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“The Challenge!”

Challenge!

We have all embarked on a challenge in our life at one time or another.  It might have been the challenge of getting a college degree.  Or maybe you have challenged yourself to some physical achievement.  Whatever the challenge is you have to prepare for it.  And when you think you are ready for the challenge some times it is more challenging than you imagined.  My son did a challenge recently.  It was the challenge of climbing a local mountain the equivalent high of Mt Everest from sea level to the top, which is 29,029 feet.  He planned to do it straight.

Why?

Many people would wonder why in the world would he do such a thing.  He had decided that he wanted to do an Everest challenge but wanted to raise money for a local institution.  He had thought about raising money for a place that helps kids that suffer from learning disabilities because of his own struggles with learning.  But he could not find a place that he could involve.

Then he started thinking about a friend who at the age of 22 had committed suicide. Maybe he could find a local place that helps people that deal with mental health issues and help prevent suicides.  He found a local place and they were excited about the idea of being able to receive money.  They do a lot of free help and they need donations to keep going.  And then my brother committed suicide.  At that point, he made the push forward to make this happen.

His desire was suicide awareness.  Suicide is on the rise and we need to be aware.  And there are places that people can reach out to and get help.  A lot of times people won’t reach out to their family or friends.  But there are places that they can reach out to for help.  And he wanted to raise money to help this local crisis center.

Getting started

We got up before 3 a.m. the first morning.  By the time we packed up and got there he was able to start hiking around 5 am.  He had picked the steepest trail of the mountain because it would be fewer miles for the elevation.

We set up an aid station ready to do whatever he needed when he would arrive back after each ascent.  It didn’t take long for us to discover what foods were best for him and what foods did not work well.  One round he ended up sick and threw up because of what he had eaten.  From that time on we kept things very simple.  There were only like 3 or 4 things that he would eat.  He made sure to stay hydrated and kept his electrolytes up.  Another thing that he did was take a complex that helps support the joints and muscles with the discomfort and also a cream that he put on his knees and legs.  He also took a natural energy and stamina complex that helped with endurance.

Enduring

Any time someone enters into a challenge I think if they really knew what was ahead they may not choose to do it.  But thankfully we don’t know.  The hardest part for my son was hiking in the dark.  He was very fatigued and hiking alone.  In those moments he had to keep his mind focused.  Your thoughts can run wild and if you don’t stay focused a person could give up altogether.

When he started his journey his average for one round was about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  But as time went on and he got more fatigued it took him 1 hour and 30 minutes.  Before he ended it was taking him more like 1 hour and 45 minutes.  In order to reach the elevation, he was aiming for he had to hike up and down 16 1/2 times.

Support

As he hiked through the night we were there for him each time he came down.  But I also talked with him as he walked via the phone during those hardest times.  The next morning I decided to go up the mountain on his 15th time to meet him.  I met him halfway up the hill and came down with him.  And then I went up for his last trip, which he only had to go half way up.

I couldn’t imagine doing this challenge myself it was so grueling.  By the time he was done he had hiked for 28-1/2 hours, ascended and descended a little more than 29,029 feet, with only a 30-minute nap in over 30 hours.  It was tough!  What kept him going?  He had to keep his eye on the goal.  If he had wavered on the goal he would have failed.  Yes, he was discouraged at times but he still kept going, keeping his eye on the goal.

Another kind of…

There is another kind of challenge.  This challenge is achieving a higher elevation than 29,029 feet.  And each one of us as Christians has chosen this challenge.  Our goal is heaven.  It is like climbing a mountain.  There are times that it is so “steep” we don’t know if we can keep going.  Then as we get through those grueling times we have a mountain top experience.  And then we have a descent in our lives.

You know how it is when you go hiking.  You’re climbing a path and you’re getting tired you can’t wait to start down.  So you get there and what beauty there is at the top.  You start your journey down and it does not take long to realize that your knees can hardly take it.  Your knees become so painful.

Why?

When we become Christians we may be asked why.  There may be family and friends that question why we would give up the “fun” life and become a Christian.  Why would you want to go up that grueling mountain of “rules and regulations”?

The reasons are similar to the goal of an athlete/mountain climber.  It is to win!  It is to accomplish a goal that has been set.  The difference is that the Christian wants to win the race of life so that he or she can live eternally.  We don’t get a gold medal like here on earth.  But to me what we do get is the best trophy ever.  We get to be with Jesus who gave His very life so that we can be in a world without sin and sorrow.

