Several years ago now I had the distinct pleasure of climbing Blood Mountain located in northern Georgia. Well, alright, I don’t know if it was a pleasure. Actually it was very difficult to do. I thought I would die on the way up, all four hours of the climb. It was a brisk 20 degrees, light snow on the ground, uphill all the way. The higher you climbed, the colder it got and the more challenging to breathe.
I knew within the first twenty minutes of the ascent I had made a mistake. But I couldn’t disappoint the rest of my family who pushed onward up the mountain. So with a walking stick in hand and a lot of “let’s take a closer look at those leaves on the tree right here”, code for “I can’t possibly walk another step, I have to rest on this big rock”, I finally made it to the top. Of course not before passing up two young men who had camped near the top the night before and existed on a can of tuna all night and flannel shirts.
When we finally reached the top, the view was breath takingly beautiful and well worth the strenuous climb. If you have never climbed a mountain before, it takes about four hours to reach the top and a half an hour to get back down.
When I think about climbing the mountain it makes me think about how we approach the difficult challenges in our lives. When we look at mountains, we typically look to the top. We see how high up it is and we wonder how quick we can get to the top. When we start up the mountain, we start slow and increase in speed. But as with most climbs, we start slowing down. In some cases we start giving up. In some cases we turn around and go back down. In some cases we never reach the top.
Tomorrow, I’m going to dive deeper, or maybe I should say climb higher into this message. Stick around because I think you’ll like this one.
In the meantime, think about the mountain tops you are trying to reach in your own life.
Father I remember climbing Blood Mountain and how painful at times it was, but when I finally reached the top, the expansive beauty of your workmanship overtook me and I stood in awe of you. Thank you for my mountain top experience. In Jesus name I pray, amen.
In His Service
Jeanette
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