The Sacred Moments!

It's been a while, I know, but a lot has happened since my last post and I'm excited to share how God has been showing up in these newlyweds lives. Some of you may know that Noah and I had to go through a tough spot in life that showed up LITERALLY right after we got back from the honeymoon. I got word that there was going to a restructuring of staff at my job which may lead to the loss of my job. In April, this turned out to be the case and one of my worst nightmares. I'm not going to sugar coat anything. It sucked. I felt completely deflated and I couldn't understand why me and why now. I just got married for crying out loud! I am supposed to be enjoying life, not worrying about my future. For me, it was a total blow. It made me wonder if God was really calling me to do youth ministry or if it was time to venture off and do something else. I was frustrated with God because I felt that God really wasn’t speaking. God felt really distant. I will say however, that although God felt distant, I felt aware of God's love for me through my unbelievably supportive husband, family, and friends. One always can see how much they are loved in the way that people surround them in need.  Despite how low I felt, I was very aware of people around me that believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself.

And so the story continues....sorry....this is going to end up being a long post.

In July, Noah and I decided to spend a week out in Colorado. The two of us love spending time in the mountains. There is something built inside each of us that longs to be surrounded by them. I think it was one of the initial attractions each of us had towards the other. 

It has always been a goal of ours to climb to the top of a mountain, so Noah felt that we should take this task on while we were in Colorado. As we researched the area that we were going to be in, we found that the tallest peak in Colorado, second tallest peak in the nation, was Mt. Elbert (14,443 ft) and we were going to be camping right at the base of it. Noah firmly believed that, “This was the one!” and I firmly believed Noah had spent too much time in front of a computer screen and in the process had killed way too many brain cells (for those of you that do not know, Noah works for IBM and spends every hour of the work day in front of a computer screen. It has to be doing something unnatural to his brain, right?). My goal was to climb a mountain, not the mountain. 

The trail to the top of Mt. Elbert consisted of 4.7 miles with an elevation climb of 5,700 ft. Some previous hikers had written about their experience; many of them having to turn back at about 11,500 ft because of the altitude. This was not going to be an easy or enjoyable task for me. I was thinking there was no way of making it to the top. I’m not in the shape that I need to be in to do this. I don’t have it in me.  Some how, Noah talked me into it. A few days later, I was at the trailhead at 6:30 in the morning starting one of the most mentally and physically challenging endeavors I had ever done. Hiking up a steep slope was tough enough, but having to stop every 7 steps to catch our breath because of the elevation made it almost unbearable. There were a few times during the hike where either Noah or I was ready to give up and turn around, but we continued to encourage one another to keep going. 

It took us six tough hours to get to the top. The emotion that filled me as we reached the summit and I looked out over the peak is something that I have a difficult time putting into words. We did it! I had just completed something that I had never believed I would have been able to do. Everything about the experience was truly breathtaking.

As we were at the top of Elbert, God was really starting to say something as I reflected on the experience. Lyrics to one of my favorite songs came to mind.

“I had to walk the rocks to see the mountain view. Looking back I see the lead of love.”

I was reminded that our journey through life’s experiences can be much like climbing Mt. Elbert. It can be brutal. It can get to a point where we don’t feel like we can go on. We’d rather just turn around and give up. The reality is that God is there with us and surrounding us with the people that we need to keep us going; to make it to the breath taking view that awaits us at the top. God’s love is leading us all the way.

Sitting at the top of that mountain with Noah was a truly sacred moment. I'm so glad that I get to journey through life and experience those sacred moments with him.