Bolivia 2008. My first World Race.
imagine yourself there. Light wind blowing against your face, mountainous
terrain all around and adventure surging through your veins. This was on a day
where we reached the highest peak in the central Andes. (17,000 ft.)
What you can’t see in this picture is that I almost died
that day.
Okay, so I am being a tad dramatic. But that hike (my first
ever) was one of the toughest things I have ever done. There were numerous spots where if you fall you probably die. We had to
stop every 20 feet because the air was so thin. We didn’t have enough food or
water. ¼th of the way down was on our butts sliding at an extreme angle.
I remember when we finally reached the bus, I felt like I
had Dengue Fever again.
I use the term romantic in my title in a good way.There are these incredible moments and times that take our
breath away. The awe us. Inspire us. Amaze us. Capture us in a way that isn’t
describable.
Sometimes these moments are captured on camera.We see a picture on facebook or in a magazine. We read about
a place in a blog. We somebody doing something on T.V or in a movie.
We imagine being there, doing that or experiencing it. And
it all seems so romantic.
You see beautiful African orphans and me smiling.
Behind the story: We sat around most of our days in
Swaziland only getting 2 hours with the orphans. Oh and I got ringworm from
holding the kids that lasted for months
tiredness. And dehydration from lack of water.
we had to work through to be a family that can genuinely smile together in a
picture.
restaurant. Behind the picture: A lot of prayer, hard work and attitude
choosing to arrive at the 6 month mark emotionally and spiritually healthy.
My favorite Michael Jordan commercial was the one where he
apologizes for making it all look easy. He made it all look so easy we forgot
about all the work it took.
We see him hit the game 6 winner over Byron Russell tongue
hanging out, follow through hanging in the air. And we can’t comprehend the
thousands of hours of training that went behind that one epic moment.
sacrifice and difficulty.
Want the inspiring view from the top of a mountain? Well,
then your legs are going to be tired.
Want a healthy marriage and thriving family? Get ready to
sacrifice, serve and repent.
Want to hold African babies under the blanket of millions of
stars in the middle of the African bush? Prepare to take some malaria pills and
eat a ton of rice for every meal.
The quicker we accept these two contrasting realities (like
a mosquito biting you while you view a beautiful sunset) the less surprised we
will be when things are hard or messy.
Those romantic moments I talked about are real. We all have
experienced them at different times. We should savor them and embrace them to
the fullest. They are the sweet moments of life and they are meant to be
appreciated.
But we must never detach them from the raw difficulties of
life. We must never expect all the pleasure with none of the pain. We should
never demand it to be easier.
When we properly hold both realities in tension,we step
into the depth of life in the most healthy way possible.
