WHOA - when I say mountain....I mean MOOOUUUNNNNTAAAAIIIINNN!!!!
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| There She IS!!! |
As you have heard me talk about Luke, the summer missionary, his time here has come to an end. He had not yet hiked Tumbledown Mountain and he asked if Nicole and I would like to go with him so we both of course said yes. I had no idea what I was getting myself into...Since he was leaving Monday our only chance to hike it was Sunday. So after church we packed our peanut butter sammies(sandwiches), water, protein bars and away we went. We arrived full of excitement and adrenaline, then...we were off. This would be the point I started lifting up sweet little prayers to Jesus to be with us for safety and to have a great day of fellowship, etc. We snapped a few "BEFORE" pics and we began the ascent to the top.
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| BEFORE |
OH and let me fill you in here...Luke so lovingly gave us a little saying which I immediately remembered because I thought it might come in handy for my moments of "wanting to quit" that might hit along the way...Yard by Yard it is HARD...but INCH by INCH it's a SINCH! Ok...so I loved it but thought, pfft a yard is easy, it's only 3 little feet...HA...remember that thought...
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All good until about halfway up when it changed into pretty much all rocks we were walking up than a dirt path. OH and should I mention at this point that I was dying from the lack of oxygen about here...LOL...IN through your nose...OUT through your mouth....IN....OUT...and now my prayers to Jesus where a little more like...OH JUST GIVE ME AIR TO BREATH....DON'T LET ME QUIT...you know...getting a little more serious and desperate....We would pass people coming down from the top and they all had different times to tell us...oh you are only 30 minutes from the top but it is worth it....only 20 minutes but worth it...keep going...I thought at the moment they could see my desperation for oxygen...and to say the least...I began repeating "inch by inch it's a sinch" and at this point, I also began to see where yard by yard could be a little hard....
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| Seriously...that IS the trail! |
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| No lie...this is the trail |
So, we kept going...and as we kept passing people, they would say "oh just wait till you get to the boulders." WHOA they were right...the boulders were about the last quarter of the way up...and folks at this point...I was literally calling out the name of JESUS to get me up one more rock...just help me with one more INCH...ONE MORE INCH PLEASE!!! The whole thought of making a yard was more than hard it would have been IMPOSSIBLE at this point.
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When I looked back at where I was to where I had been - I almost fell off the mountain...LOL This was seriously the hardest thing I had ever done I could not believe I was actually doing it. When I didn't think I could go another INCH, we saw an opening in the trees...and could see a neighboring mountain....we were almost there....almost to the top...so we pushed on and yes, more boulders to climb, more praying and calling on the name of Jesus and then it happened...WE MADE IT!!!
I have never been more excited in my life. My first thought was that I DIDN'T DIE and second was I DID IT!!! GO GOD!!! When we came up we saw Luke waiting for us...what a great guy. He stayed with us the whole way until the last 20 minutes...and just booked it on up the mountain...Here he is an avid hiker and he was patient enough with us to wait on us until I'm sure he couldn't wait another second, he just had the adrenaline kick and he HAD TO GO...So to see him at the top, I knew we were there...WE DID IT!!! 
I know words and even the pictures will do it no justice, but trust me when I say "it was breathtaking!"
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| The top of this is the summit |
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| This would be halfway up to the summit |
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| King of the MOUNTAIN!!! He DID IT!!! (We were with him in spirit....someone had to take the picture!!) |
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Once he came back down, we spent about an hour up there until we decided to begin our descent down...OH NO...we had to go down now!!! I was ready to just stay on top indefinitely to avoid rock climbing again...lol but yes, the reality of not having any food made me quickly change my mind on that...
We now were trucking down the mountain and hmmm soooo much easier coming down that's for sure. Until about halfway the new "going down" muscles began screaming. Now mind you, at this point every inch of my body ached...so yes, the prayers began again. There was no stopping on the way down to rest because we were all ready to be done. Finally we rounded the corner and we were at the bottom...PRAISE GOD! PRAISE GOD IT'S OVER - I SURVIVED - IT'S OVER - IT WAS AWESOME - IT'S OVER - IT WAS HARDEST THING EVER - IT'S OVER - IT'S OVER IT'S OVER!!!
(Something like that went through my head...lol)
I was filled with so many emotions as well as exhaustion, but WOW what a God hike I had. The Holy Spirit met with me in so many ways. You see, on the surface, we hiked Tumbledown Mountain, but on the inside God was teaching me soooo many things. Things personally about my walk with Him that are just for me and other things that I know I will share with others over and over again during my journey with Him.
As we were walking to the trail before we started, we were saying things we did or liked to do as we walked/hiked...Luke said he liked to sing, Nicole said she enjoyed praying and I liked chewing on the things God had been teaching me. The coolest part is that all three of us also said we used that time to reflect and listen to the Holy Spirit - just being quiet to LISTEN! How awesome is that...all communing with God as we hiked.
