Yesterday was a challenging, encouraging and day of growth for me and all my teammates. We decided that after doing ministry in the morning we would climb a mountain and see some rivers. Lucky for us a nice man Roberto, a worship leader at a nearby church, offered to give us a ride. So in true World Race fashion all 7 of us climbed into the back of a small pick up truck. I was only slightly terrified that we would all die. It didn’t help that two of my teammates were sitting on a large propane tank.
So we drove to the mountains about 45 minutes away. The view was so beautiful as we drove and we enjoyed listening to a teammates story of grace and redemption. Upon arriving at the mountains we stopped to take the classic touristy photos with the beauty of the mountains and rivers behind us. Next we set out to find a trail no luck there so we decided to just hike up our own way. Our team is learning the communication thing so there was some misunderstanding. So needless to say Julian, Alexandra, and I were left behind to tend to the blood dripping down my leg.
This mountain just kept getting harder and harder. I was getting frustrated. I wanted to quit. The view from where I was was pretty enough. Thankfully for me I have an amazing teammate and brother in Julian. He encouraged me so much to keep going. He literally pulled me up when I was falling down. When I had an emotional meltdown half way up the mountain he stopped, wrapped his arm around me, comforted me and prayed for me.
It’s not surprising that I learned so much about myself and my teammates on a mountain. Mountains are significant in the bible. It was on a Mountain that Jesus gave the sermon on the Mount, it was on a mountain that Jesus was transfigured, Jesus went to the mountains to pray and many more examples. Just like the bible this particularly mountain marked a turning point for me.
On this mountain I learned how to be loved by others. On this mountain I learned when I try to take different paths then the ones cleared for me by my teammates or by God I fall. On this mountain every time I tried to do it on my own when someone was reaching out for me I failed. On this mountain I learned what it looks like to die to self as my teammates died to them selves in order to help me. On this mountain I learned that just as my teammates prayed for, encouraged and cheered me on so does God. On this mountain I learned that God gives me the power to push through and that on the other side their is an amazing view and stories of Grace to be told.
So what’s your mountain? What’s the thing you think can’t be done? I’ll tell you what from the bottom it looked impossible but once I got down and had time to reflect it was well worth all the scraps and bruises I have today.
