Coming Down The Mountain - Part 1

I always thought going up a mountain was the hard part–the part that required lots of effort and lots of help. Then, two years ago, on an unforgettable October day, I learned what it means to humble myself and accept the grace of God to help me come down a mountain.

It was early in the summer when my friend, Melanie, and I first started talking of hiking to the 14,000 foot summit of Mount Timpanogos. We weren’t sure when we could do it, but we decided it would get done before the summer was over. We both agreed to start preparing for the climb. As the summer passed, Melanie would report how she was training for the Chicago Marathon, and then ask if I still wanted to keep our date with the mountain. My answer was always, “Yes,” qualified with the admission that I needed to kick my 20-30 minute walks into a “higher gear.” Well, the truth is . . . I never “kicked in.”

Before we knew it, the summer had flown and fall was upon us. It was the first week in October before we could coordinate a time for the climb. Secretly, I was hoping that the weather would sabotage our plans, and it would be too cold, too rainy, too something–anything! When I called Melanie, the night before our big day, she was still all for it. She thought it would be a great day and “See ya at 6:00 am.”

I got up the next morning and prepared to go–ready or not. I dressed, packed my fanny pack with a few supplies, pulled on my oldest, most comfortable walking shoes and was waiting for her when she pulled up. With high spirits we drove the half-hour to the trail head where we would leave the car. It was still dark when we got there. No problem, right? Thousands of people climb this trail every year. Right? What we didn’t take into account is that the spot from which we started our hike was the trail head for several other trails, besides the one to the top of the mountain. It was about 45 minutes after we started hiking that we realized that we were on the wrong trail. Mel informed me that the one we were on, not only didn’t go to the top of the mountain, it went off to the south, through the mountains and all the way into New Mexico!! I laughed and said, “Well, it’s good we turned around before we walked all the way to New Mexico, isn’t it?” As we chuckled over that thought, I felt the Spirit whisper into my mind what was to be the first of a multitude of spiritual lessons reserved for that day–lessons I pray I will never forget. I perceived His words, “Nannette, sometimes in life when you get on the wrong trail, you behave like there is no turning back, but there is. It costs you time and requires you to be humble but not nearly as much time and humbling as it calls for to return from New Mexico or wherever the wrong trail has taken you. Don’t ever delay reversing your course!"

To Be Continued.

By Nannette W.
Posted Tuesday, August 26, 2008

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