I know my experience was a little harder (OK A LOT HARDER) being from FL aka FLAT LANDS and totally out of shape, but I know we all felt the sense of completion - we conquered - our goal met for getting to the top, but we also had our own quiet time with God. He did His own thing in each of us, spoke individually to us, personally, and I don't know about you, but I think that is pretty awesome!
The God that created that breathtaking landscape also met with us individually on top of that mountain and said, "Come sit with me for a minute, I got something special to tell you." Tears are streaming down my face as I type this knowing how special that time was for me, but also know that there are people out there that have never had that experience and it breaks my heart. They don't know Him like I do, or the way some of you do. Which points us right back to why we are on this trip, to share Christ with a world that is dying and has no idea of the relationship with the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Creator and Father that is possible. "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" Romans 10:14 & 15 I must be faithful!
As I am reading Pursuit of Holiness the last two chapters was about discipline and perseverance, two things I am not very good at. I was having some really tough things, I was going over with God, or should I say reminding God that I wasn't good at those, so how on earth did He think I could do that...(yea you know how far that got with Him...)
At the top of the mountain as I was praising Him for getting me up there...the Holy Spirit whispered ... yea - it took discipline and perseverance! The tears began to flow down my cheeks. God KNEW exactly what was going to happen at the top of that mountain, He was just waiting on me to get there to whisper those words to me. Just as I was looking to Luke to get me to the top of Tumbledown, God said, see, as you look at me, I will get you to the top, don't look at it yard by yard, it's hard, focus on inch by inch it's a sinch. God showed me, when I am disciplined, it is still hard work, but being disciplined and in shape, it makes it easier. Perseverance, He showed me to not stop, keep going, you WILL MAKE IT! He showed me that I must keep my focus on Him, the perfect Guide, the Master! Inch by inch I will become disciplined and with perseverance, at the end of that long hard journey, down the hardest trail I will ever be on, I WILL make it and it will be sooooo worth it!
I tried to imagine how beautiful it would be when I got up there, even looked at pictures others had posted, but there is NOTHING that could have prepared me for what I experienced and saw with my own eyes.
So yea, I hope you enjoy the pictures of our hike, but more than that, if you are going through a tough time just know that God has something really amazing waiting for you at the end. We are not promised a simple trail to go walking down, most of the time our life is more like the trail to Tumbledown mountain, filled with some easy parts, but most of it is hard with a little break in between, then some others paths are like the end of the trail, so hard you have no idea how you are going to make it, you are going to want to quit and stop, but don't...Keep GOING - GOD HAS SOMETHING UNIMAGINABLE WAITING AT THE TOP - SOMETHING THAT WILL TAKE OUR BREATH AWAY!!!
Today, I praise Him all the more! I thank Him for the crazy hard journey my life has been and know that NO MATTER WHAT, HE IS THERE, saying Trust ME, I have YOU and am walking you through this inch by inch, to get to the TOP to SEE MY GLORY!!!
HOLY HOLY HOLY LORD GOD ALMIGHTY!!!
Love you all ~
Galatians 6:9-10
Kristi
Bob & Carol
RV'n 4 Jesus
Matthew 11:28 takes on a whole new meaning for me now. I have always loved it knowing God will carry me through but being so completely exhausted going up that mountain...I know weary and burdened and the precious rest with HIM on top of that mountain...WOW - I wouldn't trade that experience for ANYTHING on this side of eternity!!!
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28
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| First view of her... |
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| And...we're off... |
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| Yep...in serious need of oxygen! |
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| His beauty is everywhere!!! |
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| OK, so this is wayyyy harder than I thought it would be!!! Thank GOD for water breaks!!! |
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| It is higher than it looks here... |
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| You follow the blue paint marks... |
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| I sooo wish you could tell how steep this is... |
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| Hey friendly boulders... |
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| Let's climb you and call it a trail :) |
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| Looking back at what we climbed |
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| WE MADE IT!!!! |
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| He's looking at the summit... |
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| Fishies in the water!!! |
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| HEHEHE - yep we did it! |
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| Right back at ya :) |
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| After we got to the bottom... WE DID IT!!! |
Thank you Luke and Nicole for one of
the BEST days EVER!!!
MAKING MEMORIES!!!
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Giving is a blessing for others as well as a blessing to us.
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24100 NE Hwy 314
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Either way, whether you choose to make a contribution or not, please know that your prayers are very much wanted, needed and appreciated. We are walking by faith and know that God will provide! Thank you and God Bless!
First Baptist Church Salt Springs
C/O Mary Beth Gervais
24100 NE Hwy 314
Salt Springs, FL 32134.
Either way, whether you choose to make a contribution or not, please know that your prayers are very much wanted, needed and appreciated. We are walking by faith and know that God will provide! Thank you and God Bless!
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