Getting started

So when it comes to the goal for the Christian how do you get started?  What are the steps to success?  Just like my son started in the early morning for the success of his goal, started early with God is the way to start.  Each day we should start our day with God, reading His Word and in prayer.  We should be communing with Him throughout our day.  Each evening opening our hearts to God asking Him to reveal any sins that we have committed during the day.  As He reveals to us we can confess and forsake those sins.  Sin is a burden that makes our journey harder.

Enduring

In order to make our goal as a Christian, we need to endure until the end.  The journey can be grueling at times.  When we have a mountain top experience in our Christian walk it feels great.  We have struggled and as we get to the top the beauty is spectacular.  But then things happen that start us on a downturn.

We may start to realize that something is not right.  Our “knees”(experience) seem to be “aching” but what is the problem.  The reality is that we have started down from our mountain top experience.  At this point, we need to fall on our knees asking God to show us how to continuing in our journey for the goal of heaven.  And He will help us.  We need to keep our focus on the goal.

Support

We cannot make it in the Christian race without a support team and we have the greatest support team ever, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

It is great to have a human support team.  Having a church family is great for support.  But they will not always be there for us.  We need to have our full trust in God.  God is the greatest support.  We can “call” any time and talk, during the good and bad times.

Just like my son struggled in the darkest hour of the night we as Christians sometimes struggle.  In those darkest hours, God is there and all we need to do is “call” Him and He will see us through.  He will feed us from His Word and give us encouraging thoughts that He brings into our minds.  He encourages us to rest in Him.  This journey can be very tiring if we are not resting in Him.

Dear Father,

Thank You that You are always there as a support team for anyone that will accept it.  Help us in keeping our eyes focused on the goal of heaven.  Keep our minds on You bringing Your Word to our minds throughout the day.  Give us the strength that we need by empowering us with Your Holy Spirit.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Keep your eyes on the goal and don’t waver.

Love you all.

Do you have an experience that you have been through where you know that God was there beside you and seen you through?  Please share your experience below.  I would love to hear it.

Note to my readers:  Due to my limited time, I will be cutting back on how many times I am writing per month.  Instead of writing once a week I am going to start by doing one every other week and see how that goes.  I pray you are blessed by my experiences and what God shows me through those experiences.

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“Preparing for the Challenge”

Challenge!

We all have had something in life that we have had to prepare for that has been a challenge.  Maybe you had a test a school that you had to prepare for.  If you are athletic maybe you had to prepare for a race or sports event.  There are also things that you may have to prepare for at work, whether a report or solving some problem.  Every day no matter where we are and what we do we have challenges that we have to prepare for.

As I write my son is preparing for the biggest challenge of his life.  It is something that he has never done or faced before.  He is planning to hike a local mountain the same elevation of Mt. Everest from sea level to the top, which is 29,029 feet.  How can a person really prepare for such an event?  And why would someone do something so crazy?

It may seem crazy but for my son, it is remembering.  After losing a friend to suicide and then his uncle he wanted to do something to help raise awareness to mental health needs.  And to bring awareness to the fact that there are places available for people to go for help.  Depression and suicide are on the rise everywhere you turn.  And it happens to those that you least expect.  And with this challenge he wants you to help by donating to a local crisis center that helps people who are dealing with mental health issues that could lead to suicide.

Preparing

How do you exactly prepare for such an event?  There is a lot of physical, mental, and emotional preparation.  You have to be eating healthy.  And figure out how to sustain your body through the physical push that you put your body through to do such an event.

My son has been physically training every chance that he gets, hiking, running, climbing, etc.  And making a list of those things that he should be eating or drinking during that time.  He needs to have things that are high calorie but also healthy.  You can get high-calorie items that are so unhealthy that it defeats the purpose.  Many do it but in the long run, what it does to their health brings disaster later.

Another challenge

There is another kind of challenge that came to my mind as we were preparing for this physical challenge.  This challenge is of a spiritual nature.  The Christian walk is a challenge.  When a person decides to become a Christian there are things you need to do to be able to meet the challenges.  And to accomplish the goal, heaven.  Just like we had to know the best food for my son to eat to keep his strength up to endure, we need to keep ourselves fed spiritually.  We need strength each day to endure the testing and trials that may come our way.    We need fuel to keep up our strength.  And it needs to be the right kind of fuel.

