Early in the morning we began our hike up Mt. Elbert—a 14-er (that’s Colorado talk for a 14,000 foot mountain). Steven decided to stay at the camp so I took off with the kids. My kids were wonderful. They took turns hiking beside me. I got to spend valuable one-on-one time with each of them. We were having a lot of fun.
We were near the top and very excited about reaching the peak. Mike was hiking next to me and someone coming down asked us if we were going to the top. When we said that yes, that was our plan, they said “stay safe.” We thought it a strange thing to ask because who climbs only 13,900 feet and doesn’t go the rest of the way to the top? Then a few minutes later it happened again. It was a bit eerie and Mike commented on how strange it was that we were hearing it again. Out loud, I said “we receive that in Jesus’ name! We will stay safe!”
At that moment I got a text message from a dear friend. I sat down on a rock to read it. It said “YOU ARE BLESSED BECAUSE GOD CALLS YOU BLESSED. Blessed is Connie WHO BELIEVES AND RESTS IN THE PROMISES OF GOD. BLESSED!!!” She had no idea where I was and what I was doing so I texted back and told her that I was near the top of a 14-er and was taking this as confirmation that I was going to make it to the top. I stood and did a happy dance then walked the few steps back to the trail. As soon as I stepped foot on the trail—it had not been 2 minutes—a pellet fell near me. I froze. And then another landed and then another. It was hailing! Oh, no!
It went from sunshine to a hailstorm in seconds. We all huddled together as we pulled gear out of backpacks and put on sweaters and hats. Everyone shared to make sure that the other had what they needed. It truly blessed my mother-heart. We huddled together under a poncho hoping that the hail would pass quickly. It didn’t. I had a new interpretation to the text I just received. I pulled out my phone and read it to everyone declaring that we were all BLESSED and that we would all be SAFE. I kept declaring that this storm would not harm us and proclaimed that the power of God was bigger than this storm.
At one point, Mike said that he felt we needed to get off the mountain right now. He stood to leave right when lightning struck just beside us. He was wearing a baseball cap and heard the metal on his hat sizzle and felt a jolt. Thank you, God, for protecting Mike from being struck by lightning! Mike took off running and went down to tree-line to set up a shelter.
After having lightning strike so close, we all decided that we had better get off the mountain. But when I stood up I discovered that my thigh muscles had locked up. I couldn’t move. I forced each step with intense pain. The hail continued pelting which was painful. I was wet and cold and the hail hurt and my legs were in excruciating pain. I was only able to move inches at a time. Being near the top of a 14,000 foot mountain and hardly able to move in a hail storm is very scary. My kids refused to leave me even though I begged them to go. It was a horrible feeling to know that they were in danger because of me. I tried everything I knew to get myself moving. I prayed. I commanded my muscles. I prayed for healing. I tried willing myself. I tried rubbing my thighs. I was highly motivated but completely unable to move my legs more than a few inches at a time. Nothing worked—my legs remained locked. I knew that I was in big trouble...but I was BLESSED.
Mike ran back up the mountain wondering what was taking us so long. He pointed to the sky. Dark clouds loomed and he said that we very much needed to get off the mountain before the next storm front hit. I was desperate to get my kids off the mountain. They were in danger because they wouldn’t leave me. And I couldn’t get myself going no matter what I tried.
I looked down the very large mountain and knew that I was in trouble. Big trouble. I knew that I could not get myself off the mountain. But I knew that I was BLESSED. I was a BLESSED, in trouble person. I declared it over and over. I wasn’t in denial. I acknowledged that I was in a lot of trouble and was causing the people I care for most in life to be in trouble. That is the worst feeling in the world. AND I knew that I was BLESSED. I just didn’t quite know how those two things were going to collide. I continued to believe that I was BLESSED and asked God what He was going to do to get His BLESSED and in trouble daughter off this mountain.
In an instant, the thought of Elijah running for 40 days crossed my mind and then the gift of faith welled up inside of me. I yelled out to my kids that I was going to run (just so that they knew the plan) and in faith I took off running. I went from hardly able to move and needing to stop every 2 feet because of the pain, to running down the mountain in the supernatural power of the Almighty God. And I ran all the way to tree-line without stopping. The pain in my thighs was gone and I was praising God!
At tree-line we all took a quick break under the fabulous shelter that Mike had set up. After eating rather squished and soggy sandwiches, it was time to complete our journey. We had a pretty thick forest to maneuver and that can be dangerous when it’s lightning. So off we went. And we ran the rest of the way down the mountain. We made it off the mountain safe and sound and rejoiced. We laughed together at what a good story this was going to be and stood in awe of a very big and powerful God.
It was a few weeks later that I found myself dealing with something extremely overwhelming and much bigger than me. As I was awake all night crying out to God, I recognized that feeling of looking down the mountain and knowing my limits and inability. I recognized the feeling of knowing what I faced was bigger than me. I found myself crying to God that I couldn’t get myself off of this mountain either. I needed God to get me off of this mountain too. It was too big, too scary and I was too small, too weak. Then God in his power and goodness got me off of that mountain too. Because that is what He does. Without limit. He strengthens. He enables. He empowers. He helps. He is. He was. He always will be.
2 Cor. 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
I am extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your
ReplyDeleteweblog. Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself?
Anyway keep up the excellent quality writing, it is rare to see a great blog like this one today.
Thank you so much for your kind comments and encouragement! My husband is the one who set it up for me. He says that it is a free theme by blogspot. Bless you!
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