go on up to the mountain of mercy

at the top of our peak, day 4

glad they put up with my craziness. they had no other choice...

our most amazing, amazing, awesome, stupendous guides!!

after a shower. we smell nice.

they were one of the most amazing groups in the history of wilderness ranch!!

Amos 4:13
He who forms the mountains,

who creates the wind,

and who reveals his thoughts to mankind,

who turns dawn to darkness,

and treads on the heights of the earth—

the LORD God Almighty is his name.

The music of the wilderness was majestic, though I found myself returning to civilization realizing music is one of the things I missed most. Trees clapped their hands as we hiked past them, their leaves rustling in the breeze, crisply reminding us that there is more to life than facebook and nike shorts and AP classes. The rivers and the birds and the twinkling stars joined together to point us to the face of Christ. The removal of distractions allowed us to read scripture and love those around us with an abandon and commitment rarely available anywhere else on Earth.

We stunk to the high heavens. From Sunday afternoon to Friday afternoon we did not shower, we did not wash our faces or brush our teeth with running water, but made do with a small amount of toothpaste and antibacterial wipes. We were carrying all of our trash inside of our giant backpacks in an effort to “leave no trace.” We found the skull and backbones of a moose, we crossed stream after stream, we laughed and drew close in a way that I had not even fathomed.

I left the wilderness reminded of the beauty of humanity, of God’s capacity to show His love through others. Though I did not know any of these girls prior to our week together, I left glowing with pride as if I was their older sister or close friend. They hiked for nearly nine miles on our fifth day, after they had spent the night “solo” in the woods the night before. Our trip was not without trial, a wonderful example that God shows up in the good, the bad, and the ugly. We had forgotten one set of poles to build our flies with – giant tarps similar to a tent but more rustic – and the set of poles we did have was actually, gasp!, broken. So, we searched for four-foot long sticks at each of our campsites, wrapped them in bandanas so as not to rip the fabric, and went on with our nights. We shivered and chattered our teeth together as each night the temperature dropped below freezing, and we had only the clothes shoved in our pack to keep warm. We talked of families, boys, and teachers back home. We dreamt of college, and dates, and other glorious things.

Sweet, loyal, kind, caring, capable, optimistic, strong, devoted, genuine, hilarious, beautiful, supportive, serving, adventurous, loving, tender, patient, hopeful, good. I spent six days with a group of twelve amazing women, girls entering their senior year at the high school where I grew up, and I walked away from this week immensely blessed. I was reminded that it is not just my students, my Teach for America babies, that have rough lives. We all have baggage and we all have a mighty, just God who will see us through it all. Admittedly he feel s distant or absent at times, this week in the blue skies along the continental divide I was reminded of James 4:8 and the truth that if we draw near to God, he will draw near to us.

It began to snow on the first night, before we had finished getting ready to snuggle in our sleeping bags or cover our packs. As the “leader” for the week, I felt responsible to put on a good face for the girls. This is not the end of the world, our guides will take care of us, all will be well. But it would have been so easy to just wallow in my cold, complain that my fingers were too numb to remove my contacts, that my sleeping bag was soaked, and this “sucked.” But I could not. I had people counting on me, and my attitude affected their attitude. It turned out to be a week of sunshine, laughter, and joy, but that first night was dark and dreary. We had no weather forecast to promise the next day would be better. But we could trust, and we could hope, and we could gather together. Turns out, the week in the mountains turned out to be a powerful reminder of how we should live our life in the valley.

Ezekial 34:25