Teach. Pray. - It's the Climb
Two weeks ago at 8:24 p.m., I was lying in bed with Matt watching Netflix at an Airbnb in Englewood, Colorado. We had spent a day walking around downtown Denver. Other than recovering from a stomach bug and adjusting to the elevation change, we had no worries. A true vacation where we set everything aside and enjoyed ourselves. Tonight I ask myself, why not set things aside more often? Why not enjoy ourselves on the daily? After all, when you set things aside...they'll still be there when you get back.
To say this school year has been stressful is an understatement. But, that's what happens when you're an educator. Each year is different because I'm not only in the education business. I'm in the human business, and humans are complicated. So, the Friday before fall break had me at my wit's end. I was D-O-N-E! Counting down the minutes and seconds done. I had worked late all week to get tests graded, to get weekly plans done, to get sub plans done, and to get materials gathered. I needed to get graduate work done Friday night. I needed to go grocery shopping so my sister and her boyfriend would have food while house sitting for us. I needed to clean our house so it would be clean when we returned. I needed to get a LONG list of things done so I could go to Colorado on Saturday morning with neat little checks next to everything on my adult checklist so I could go on vacation with the peace of mind of knowing I had done it all.
Well, God had other plans.
I left work Friday with a stomach bug...vomitting in the stinky faculty bathroom. On my way home, I pulled over in a gas station parking lot to vomit. When I got home, I sat on the bathroom floor hugging the porcelain God. The checklist was not going to get done. I tried. I gave it a good fight. I worked on graduate homework between bathroom visits determined I would get it crossed off the list. About half of it got done before I faced the evil truth. It wasn't happening. And, to top it all off, Matt was just as sick as I was.
Great! A terribly stressful week ended with a horrendous stomach bug and the daunting question, "Are we going to be well enough to get on that flight to Colorado?"
Well, we made it to Colorado on Saturday. It was the most turbulent plane ride ever and we thought it would never end, but we made it.
I guess I'm telling you about all of this because it led me to some thoughts. Friday night, sick as a dog, thinking of all the things on the to-do list that weren't going to get done, I felt like God was testing me. At first, I thought maybe God was testing us to see if we had really earned this vacation. But, on the flight home, I realized it was never about us earning the vacation. It was all about us being thankful for it.
You see, in my mind, this trip had originally been a leave of absence from adulting. A few days we could escape reality and enjoy ourselves. Set the stresses aside for a few days. After all, I deserved it considering all the "run away screaming" moments I had experienced at work, all the complicated and raw truths I had learned about my dad's family, and all the work this graduate class had added to my life. My hard work had earned me this vacation. I deserved it.
On our last day in Colorado, we visited Garden of the Gods. Man, that place is simply majestic. Standing there looking up at these red rocks that appeared to strike heaven humbled me. My problems are minuscule. I'm a tiny organism with a short lifespan. These rocks are thousands of years old and will continue to rise from the dirt long after I'm gone. There is a good reason the place is called Garden of the Gods.
When we left there, we stumbled upon Manitou Springs. Its dainty charm made my heart flutter. So, we parked and walked around. The friendliest shop owner told us about the Manitou Incline we kept seeing advertised on the clothing. "Cool," we thought. Then, we went to lunch. At lunch, I could see those stairs climbing the mountain, and I could hear them calling. Fear started calling too. "Can I do it? Have we recovered enough from our sickness? Doing this would require us to change the rest of our plans for the day. Would that be ok?"
Matt decided for us.
We paid $5 for parking and approached the trailhead. And, off we went on an adventure. 2,744 stairs climbing 2,000 feet of elevation in less than a mile. It was steep. It burned. Our hearts pumped like never before. We made it to the top.
As I looked out over the vast earth below us, my spirit felt lighter and my faith felt stronger. Here I was standing on top of the world with my good health and my best friend. Why did it take climbing a mountain to rediscover gratitude for that?
Sometimes it's best to let the universe plan your itinerary because sometimes God wants to remind you who is really in charge.
From the top looking down, the parking lot where we started looked so small. I remember thinking, "Oh, so this is what life looks like? In the midst of it all, problems appear bigger, steeper, and tougher." I was astounded at how far I had come. Maybe Miley Cyrus is right. It's the climb.