Preparing

When you are doing something that is challenging physically fueling with the correct things can help you endure and come out successful.  But if you don’t it can be disastrous.  The same is true of our Christian walk.  Our refueling needs to be something that truly strengthens us in our spiritual walk.  Reading God’s Word and prayer are the key components.  There may be other things that we think could be good to strengthen us but in the long run, it is destroying.  Just like in the physical world you need to be intentional about what you use for fuel so in the spiritual.

Dear Father,

It can be so easy to get distracted and start fueling with things that are detrimental.  Keep prompting our hearts to stay connected with You through Your Word and prayer.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Remember to keep refueling!  And make sure it is of a nature that will strengthen you spiritually and not drag you down.

Love you all.

What challenges have you had spiritually or physically?  What did you do to refuel?

 

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“The Sun That Shines!!”

A day…

There is nothing like a day where the sun shines.  It makes everyone more pleasant.  And it seems that more people smile.  There is something the sun gives that changes the life.

A couple of days ago was just such a day.  I was home alone for a few hours, which is unheard of.  We had just had a downpour just the day before so everything was green.  And now the sun was shining brightly.  It made for a wonderful morning.  I actually went out and laid on our trampoline in the bright sunshine.  It felt so amazing!  As I lay there soaking up the sunshine I was also listening to the nature sounds.  Many birds were singing and I could hear the buzz of many bugs.  It was so peaceful and pleasant.

But then…

The day was so pleasant you would think that nothing could change it.  But then I heard it thunder.  I was looking to see where it was coming from because the sky was so blue.  In the distance, there were some dark clouds coming my way.  I watched in amazement as those clouds came closer and the thunder got louder.  And what was so amazing?  It was the split between the sunshine with blue sky and the dark clouds.  There was a definite contrast.  On one side of the sky were the dark ugly clouds and on the other side the beautiful blue sky.

I was inside the house at this point.  And then it happened.  The burst of rain!  It poured rain!!  The rain was coming down so hard and fast that puddles were forming in seconds.  And yet I could still see some blue sky and the sunshine peeking through.  It is not often you see both together.  But there is the bright side.  The rain watered the earth and made things green.

Fear factor…

There is always the fear factor every time we have with thunder and lightning.  There is a fear of fire.  It seems that even though we are only into June things are drying out so quickly.  It would only take one strike of that lightning to cause a fire that could destroy everything.  I can say I don’t always think about it.  But when I do I pray for rain, because as the clouds burst forth with the rain and waters the earth it helps keeps the fire danger down.  And if a strike did happen the rain puts it out as quickly as it started.  We have been saved more than one time from fire, that we know about, and probably multiple times that we don’t know about because the rain came and put it out.

What about…

Then it made me start to think.  What about our lives?  Are there days that the Son is shining and the “sky” (our lives) is blue (going smoothly)?  Life is going great!!  We feel close to God and go on in life with no thought of anything changing.  Everything is so beautiful.  But there is this unsuspecting cloud coming that we are unaware of because we are basking in the Presence of God.

And then we hear the rumbles of a trial.  Sometimes we can see a trial coming and other times it is a total shock.  But there are those times where you sense or can see a forthcoming trial.  Sometimes we get more prepared other times we ignore it but it still comes.  We start to see the “lightning” and hear the “thunder”.  And it continues to draw closer and closer to us.

Fear factor…

Then comes the fear factor.  We wonder if we are going to be struck with “lightning” (succumb to the trial or temptation).  Is an evil “fire” going to start that will burn up our spiritual lives?  Have we become so dry that nothing can stop it from burning?  Are we going to get discouraged or reach out for more support and help?

We have to realize that there is help and we don’t have to succumb to discouragement or give in to temptations.  All we need to do is to call out for a power higher than ourselves.  We need to cry out to God.  And as we cry out to God “rain” (Holy Spirit) will come with power and will squelch out any spark of a “fire”.  God is our strength and He will fight for us.

Dear Father,

Thank You for always being there for us.  We are a forgetful people.  It is hard for us to give up our control and to allow You to control.  Continue to show us our need of You.  And help us in the process of surrendering to You in the good times as well as in the time of trial and temptation.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Make sure to reach out and stay connected with God at all times.  So that when the trials and temptations come it will be automatic to turn to God.

Love you all.

We have all had trial and temptations.  But is there one that has happened in your life where you called out to God and you have seen His work?  I would love to hear your story.  Share below.