Redemption Song, Part Two

Written 08/12/2010

 

Three and a half years ago, I was standing in the same place
I stood today (figuratively, not literally).

Staring out at the incredible view in front of me, but
completely unable to enjoy it.

Why?

Because at that particular moment, I was (literally)
breathless.

 

It was my first trip to Catalina Island,
and my team was clearing brush off the trails.

We’d worked our tails off on this same trail the afternoon
before – just on the first quarter of the way up.

That morning, half way up the trail, I was wheezing.

Completely breathless.

The view I had of the water was just incredible, but I was
too concerned with sucking in my next breath to worry about it much.

My team prayed strength and breath into me, and breath was what
God delivered.

I just couldn’t make it the rest of the way up the trail to
continue clearing brush with everyone else.

 

So I traded spots with one of the guys on the paint crew,
and battled the rest of the day with the voice inside my head trying to tell me
I had failed.

At the end of that day, while everyone else was unwinding
before dinner, I did a little bit of unwinding of my own – sitting on some
larger rocks near the water, seeking God out to speak peace into my heart.

He did that through Brigitte, one of my leaders that trip.

We sat and talked about the day, and when I shared what had
happened, she reminded me of what I already knew-

That I had worked incredibly hard, I hadn’t failed, and
there were people on the trip who couldn’t have imagined doing that kind of
work in the first place.

 What I learned on that trip was that the only way I could
really truly have failed was to have never tried in the first place.

 

That was the lesson I had filed away in my memory banks.

God brought me back to that day today as we were climbing in
the Mount Elgon region in Uganda.

There I was, staring out at an incredible view of the range,
fighting to catch my breath and muster the strength to make it the rest of the
way up to where most of my team was waiting-

While Megan, Isaac, and Brutus (two of the locals we’ve been
ministering with this week) patiently waited with me.

I wanted to cry, and I know I asked God why He would allow me
to come to this place again.

He told me it was time for redemption.

The same God who redeemed Brisbane
for me in Chantaburi planned to redeem Catalina Island
in Uganda.

 

This time, there was no going back down the trail.

No switching teams, no giving up and heading back home.

The rest of the way to our destination, every step came with
a prayer.

 

I can’t say that I felt strong through the grueling process
of climbing up the mountain, but I felt jubilant when I caught up to the rest
of my team.

Some of it came from knowing I had conquered the climb.

The majority, though, came from knowing Catalina
Island was redeemed – and that is well worth celebrating.