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Walking In the Redwoods: Learning to Trust
Wednesday, May 27, 2026 by Sarah Schwerin

Categories: Life Lessons

I stepped onto the bridge at the Redwood Sky Walk in Eureka, CA, and it moved. My head swam, and I clutched the railing. I didn’t design or construct the swinging bridges attached to the massive redwoods, and I had no clue how they worked.

With one foot on the bridge, I looked down. The forest floor spread out below me, and my brain told me to turn and run. Fleeing was the only way to control the situation. Yet in that moment, I trusted that the bridge would support my weight and I wouldn’t plummet a hundred feet to my death.

Trust.

Trust can be difficult. At least it is for me.

As a mom of young adults, I need more trust. My boys have turned into handsome men, but I’m even more frightened than I was on the Sky Walk. Even though I had a small part in their construction, I didn’t design them, and despite knowing them their whole lives, I have no idea how they work, and I fear for their futures.

What if they choose a different lifestyle than the one I’ve laid out for them?

What if they choose the wrong person to spend their life with?

What if they make a wrong choice or a series of wrong choices from which there is no going back?

With my first steps into this new stage of motherhood, I look around, and my brain tells me that danger is ahead and I must do something, anything, in order to control the situation. Yet, my faith tells me something different.

My faith tells me to trust.

Just as I trusted the bridge to carry me to a secure platform, I must trust that God will carry my adult children and me.

Trust involves stepping out in faith, believing you won’t fall. Trusting God means you believe his promises are true. I believe God will take care of my adult children even when I am fearful and don’t understand what is going on in their lives or in the world. I have asked God to take care of them and continue guiding them. Now I trust He will and thank Him for what He will do. I claim the victory before I see the results because I know God does what he tells me he will do. It will happen.

When my husband and I reached the halfway point of the Sky Walk, I could go backward or forward. Going back was the path I already knew. Going forward was the optional adventure path and new views.

I plucked up my courage, trusted the bridge, and continued.

I want to encourage all of us (I know I need lots of encouragement) to keep stepping out in faith, no matter your life stage. Life can be scarier than a swinging bridge over a forest floor, but life can be more beautiful than the towering California Redwoods. God has an adventure for all of us when we trust in his promises.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take,” Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT.

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Comments

Yvonne Morgan From Oklahoma At 6/6/2026 1:58:16 PM

Trust can be difficult when we do the situation. With our faith, we know our Heavenly Father and so we can trust him completely. Thanks Sarah.

Reply by: Sarah Schwerin

You are right. Thanks for reading and for your thoughtful comment.

Debbie Wilson From At 6/4/2026 11:29:56 AM

I think it is easier to trust what has proved trustworthy, a chair to hold you, etc. After someone or something let us down, we become more wary. I find that walking through unfamiliar paths in life reminds me of my need to rely fully on my Lord even on the familiar ones.

Reply by: Sarah Schwerin

So true! Thanks for reading!

Katherine Pasour From NC At 6/2/2026 9:58:16 PM

A great analogy about seeking trust. I don't much care for those swinging bridges either! Like you, I worry about my adult children, but I try my best to trust our loving Father to take care of them. Thank you for your message, Sarah.