Growing up in Minnesota, you don’t get a lot of chances to climb mountains because… there aren’t any there. Shocking, I know. The few chances in my life that I’ve gotten to hike a mountain I’ve really had to force myself because the actual hike doesn’t appeal to me, but the view at the top does. My friends would ask me, what’s your hiking motivation level right now? And my usual answer was something like 0 or -10. But I went anyway because nature. It’s worth it!
The last time I hiked to the top of a mountain was in the Black Hills. We had to leave early. It was a wee bit chilly. We had to do some bouldering. We had to make some risky moves to get across some shallow caverns. All things that were not my favorite, not in my comfort zone. At the top, my friends made me take a jumping picture and I was so nervous. I could barely get off the ground even though it was mostly flat anyway. I distinctly remembering feeling so relieved when we finally made it back to our cabins.
Fast forward to February 2018 when I am living in the middle of Lesotho. A kingdom full of mountains. You can’t look anywhere without seeing a mountain. How can you leave Lesotho without climbing to the top of one?
I still didn’t want to go, but also FOMO. I can’t pass up a good adventure, and I’ve been restless for days here in our little farm. Still forcing myself to go, but how bad can it be?
Pictures don’t accurately show how high this mountain is. As we walk we just kinda follow the trail of mountain goat poop up. If the goats came this way, then a shepherd probably did, and that means we hopefully can. There’s loose gravel, all our lungs are burning, and our faces are sweating so much we can feel the salt all over our skin. It’s hard, but not really scary at first. Then we make it to the steepest, rockiest part just before we get to the top. At one point we have two options: go left on a route that looks like it will take awhile but looks slightly easier OR go straight up on a shorter route that will be straight rock climbing.
Immediately my head told me that I’ve never really been rock climbing, I don’t entirely trust my own balance, I should probably take the easier path even if it means I go on alone. Better to be safe than sorry yeah? My current motivation level to rock climb was absolutely 0.
That’s not what happened though. My legs and arms took over and before I knew it I was focus my on finding all the best foot and hand hold one step at a time. There were a few times my foot was a little unstable and I half joking/half serious told Jesus if it was my time to go this wouldn’t be the worst way. My focus was on where I was going instead of where I could be falling. The more I succeeded the more I felt comfortable and the faster I went.
Next thing I knew, I was sitting on the top of a mountain overlooking the entire valley we live in just eating a squished PB&J (my absolute favorite kind of PB&J). It was beautiful, and so so so very worth it.
I even took a jumping picture without being forced to!
As I was sitting there the Lord reminded me of a picture he showed me of what my time in the Race has looked like. The first 5 months I was climbing up a steep, rocky hill with a little stream, gasping for breath. Every drop of Living Water I got from the stream was used to keep me surviving, but I wasn’t thriving.
Month 6, I made it to a pool at the bottom of the waterfall. It was peaceful. It was calming. I spent a whole month just paddling around enjoying sweet rest with the Lord.
This resting moment was very important because the rest of the Race looks like climbing up big huge boulders to reach the top of the waterfall. The climb is going to be higher, riskier, more challenging than the first part of the race. However, the water source is bigger AND the view at the top is going to be more rewarding as well.
Hiking in Lesotho reminded me that the only way to make it to the top is to focus on one foothold, one handhold at a time. Sure, you might make some bad judgements and slip on some loose rocks every now and then, it’s all good, everyone does! But if you’re focusing on where you’re going and not where you might fall, the Lord promises to make the view at the top worth more than everything you trusted him with. So, why not trust him with absolutely everything you are and see what kind of view you get?
