"Lord Give Me This Mountain"

As I sit and ponder this last week my eyes continue to fill with tears. This week was filled with so many moments where it was confirmed to me that the Lord was looking out for me.

For the last couple months i feel like i have been climbing this steep mountain. A mountain at moments feels impossible to conquer.

In the morning one day i found myself asking heavenly father to show me his hand. To show me that he was working with the area. A fault i find in myself is that i am constantly asking him/people for reassurance. Trusting is hard for me. But, even though i ask him many times, each time he shows me that, "his hand is stretched out still."

After this prayer i had the strongest feeling that we needed to go to this café in our town centre. It's a cafe we go to quite often but this particular day i knew we needed to go. Nothing crazy happened on the way there. There wasnt anything that struck me in proving that we were in the right place at the right time but, its okay because i knew we did what the lord needed us to do.

Everyday, on the way to this cafe, we walk by this lovely lady called Molly. She has a little flower popup shop. We never fail to say hi to her and occasionally buy flowers.

After this time at the cafe we deicided that we should get some flowers for a new member we were going to go have lunch with. As we picked out the bouquet we went to checkout and she started saying how she was wanting to start attending a church to exercise her faith more. We were so pleased! And then she said this,

"I knew you would come back."

This phrase struck me.

This reliance and trust she had in us is beautiful. She knew we would come back.

This made me reflect a lot of how i view my Saviour.

Do I believe that he will come back to save me?

It was then I realised he hasnt left. He stands beside me. In every moment and every step. He is climbing my mountain with me. Infact in some moments this week i know he was carrying me up the slope.

This relationship of reliance is so special.

It's so real.

The truth is, all hard roads eventually merge with heavenly roads.

So why do we have to climb these hypothetical mountains?

"Well, mountains—like those before us in this big-time adventure called life—tempt us, terrify us, test us, and try us. Mountains stretch us, break us down, and can sometimes even bring us to an exasperated halt. At the same time, they stir our souls, inspire us, and have this transformative ability to rekindle hope, steel our resolve, and hone our faith, step by courageous step. This mandates a never-before-thought-possible ability to push ourselves to unthinkable heights, for it is only in testing our limits that we find out how limitless we are. It is only then—when we push ourselves beyond our perceived capacity—that we discover within ourselves the courage, fortitude, and faith to continue the journey. As the Australian mountaineer Greg Child put it, “Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery of why we climb.”"

All of us face obstacles. All of us have challenges. We all walk paths that lead us toward extreme heights we think we cannot climb.

Often our perception of what we think we can and cannot do is far different from the reality of what we can and cannot do.

We are more limited by our desire than we are by our capacity.

"Problems form an important part of our lives. They are placed in our path for us to overcome them, not to be overcome by them. We must master them, not let them master us. Every time we overcome a challenge, we grow in experience, in self-assuredness, and in faith."

Im amazed each day at the moutains my beautiful friends climb. I have learned that more than i am here to preach the word i am here to learn from them.

My whole perspective on the mountain i have been climbing was changed after we met with our new friend Hepse. Hepse is 25 and just recently moved here from India.

She has given up everything to be acquainted with God. Her faith changed me as she shared her 4 experiences that showed her that god is real.

At a young age Hepse was diagnosed with blood cancer. From my experience working in the cancer center before coming on my mission it instantly brought back memories of patients i cared for with the same cancer. This cancer kills. So, i was shocked that she was sitting in front of us telling us this story.

After many prayers in hopes to be healed she got another scan and the cancer was gone. No sign that it had ever been in her body. She was healed. She knew god had saved her.

In her years as a teenager she stuggled with the battle of suicide. She expressed having these thoughts that continuely tried to get her to end her life. It was a battle she fought for a long time. One day she had enough and decided it was time, she felt like she had fought the fight long enough. After taking 130 pills and drinking bottles of coke to make it all disolve faster she found herself waking up in the hospital. After many doctors had come in they expressed that there was nothing in her system. They kept asking her if she was lying. They couldn't believe it. She knew god had saved her.

2 years before she came to the UK she was riding a motorcycle and was hit by a semitruck. She said as she laying on the ground a lady came beside her and started praying for her. She walked away from the accident with some scratches on her elbows and knees. No broken bones. In fact 3 days later she took her final exams for school and passed all of them. She knew she was protected. She knew god had saved her.

She worked so hard to be able to come to the UK. But all she could gather was £2500. By the hand of the lord she was able to get a visa to be able to come to the UK. After flying here from india she found herself with only £1000. £1000 to pay for food, Uni, and a place to live. It was impossible. But, she continued praying. Throughtout her time here she began to see money get put into her account exactly at the moments she needed it most. In one moment she had no more money, she hadnt eaten a proper meal in 15 days. She found herself praying again. And a man came to her and told her that he would buy her food for months.

She knew she had been taken care of. She knew god had saved her.

Hepses moutains have changed me.

At the end of our discussion she shared these words with us...

"He knows i depend on him."

"He always makes a way for me."

"He lets me go far enough to learn, but not enough to fall."

"He is the back support holding me up, without him i would fall."

Hepse has changed my life. She has taught me that there isnt a mountain that is too high to climb with the saviour right by your side.

The beautiful thing about jesus christ is that he has climbed every mountain, big and small. He knows how hard it is. But, he also know how rewarding the view is at the top.

Pain changes us, but not in the same way that healing teaches us.

"Healing hurts. Life hurts. Healing really only begins when we face the hurt in its full force and then grow through it with all the strength of our soul. For every reward of learning and growing, some degree of pain is always the price."

“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.

And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance

you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.

There are some, down the road between hither and yon,

that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.

. . .

So be sure when you step.

Step with care and great tact

and remember that Life’s

a Great Balancing Act.

. . .

And will you succeed?