We are more than the daily grind. Life is so much more. Life is beautiful. Life is breathtaking. Life is an adventure. Life is worth living every second, every breath. Life should be filled with enjoyment. Life is gracious.
When the mountains are calling, go for the climb.
To say this school year has been stressful is an understatement. But, that's what happens when you're an educator. Each year is different because I'm not only in the education business. I'm in the human business, and humans are complicated. So, the Friday before fall break had me at my wit's end. I was D-O-N-E! Counting down the minutes and seconds done. I had worked late all week to get tests graded, to get weekly plans done, to get sub plans done, and to get materials gathered. I needed to get graduate work done Friday night. I needed to go grocery shopping so my sister and her boyfriend would have food while house sitting for us. I needed to clean our house so it would be clean when we returned. I needed to get a LONG list of things done so I could go to Colorado on Saturday morning with neat little checks next to everything on my adult checklist so I could go on vacation with the peace of mind of knowing I had done it all.
Well, God had other plans.
I left work Friday with a stomach bug...vomitting in the stinky faculty bathroom. On my way home, I pulled over in a gas station parking lot to vomit. When I got home, I sat on the bathroom floor hugging the porcelain God. The checklist was not going to get done. I tried. I gave it a good fight. I worked on graduate homework between bathroom visits determined I would get it crossed off the list. About half of it got done before I faced the evil truth. It wasn't happening. And, to top it all off, Matt was just as sick as I was.
Great! A terribly stressful week ended with a horrendous stomach bug and the daunting question, "Are we going to be well enough to get on that flight to Colorado?"
Well, we made it to Colorado on Saturday. It was the most turbulent plane ride ever and we thought it would never end, but we made it.
I guess I'm telling you about all of this because it led me to some thoughts. Friday night, sick as a dog, thinking of all the things on the to-do list that weren't going to get done, I felt like God was testing me. At first, I thought maybe God was testing us to see if we had really earned this vacation. But, on the flight home, I realized it was never about us earning the vacation. It was all about us being thankful for it.
You see, in my mind, this trip had originally been a leave of absence from adulting. A few days we could escape reality and enjoy ourselves. Set the stresses aside for a few days. After all, I deserved it considering all the "run away screaming" moments I had experienced at work, all the complicated and raw truths I had learned about my dad's family, and all the work this graduate class had added to my life. My hard work had earned me this vacation. I deserved it.
On our last day in Colorado, we visited Garden of the Gods. Man, that place is simply majestic. Standing there looking up at these red rocks that appeared to strike heaven humbled me. My problems are minuscule. I'm a tiny organism with a short lifespan. These rocks are thousands of years old and will continue to rise from the dirt long after I'm gone. There is a good reason the place is called Garden of the Gods.
When we left there, we stumbled upon Manitou Springs. Its dainty charm made my heart flutter. So, we parked and walked around. The friendliest shop owner told us about the Manitou Incline we kept seeing advertised on the clothing. "Cool," we thought. Then, we went to lunch. At lunch, I could see those stairs climbing the mountain, and I could hear them calling. Fear started calling too. "Can I do it? Have we recovered enough from our sickness? Doing this would require us to change the rest of our plans for the day. Would that be ok?"
Matt decided for us.
We paid $5 for parking and approached the trailhead. And, off we went on an adventure. 2,744 stairs climbing 2,000 feet of elevation in less than a mile. It was steep. It burned. Our hearts pumped like never before. We made it to the top.
As I looked out over the vast earth below us, my spirit felt lighter and my faith felt stronger. Here I was standing on top of the world with my good health and my best friend. Why did it take climbing a mountain to rediscover gratitude for that?
Sometimes it's best to let the universe plan your itinerary because sometimes God wants to remind you who is really in charge.
From the top looking down, the parking lot where we started looked so small. I remember thinking, "Oh, so this is what life looks like? In the midst of it all, problems appear bigger, steeper, and tougher." I was astounded at how far I had come. Maybe Miley Cyrus is right. It's the climb.
We are more than the daily grind. Life is so much more. Life is beautiful. Life is breathtaking. Life is an adventure. Life is worth living every second, every breath. Life should be filled with enjoyment. Life is gracious.
When the mountains are calling, go for the climb.
 |
| Siamese Twins at Garden of the Gods. The stairs of Manitou Incline are off in the distance beckoning us...and we didn't even know it. |
 |
| At the summit of Manitou Incline. |
Comments
Post a Comment