The Mountain

I grew up in the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Vermejo Park. It is a vast amount of land filled with wildlife of all kinds. I remember as a child leaving the house as soon as possible and exploring with our friends. We would often climb up a mountain just to see how far we could get. Once we passed our record, we would look down upon the ranch and spot our houses or familiar places, in complete awe of our accomplishment. The colors of the scenery are still vivid in my mind. We would often spot animals and pick the most beautiful wildflowers. We would create some crazy story about what once might have happened in certain spots and scare ourselves half to death, sending us flying down the mountain faster than if we had been wearing Heely's down a wheelchair ramp. Sure parts of the mountain were difficult for us to climb. We would have to help pull each other up, or ease each other down the side of the mountain. Some parts were easy, with trees strategically placed to help us get just a little further along our journey.
As kids, I think we were smarter. We looked at that mountain everyday. We wanted nothing more than to stand at the top with our chests puffed out, and our capes waving perfectly in the breeze behind us, but we took it one day at a time. We knew we couldn't tackle that mountain in one day, but that didn't stop us from trying, or going farther than we had the day before.
As adults we are often faced with mountains, and often far to massive in size to conquer in one day, yet we try. Our downfall is that we expect to conquer it. We can't accept the fact that we can only handle a portion of it at a time. We forget that, just as the mountain of our childhood, this one will still be there tomorrow, waiting for us to put on our boots and dig our heels into it's sides. We forget to stop at the end of each day's trek and look at the scenery. See just how beautiful life can be from a higher vantage point than we had when we woke up.
You know, the last two months has been, well, the equivalent of Mount Vesuvius. We have had nine deaths and 11 hospitalizations, one of them (hospitalization) our own son. We got to go back home this weekend. A trip we usually enjoy. This time I said goodbye to my Grandad who passed hours after I got to see him. Another friend of mine is most likely not going to make it much longer. She has pneumonia, congestive heart failure and an internal bleed that they can't seem to locate. On top of that, I had to report a person, very close to me, for not taking proper care of her children.
God has been carrying me up this mountain. He has never left me. He has given me the extra push and strategically placed trees and rocks to aid in the climb. The hard part is to remember to check out the view from where I am at the end of my day. To see just how beautiful a setting sun is against a pastel sky. How gracefully the shadows of my giants fall into the dancing sea of gold below them. God is faithful and He fulfills all of His promises!
I am thankful! I am happy that my husband has a job in such unsteady times. I am thankful for the roof over our heads and the food, especially the expensive low sodium stuff, that we have to eat. It is true what the bible says, "My God will fulfill all your needs..." ~Phillipians 4:19.