We had barely even started hiking and already my calves hurt! I did
n’t think I would be able to hike for an hour and a half… The gravel was loose and difficult to walk on, there were steep places to hike and to make matters worse, these Guatemalan guys kept following close behind us on horses taunting us and offering to give us rides – for a price that is. I had cero dinero so that wasn’t gonna happen. I had no other choice but to hike my butt up that volcano for the good hour and half it was going to take us.
One of my fellow squadmates hung with me near the back and kept encouraging me to keep going. So we pressed on, though it was hard. The closer we got to the top though, the easier it seemed to get. I started getting a rush of endorphins that gave me the strength to keep going. When we finally reached the end, I felt incredibly accomplished, like an overcomer. The view was absolutely breathtaking! We were able to roast marshmellows through a tiny opening on the side of the volcano, and as the sun was setting it created an awe none of us could pass up taking a picture of.
As we were descending back down the volcano, God began giving me a revelation to this little trek up the volcano. Hiking up it reminded me a lot of my spiritual walk with God and perhaps even parallels with my world race journey. When I was at the bottom the hike was rough and seemed impossible to me that I even had the strength to keep going. The length of the journey seemed daunting and overwhelming. But with God’s help (and the help of others) I pressed on even though I wanted to give up so quickly and early on. When I finally reached the end, I was in awe of the beauty and the magnitude of God’s creation. I felt as if God were saying to me, “this journey will be hard at first, but if you continue to persevere and press on, you will experience a part of Me that you cannot fathom. You will finally come to understand just how strong you truly are and always have been. It will be worth it in the end.”
i am FIERCE! i am VICTORIOUS!
