A Mountain Top Moment

P E A C E F U L

To choose a single favorite moment from our trip to Colorado is way too hard. I don’t know if I have an all-time favorite but there is one that has stood out more than the rest.

It was on the second day of hiking. We were driving through the mountains, trying to find our hiking trail, and no we didn’t get completely lost, but I finally just sat back in the seat and started to soak it all in… driving through the mountains, the windows down and the icy mountain air brushing across my face, my hands out the window feeling the breeze with the Jesus music blaring, yet all I saw and felt was a horizon filled with breathtaking snow topped mountains and peace.

This is my happy place. This is my moment. This is peaceful. This is priceless.

I realized in this moment that life is good. God is good always. And trials become good. Yeah we got kind of lost in the mountains but I was only lost in the beauty and majesty of this place.

Then… it started snowing. What could be better? It was magnificent. Glorious and perfect. You could see the clouds of blustering snow come in and covering the green tree filled mountain side. It only lasted for ten minutes or so but seeing that and knowing who created it was worth a thousand tree covered mountains.

- Mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of Your Name - Chris Tomlin

During these moments the only words I could really say was thank you, God. My heart was full and I could not express exactly how I felt except thank You Lord for who You are and for the daily blessings that You give me—the both small and big ones.

“It’s a crazy life” accurately describes mine. The past month has been one of the best times of my life. It was a jammed packed life session but so worth every moment. My head rarely hit the pillow, my car ran and ran, my mind was constantly filled with thoughts, to do lists, test knowledge, and my hands never stopped moving.

I look back over the days and think of how incredibly blessed I am. God is good, always, and I see that more and more every day I live on this earth. My time in the mountains helped me realize that life is about the One who created all of this. I serve Him and only Him. My life, who I am, what I do or have just done (graduated for high school) is not about my accomplishments but solely about the One who moves mountains and calms the seas.

- I live my life to declare You are King -

I love my life. I truly do. I love the good times and the bad. I am growing to like the bad times more because it is when I encounter trials that I truly grow and see more of how great my God is.

James 1:2-3, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." (NASAB)

In the moment on the mountain I breathed for the first time in a long time. I couldn’t form all the words of gratitude that I wanted to say so I just said thank you over and over. Remember to take those moments in your crazy life to recognize God and thank Him for who He is and what He has done and is doing in your life.

Holla to my mountains… see you again in three weeks.

~Gracie

A Different ThanksGIVING

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It is focused on others and expressing how blessed we are. I was sitting here thinking of how I can put Thanksgiving in a different perspective. I looked at the word Thanksgiving and it donned on me. Hey, there are two words here: thanks and giving. Obviously, but it hit me differently…

The First Part of the Word: Thanks.

Usually that is what we associate Thanksgiving with— being thankful for what we have. Calling ourselves blessed for what God has given us on this earth. (Notice that turkey and football are not mentioned, although they are things God has given us.)

It is wonderful to have one day a year devoted to recognizing how absolutely BLESSED we are. Being thankful for the people in our lives and the things we have. Pretty straight forward.

The Second Part of the Word: Giving.

This really hit me hard. When this holiday was created they named it and for some reason they put the word “giving” in there. When I first recognized that I thought it was very interesting because we do not usually think of this holiday as a “giving” holiday. Usually that is Christmas. Maybe they just switched the order so that it will still be one word but the meaning is: give thanks. However I took these words a step further and added on to the traditional meaning of “give thanks”.

Giving is an act of worship and appreciation… to who? To God. God has given each and every one of us so much. Far more than we deserve.

For me this was an awesome reminder that I have been given so much. I have been so very blessed with the things I need and some of the things I want.

The other day my dad and I were having a heart to heart and he asked me what he could give me that would make me happy (there is more to the story but this is the part that matters). I was stumped. I honestly could not answer him. I thought and thought but I could not come up with anything that would make me happy.

It was then that I realized that my happiness didn’t come from material things but only from the one who gives it all—our Father God.

That was just a side note. If our hearts are in the right place we should be content and truly thankful for what we have and not wanting more than God has blessed us with.

Since God has blessed us, we do not need to hoard and keep all that blessing hidden safely away for no one else to partake in. We need to GIVE IT AWAY. We need to pass along what God has blessed us with to others so that they might see the power of giving and see Christ through us.

I do not know what your blessings are… but you do. They come in many forms, sometimes in the form of time, people, words, material possessions, wisdom, money, anything that is of value to you that God has given to you. Take that “thing” or “idea”, whatever it is and give part of it away. Use it to further God’s kingdom. Use it to bless someone else. This is an act of you giving thanks to God for all that He has done for you.

I love this leaf. It is a blessing and reminds me how simple yet fulfilling life is when your heart is in the right place.