenly with moments that could be compared to nothing less than what a soaring eagle must experience as it rises in the wind. When all looked hopeless, our God of Hope never failed to come through.
Week 3
Descending repeatedly into deep canyons, surrounded by granite domes and waterfalls rushing around her from every angle, Christie is falling and rising into expansive grassy meadows and viewing many lakes in this portion of her journey. At times she may feel that she’s being dipped into the beauty of God, as the sights and sounds of nature flow and rush around her! Still she climbs nonetheless. God likes to show off, no doubt. Why, His glory is so spectacular that even the rocks cry out! Though there have been many trials along the way, there have also been undeniable moments of God just showing off! Miracles upon miracles heaped upon miracles! He has done it! And He will do it! It is easy for those looking on to see the beautiful moments and assume that those moments are how it has always been or that that picture perfect situation came easy, but they did not, and they will not. He is faithful however to carry us through the desert seasons to bring us home.
Week 4
At this point in Christie’s journey, the trail becomes relatively level as hikers traverse along the Sierra Crest. While still pressing forward, in light of what she has come through, this portion of the trail may seem to be a bit of a rest. God has brought these needed seasons in the journey toward the birth of the Beautiful Feet Studio and Hand Picked Vision. It is in these times of refreshing that renewed vision was given, words and direction reconfirmed, and strength brought forth to press through what was to come.
Week 5
Passing long stretches of exposed granite and volcanic rock formations, Christie approaches the Desolation Wilderness, an expansive stretch of barren, granite terrain with countless waterfalls and shallow, clear lakes scattered throughout… Though seemingly “desolate” and “barren” what waters spring forth!
Hand Picked President Kalette Alspaugh holds fast to the scripture from Isaiah 54 that says, “Sing, O barren one, you who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child! For the [spiritual] children of the desolate one will be more than the children of the married wife, says the Lord.” Things are not always what they seem. What may seem desolate can be unimaginably fruitful. While she and her husband have no birth children of their own yet, Kalette has seen the manifestation of the promise of this scripture in her life for many years and hundreds of children…she looks forward to thousands more around the world.
Week 6
As Christie nears the conclusion of her 40-day, 599.1-mile Prayer Journey, she will pass through a place called Donner Pass, a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail known for its many volcanic flows and rock formations… Rock formations, vast in type, while seemingly simple, smooth, and beautiful on the outside took centuries of material accumulation, heat, pressure, time, and in some cases great and repeated storms. What a glorious and appropriate metaphor for our lives and this ministry, that when we submit ourselves to receive the multitude of His gifts, the fire of His passion, the weight of His glory, the duration of His mercy, and the grace of His storms that faithfully shape who we become, we can show the world a strong, sturdy, unshakable rock of faith whose igneous display is really something to see!
Sierra Mountain Range Photography by Michael Taylor