climbing mountains

in life, i have both literally and figuratively climbed some huge mountains. i have experienced the physical pain of climbing a mountain... of the rough terrain, of scrapes and bruises. i have spent a week in the mountains backpacking. i have stood at the top of the continental divide and wept in awe of my god's creation. i have reached the peak of a mountain just after sunrise and seen more beautiful scenes than people put on postcards.

pictures don't even do justice to the beauty i've seen in the mountains. how awesome is our god that he made these sights? that there are mountains all over the world... they all look different- snow-covered mountains in a colorado winter, the deep luscious greens of mountains in hawaii, the calm fog on a morning in the blue ridge mountains- but they all strike a sense of awe within my heart.


i'm coming to enjoy literally climbing mountains more than figuratively doing it... i'm talking about those hard heart lessons of mountains. climbing the mountains and learning the hard lessons of life is tough work. tougher than getter over the scrapes, bruises and exhaustion of climbing a real mountain. climbing figurative mountains is just as worth it though. getting to those peaks of understanding and seeing god's plan is worth the work of processing and struggling to get there.

right now, i'm on the way up... fighting the wearing days, feeling the fatigue, thirsting for truth and a glimpse of the top. i feel like i've been climbing this mountain for so long. have i gotten lost? did i start out on the wrong trail? i momentarily lost the map that god wanted me to use. but i'm working my way backwards, retracing my steps, to figure out where i lost the right trail so i can get back on it. it hurts, its confusing, its frustrating.

i feel like david in psalm 13...
¹ How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?

² How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

³ Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

⁴ my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

but i have hope! praise god for that! i know that when i make my way back to that trail leading me up and not astray, that i will make it. i will get to that peak. i will find the clarity. and i will rejoice.

⁵ But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.

⁶ I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me.

i will sing to the lord for he has been good to me my 22 years. and he continues to be good to me even when i lose my footing sometimes.

25 things about myself.

the fun facts from facebook...

1. I thank God for mercy and grace practically daily.
2. My toenails are rarely ever not painted. And 99% of the time its a shade of pink. If my fingernails are painted, its just a french manicure. I don't like color on my fingernails.
3. I never ate avocados or guacamole until I was a sophomore in college. Now I eat them every chance I get!
4. I pray for a niece or nephew to show up in my life and ask my sister and ross for one pretty regularly. I realllllly want to be an aunt.
5. I have a slight addiction to dr. pepper.
6. I watch reruns of One Tree Hill, The OC and 90210 on the soap network almost every afternoon.
7. I actually love to read any book not assigned in a class I'm taking. On the same note, I actually like learning on my own time, just not to be forced to do it on my professor's schedule. That is why I don't like school.
8. Getting a dog was one of the best decisions I've ever made, hands down. It really has taught me to be more selfless and responsible. And its made me healthier too. :)
9. I've learned some hard life lessons in college, but feel like I've taken some of my classroom education for granted.
10. After being born, I went home and lived in the same room in the same house until I came to college. My parents just moved out of that house a month and a half ago.
11. My tv guilty pleasure is Secret Life of an American Teenager. But I also watch One Tree Hill, Grey's, Private Practice and Jon and Kate Plus 8.
12. I have to have a glass of water before I go to sleep at night.
13. I'm a lot more boring than I used to be. Somewhere between sophomore and junior year of college, I learned the value of sleeping.
14. I love going two-stepping. Its kinda a prerequisite for any guy in my future. Or at least a willingness to learn and take me dancing.
15. I miss the summer of 2007. a lot.
16. In first grade, I cut my own bangs in the dark without a mirror just in time for family Christmas photos. That picture lives on in the church directory. I wore a lot of hats for the next 6 months.
17.French fries are one of my favorite comfort foods.
18. I don't respond to a lot of things quickly because I don't like to respond out of any negative emotion.
19. Polar bears are my favorite animals. When I was younger, I used to want to grow up and turn my garage into a giant freezer so I could have one for a pet.
20. I really honestly love my job. Even if I'm having a busy week of school and some of my middle schoolers act insane, there are a handful of girls in my club that just make my life better. And I know a lot of really random information that always comes in handy.
21. I looove the beach. the sunshine, sand, warmth... I have so many fun memories from growing up near the beach (even if it was just Galveston) and other beach vacations. It will always be a special place to me. Thats why I want to get married on a beach.
22. I've wanted a tattoo since high school. I promised my parents I'd wait til after college to get it. Check back this summer :)
23. I honestly don't feel weird about being in the stage of life where my friends are married/getting married. And I like going to my friend's weddings. Mostly because I like to dance.
24. Blink 182 is back together, recording a new cd, and planning their next tour. My middle school self has a hard time containing my immense excitement about this. I plan on being at a concert near me.
25. I want to have horses when I'm older. I love them. I wish I had grown up around them regularly.