Winning the Uphill Battle

Happy Monday!!!  I am happy to be here today!!!  Happy to have accomplished another mini-goal and ready for the next one...which will be announced soon...

I keep thinking about this past weekend...thinking about the thrill of doing something that I truly thought I would never be able to do!  God has given me a wonderful "do over"...and I am planning on taking full advantage of it!!! 

I have been thinking about the symbolism of this past weekend...climbing a big rock (or a mountain for me) .  Over the last several years, I can't count how many times I have used the phrase..."________is an uphill battle about any number of things...(life, work, finances, illness, etc...)...I say it a lot...too much!  I say it in a way that would suggest that I have been defeated by those things...repeatedly.  I say it in a way that would suggest that I have been beaten badly and that I am incapable of winning those battles....That I do not have the strength to win going uphill!!! 

This weekend...I won and I won going UPHILL!!!  Here is the funny thing...It was NOT really a battle!  It was a challenge...it was a goal...it was attainable and I was prepared!  I worked for it and I won it! 

I had to make a commitment to do it...I had to have accountability and I had to BELIEVE I could do it!! I believed I could do it because I  have faith and because I am absolutely surrounded by people telling me I can do it!!!  I am surrounded by LOVE!

Here is the thought that I kept having as Kristen, Stephen and I got closer and closer to the summit...LAST MAY (2012)....I could not even take care of myself...I physically could not do every day life stuff or walk up a flight stairs and certainly could not have even walked around the block.  NOW...Here I am...climbing a 425 foot slab of granite!  God has given me a 2nd chance (or 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th.....).  If you don't believe God works Miracles in this modern world...Please know that HE does!!!

When I arrived at the top...I was further reminded of God's Grace by just looking ahead of me, behind me and all around me!  I know this picture was in my blog post a couple of days ago...but  I wanted to post it again...it is my favorite...it represents so much more than a pretty view...it represents a very long road...with lots of not so successful "uphill battles"...it represents a physical and spiritual triumph for me...I love this picture...it will always be a reminder that with God's help...I can do ANYTHING.  This is a picture of Victory!!! 

So from this point forward..I will remember this moment...I will remember what this picture represents in my own words and the next time self doubt and disbelief begin to creep in to my reality...I will remember this:


"For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done..."~Chris Tomlin (Joshua 1:1-9; 3:5)