Mountain Top Experience

Seems I’m on a roll, rather a climb. A couple of weeks ago I shared my “cross” mountain top experience in Mexico that led to a great header for my website. Now, two days in a row, I’m still climbing and talking about mountains.

My granddaughter and I started at the bottom of the steep Cascade mountain from where we had ridden down in a truck to a beautiful creek for family photos and water fun. We could have opted for the ride back up the mountain in the truck, but, it was Alexia's idea for us to take the climb. Me, being the “all in” Nana for as long as I can, boarded her idea instead of the truck! It was steep in many places, and I lost my footing a couple of times, still, we kept anchoring our feet in as we made our way upward. We finally reached the top unscathed. It was by no means a major feat, but we still knew the thrill of accomplishing our goal to arrive at the top and see the panoramic view.

My 12-year-old grandson doesn't play competitive sports. He's more of a free-spirit, loves his many animals and hanging out with them AND climbing – anything! I’ll be honest, when I see him climbing some tall trees or the steep, rocky hills from their creek, I hold my breath, but he always conquers. He often goes to the rock-climbing gym and can spend hours there. He beats mature climbers to the top. He sets his climbing goal, scales the wall, and enjoys the reward of self-accomplishment.

There are so many bonuses and benefits at the top of a mountain. My husband and I were downhill snow skiers with our two children. A ski trip was a part of most of our winters. Oh, how I loved the ski lodges at the base of the mountain where we could warm up and enjoy hot drinks and a meal. But the real bonus was conquering the mountain – going up on the ski lifts and making it down without injury. His were the black diamond slopes with our kids and mine was z-ing down the green, easy-peasy slopes. I was quite proud of myself and it didn’t matter how long it took me – my goal was to arrive in one piece.

Mountains. Hills. Rock-Climbing Walls. We can go around them, dig a tunnel through them, fly over them, ride a ski lift up them, blow them up, turn around and go back the way we came, just sit and cry about them, OR, as hard as it may be, we can climb them, and feel the thrill of accomplishment when we reach the top and back at the bottom. My takeaway from all climbs is setting a goal, having a strong belief in who we are and what we are capable of, and we start climbing with gusto. And when we make it to the top, we have new confidence in just about everything else that’s going on in our lives.

There must be mountains to appreciate the valleys. Perhaps, God, in all His wisdom, is wanting us to scale those mountains and hike up those mountains for a “mountain-top experience” where we are refreshed, restored, nourished, and where we receive divine revelation. He is wanting to equip us to take on any mountain that may be standing in our way. Mountains are not some magic place where we will automatically experience God. It’s not about the place it’s about the heart. Let's create our own spiritual mountain today right where we are and have a mountain top experience!

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains; where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2

Calling All Mountain Climbers and Mountain Movers!

It seems everywhere we look, there are unconquerable mountains in front of us – both in the natural and the spiritual. This photo prompted me to write this blog. Mountains symbolize obstacles, immovability, challenges -- and if it’s a mountain the size of Kilimanjaro -- maybe hopelessness. But mountains also symbolize conquering, overcoming obstacles, making progress and winning some really huge victories!

Mountain-moving faith is possible because Jesus said so: “I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, 'May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.” (Mark 11:23). Jesus meant those words as a catalyst for us to get out of our hopeless mindset and into “Nothing is impossible with God", so, Lord, please give me that mountain-moving mindset!

We are meant to move mountains and see the impossible occur through faith in the unending promises of our sovereign Lord. Maybe there are some who are reading this blog and you have some personal mountains that need to be moved. God is in the mountain-moving business. Don’t doubt or underestimate what He wants to do in your life. You do your part in “climbing in faith” and He'll do His part in moving the mountain!

In spite of our own personal mountains, we are involved in conquering mountains of a different sort. We are no longer sitting silently about the mountains of negativity, evils, assaults on faith, respect for life and are climbing those mountains, too! We can no longer hide behind the excuse, "I don't want to get involved." Whether we like it or not, we are involved. The real question is "whose" morality will prevail. Whose mountains will crumble?

We’ve already seen the great outpouring of people who attended the movie “Unplanned”. This headline came out yesterday after the box office totals were revealed: “Breakout Box Office Hit: Pro-Life Film ‘Unplanned’ Edges Out ‘Captain Marvel’ in Key Screen Stat”. Despite opposition from so many media outlets and anti-Pro Life endorsers, it dominated in audience reviews, scoring a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and earning an A+ rating from CinemaScore. That’s what I call mountain-moving results because we wouldn’t keep silent.

We can't legislate morality, but we can restrain evil and deter wrongdoing. God doesn't need a super-majority, but He does need a humble minority that is willing to look at some mountains with audacious faith and say “Move. Get out of our way!” God's call is not to Washington or Hollywood, but to "if My people humble themselves" (2 Chronicles 7:14).

It's time for us to put on our mountain climbing gear and be willing to climb some mountains and expect to see change – with the common goal of brotherhood and respect for life and each other. Yes, it may seem mountains are looming before us and the sheer magnitude of the mountain makes us feel incapable of going over it, around it or through it. But we're not climbing without the support of unfailing support. God is on our side. As followers of Christ, while incredibly joy-filled and blessed, God clearly allows mountains in our lives – the difficult and narrow path, but He assures us He is walking side-by-side with us. Oh, but in the end, the rewards are so much more than the struggle. Ready to go mountain-climbing with me?

