Similarly titled: At the Peak of My Life, and Quite Literally
I will begin this blog with a brief life update.
We have made it to India! Month three.
I am so over the moon being able to travel around this great big world. At the same time I miss home so much. Every time I am in contact with friends from home or with my family and I hear about all that is happening, it makes me both so sad and so happy to hear that people are going about their days and living their lives. They are stretching, growing, learning new things, making new friends, beginning new relationships, ending old ones, moving out, getting promotions, learning new instruments, adopting various animals, traveling to new places, finding new hobbies, and a whole bunch else. During the happy times and the sad times it makes me realize, wow the Lord is constantly moving. But how sad I am that I am not there. I wish I could just say, hey please stop!! Wait for me! I want to do life with you!!
I guess in the end however I just want to say to my friends and family, I miss you a lot. Keep up the good work.
Similarly here I am travelling to places that, while growing up, I thought I would only read about. I am seeing new things, meeting incredible people, going deeper with the friends I am with, petting new animals (cows and pigs all over the streets, monkeys on my morning runs, also yaks!?), learning how to cook (!!!!), getting over my minor dislike of bugs (I have had many centipedes thrown at me), learning more songs on the uke, and doing things I never ever ever – let me emphasize EVER – thought I would do.
One such thing being seeing the tallest mountain in the world. Now I need to be incredibly candid with you and say I’m not entirely sure if I actually saw it. There was a lot of pointing and there were a lot of mountains and a lot of describing said mountain. I think at the end of the day I am 85% sure I saw the tippy top of Everest before the clouds blanketed it and it was hidden for the rest of the day. But hell, I can say that I’ve not only seen but trekked to the base this spectacular natural wonder. To me, missing home a little bit for this is more than worth it.
The idea to trek Everest Base Camp (EBC as they call it) was born in the most inspirational of places – the customs line in China. We had just gotten off of our plane from Seattle to Shanghai, still new and fresh with so much excitement for the road ahead. When talking about Nepal we fantasized about getting to see Mt. Everest. But how about taking it a step further, and going to Everest? Could we actually do that? Apparently we could. After typing up a proposal and praying looooooots into it, we were cleared. We were going to Everest.
I will tell you a bit about how the Lord moved in this trip. It was a lot, He was all over this trek.
Here are the sound bites:
For our entire team, this trek was a symbol of just how deeply cherished we are by the Father. Especially for myself I never truly grasped just how much and how deeply the Father loves me (refer to two blogs prior). Let me tell you–and I am not being conceited–He loves me so so so much. I just never knew it. Everest was His way of saying, hey check out this sick mountain that I created. I can move this bad boy. Also as huge as that mountain may be, I love you SO MUCH MORE.
Oh the importance of fellowship! Trekking up that mountain is a challenge. Eleven days of straight hiking tends to take a toll on you. We had the opportunity the entire way to encourage each other, to stick together, and to support each other the higher and harder the trek became. One of many examples: one particular day I was pretty sure all the oxygen in the entire atmosphere dissipated and I was left breathing my own stale carbon dioxide. That day we also trekked uphill for what felt like 12 straight hours. I got to the top of one of the many hills to see Dylan thoughtfully waiting at the top with a Coke he purchased from a woman on the side of the trail. Happiest moment of my life. Also did I mention no showers? Talk about bonding.
We got to share our Faith as well with our two guides (Buddhist and Hindu) and our new friend from San Diego (Agnostic). You may think, what does their religion have to do with this? I mean they joined us three times a day in prayer to Jesus Christ and our new friend from SD sat in every day in our feedback and prayer every evening. By the end, he even began participating and praying (he called it meditating) with us. There were no radical declarations of faith, no entire villages were saved, but I know my God works in His timing. I am confident in the seeds we planted and our obedience to Him in that time. To me the time that we were able to spend with them was a miracle.
Last miracle: the airport that flew us from Kathmandu to Lukla (at the base of the Himalayas) accepted my California Driver’s License as a form of identification, seeing as I so conveniently left my passport at our previous hostel. I think they took pity on me when I dumped the entire contents of my pack on the airport floor. Can I get a hallelujah.Lukla airport, reassuringly titled the most dangerous airport in the world
All this being said, our trek to Mt. Everest Base Camp was an incredible testament of the wonder and majesty of the God we serve. Hillsong UNITED says it best in their song (and my anthem throughout the entirety of the trek) Highlands (Song of Ascent):
I will praise you on the mountain,
And I will praise You when the mountain’s in my way.
You’re the summit where my feet are,
So I will praise You in the valleys all the same.
No less God within the shadows,
No less faithful when the night leads me astray.
You’re the heaven where my heart is,
In the highlands and the heartache all the same.
He’s the summit where my feet are. It doesn’t matter where I am – following Him through the Himalayas or lost in the middle of nowhere – nothing can change the fact that my God is good, my God has a plan, and that that plan is perfect. I praise him in those mountains but I will praise Him in the valleys all the same.
Photos
one of the many suspension bridges on this trek. often on these bridges we passed herds of yaks and Sherpas hauling monstrous loads.
yaks! everywhere!
dal bhat. the apple of my eye and the staple of our trek. curried veggies, rice, dal (lentil) soup, and a crisped roti. we ate this every. single. day. but hey, no complaints here – it comes with unlimited helpings.
Thank you for making it this far. Here are some song recommendations. My favorite at the moment: Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool You, the California Honeydrops Everybody Breaks, Ivan and Alyosha Warm Animal, Sure Sure
Check out the blogs of the rest of my team to hear more about what it’s like to trek the EBC.
https://kelseyweener.theworldrace.org/post/river-of-life
https://ianpierron.theworldrace.org/post/ebc
