"You Can Make It!"

Something that continues to come up as a key "ingredient" in all the topics we're talking about in ICC is Spiritual Maturity / Vitality. As part of our lesson on Spiritual Vitality they want to equip us with various tools to be able to continue to grow in our relationships with the Lord. So, one of our assignments for ICC is to go on a personal retreat for at least 3 hours.

Often when I spend my "half-days" with the Lord I like to go away... be outside. In Orlando that was most often at Leu Gardens. (sigh). So, I really wanted to be able to find a place to go for this assignment. I was looking at state park sites online and read this description... "quiet woods, trickling streams, melodious birds." So, I decided to go ahead and take the hour or so drive up to Crowder's Mountain State Park and Heather was nice enough to come with me.

We took a look at the map of hiking trails and decided we wanted to basically just go a little bit ... find a spot ... spend our time with the Lord. We pretty much decided that we wouldn't survive the hike up to the top. While it's probably not that big a deal of a hike for most people...I mean really... I get tired walking to class!

So... we took the "Turnback Trail" marked "MODERATE" and made it to our destination -- the point where it intersects with the "STRENUOUS" "Pinnacle Trail."

I found a great spot right near the intersection along the "Pinnacle Trail." It was one of those spots where the huge rocks create great sitting areas surrounded by huge, beautiful trees. A nice cool breeze kept coming through, the sun was peeking out just a bit though the cloudy sky... it was the perfect place. It was a sweet time of just being surrounded by His creation, processing stuff, praising Him and being reminded of some hard truths. I loved it. I love spending time out in nature with the Lord. It really does help me to "tune in" to Him better. It was so quiet -- peaceful, calming... I loved it.

As I sat there people would pass through -- all ages! So, when it was time to move on, the question came... did we want to try to go on the "Pinnacle Trail" and make it to "the top?" I thought -- if the little kid I saw with the Bob the Builder backpack can make it up there... certainly we can!!! So, we decided to go for it.

Boy, I've never felt so out of shape! We had to stop every few minutes for "catch my breath," "stretch my legs," breaks. It was a good time. I enjoyed Heather's company and we had some good talks. And it really was beautiful -- even saw some colorful leaves!!! (I miss fall!!!) At one point we thought... can we really make it? So we asked some people headed back down... "Is it much further?" They replied, "It's not much further. You can make it. It's worth it." Ah.... encouragement. What a difference it makes. And as we kept climbing on we met others who said the same to us.

So we made it to the top. And it was worth it. It was beautiful up there.

We would have missed it if we just gave up and turned around. We would have missed it if we gave in to the thoughts that we were too tired... that we couldn't do it... that it was too far -- unattainable. We would have missed it if we didn't have the encouragement of each other and those we met along the way.

My time with the Lord was precious. And I loved the things He pointed out to me in His Word. He showed me truths in that time that I will continue to wrestle with and ask for true understanding. It was so wonderful to spend that time with Him. And as a bonus... in terms of gaining tools for Spiritual Vitality... thinking about it now, based on what I've been experiencing during ICC and this last week, I think some observations from our hike up was the greatest Spiritual Vitality "tool" I got from today and the thing God wants me to really know and experience.

Recognize need for not going the road alone. Recognize the value of perseverance. Recognize the importance of keeping the goal before me --- because I don't want to miss it. It's worth it.

OH!!! and this was funny... on the way back we would meet people who were asking us, "Is it much further." So, one couple sitting on a bench much like we were -- tired, resting, unsure if they wanted to keep going. So when they asked us, we replied in our cheery way... "It's not much further at all. You can make it. If we can make it you can. It's worth it." And the guy replies... "Yeah... we've already gone down the other trail and hiked up the other mountain." HA!! Didn't I feel like a slacker :) But I'm learning not to compare myself with others... so it didn't rob me of the joy of our hike!!! :)

And by the way... there were "quiet woods and melodious birds," but I couldn't find the "trickling streams."I guess they were victim to the drought here.