Life is Like a Roller Coaster

Life is Like a Roller Coaster.
I’ve been enjoying the photos shared by FB friends that are having the times of their lives on their summer vacations. They didn’t waste a minute getting their summer fun on! Some have made trips to the mountains and others made their way to giant roller coaster mountains at theme parks.

While on OUR vacation last week, I heard the news that should make everyone who has ever been afraid to ride a roller coaster feel better. A power outage at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio left passengers on many rides stuck and a group of passengers was stranded on the Millennium Force Roller Coaster. And not just anywhere, but on the gigantic 300-foot-tall, record-setting hill. The park lost power when a car hit a utility pole. I heard a news commentator say “Aren’t we so thankful that it wasn’t one of those looping roller coasters and they got stuck upside down on the loop?” Thankfully, all the passengers survived with no injuries – but I can imagine there may have been some who threw up from utter fear and anxiety! It took over 45 minutes to restore power.

I've always loved the thrill of the craziest, wildest rides at amusement parks. Maybe that's why becoming a private pilot was no big deal for me. I wrote about that in one of my first blogs that shared the “roller coaster ride” faith journey that we were on.

For over 43 years, my husband, Ron, and I had many opportunities to encourage many people in their faith. We shared with many "When it comes to facing difficult situations in your life, just get on the roller coaster -- throw your hands up in the air, take the ups and downs and twists and turns.....and enjoy the ride!" Little did we realize when we shared that with others, we'd be getting on the "Big Kahuna" Roller Coaster, ourselves. Throughout my husband’s crusade against cancer, we remained constant in our faith. Each new day brought new hope AND new concerns. He’d make progress and then he’d have struggles. We found that with each doctor visit, test, treatment, and surgery (6), the ups and downs of it all, that God gave us new strength, encouragement, and peace.

We were on a roller coast. And we would climb, climb, climb and then encounter many twists and turns. It was tempting to get sweaty palms, white knuckles holding on so tight, but then, once again, we would remind ourselves, “God is in charge of the start and finish of this ride so we'll continue to throw our hands up in the air and enjoy this ride!" And, we did.

Life is a lot like a roller coaster and we will ride it with white knuckles and be holding on for dear life and sometime we may even feel like throwing up from all the twists and turns. Sometime we might even get stuck on an uphill climb. There will be other times when we will throw our hands up in the air, let the adrenaline give us the ride of our life and move into the twists, turns and ups and downs along the way. But, embracing the ride with a victory attitude will bring about the thrill of it all and at the end, we’ll yell “What a ride!”

Here, There and Everywhere!

Here, There and Everywhere!
Yesterday, Austin....today, Frisco! An old song I remember went like this "Where He leads me, I will follow; where He leads me, I will follow. Where He leads me, I will follow. I'll go with Him all the way."

That really is my prayer, and His leading me has sure taken me on the road A LOT, for the last several months. The Wallace's Speech and Debate tournaments were at Concordia University in Austin last week. How handy it was to stay with Ryan and Shawntel who live just a short distance from there. Now, we're back in Frisco, and Ryan and Shawntel and the boys drove up to be here for the next couple of days because Brennan (their 12-year old) has baseball tournaments here. How crazy is that? Of all the places we could be, as a family, we are either here or there. Of course it's no surprise to God, and neither should it be for us because if we place ourselves in His hands for leading and guiding us, then whether we go, or stay, we'll be exactly where we're supposed to be at any given time.

That's why we should never be surprised by surprises, or suddenlies, because God always has something up His sovereign sleeve. While at the speech and debate tournament, we ran into some surprises that could have taken us off center -- things that came up as somewhat negative and concerning. But, then when we stepped back to look at the bigger picture of what God wants to do in and through us, even the negatives can be used to bring honor to Him. Staci made the statement, "I'd rather that my kids learn from their challenges well -- even more than a trophy or special ranking. Even in the losing.....we learn, tweak and move forward with a fresh perspective." I loved that, because there were lessons to be learned, and victories to be won -- both Alexia and Payton qualified for Nationals. They'll be competing at the National level at St. Paul, MN in June.

Back to that song, "Where He leads me, I will follow" -- it's easy to say that when the roads are flat, wide and the speed limit is 80 mph (Yes, here in Texas, you'll find those stretches of high speed ability -- yikes!), and you think, "eazy peazy"! Then comes along those 2-lane, winding, bumpy and twisting roads, and speeds slowed down to 25 mph, it's still even in those times, God is using the bumps and the ups and downs to get us to His perfect plan for our lives. That's why, at the end of the day.....we just keep on keeping on, following Him -- wherever He leads!

God leads us and blesses us so that we may bless others by what we do, what we say and how we live for Him. Often life’s hardships, conflicts, and needless worries hinder us and we often may fail the test -- not because God is unable or willing to help us, but because we help ourselves too much. The true test of our sincerity and faith is demonstrated by our willingness to trust and obey Him, giving Him the free license to lead us. Since God knows the way through the wilderness and over the mountain -- we might as well stop trying to be the leader and let the ONE who knows the way -- lead. All we have to do is follow!