It has been raining a bit more over the past couple weeks (usually it downpours, out of seemingly nowhere, for awhile and then it clears up) – lately it has rained at some point on 3-4 days out of the week. With the increased rain, things have come to life and more flowers (which I didn’t think could even exist) have blossomed and things are getting a little bit greener. It makes it quite clear that water brings new life to everything.
I was once told by some very intelligent people (aka my pastors and church’s director of education) that whenever you are in the shower or it rains, it is an opportunity to remember your baptism. So I found out my baptismal verse, and it turned out to be quite appropriate for our adventure on Saturday.
My baptismal verse was Isaiah 26:4 – it reads, “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is a rock of ages.”
I will start at the beginning, Saturday we woke up and, around 8:30, eight of us pilled into a truck and headed off to the village (kijiji) where we would start our mountain hike up the mountain range in our backyard. The group consisted of the four American students, the Danish couple, and three language school teachers (Omega, Delta, and Kidege). In total, the climb lasted about 5 hours up and then about 4.5 hours down. I had woken up with tight hamstrings so I had a feeling that the climb up would be rough – and I was right. I tended to trail towards the back (until Peter got sick and had to hold back too for awhile) and was keeping a fairly good pace for myself. But about 2 hours in my legs were sore and I started to get the feeling that a panic attack might be coming quite soon. (For those of you who don’t already know, I had what you might call a close call with a rip tide off the shore of El Salvador about five years ago, and sometimes I will experience something that incites flashbacks.) I had to stop quite a bit to allow my body to rest and remind myself that I was landlocked. But Omega, bless his heart, was a saint and he held back with me throughout the hike. We reached the pass that we were going to take after about 4 hours of climbing. Throughout the hike, we passed through a forest of banana trees and Omega was even given some bananas by a man whose house we passed. It was beautiful and truly breathtaking. We continued to hike for another hour on the inner side of the mountain range. Around one, we stopped to eat the sack lunch that the kitchen had given us (oranges, bread, peanut butter, jam, boiled eggs, and banana chips). After lunch we decided to head back down so we could get to the village at the bottom before nightfall. In order to hike back, we had to climb back up a little bit to get to the peak we had passed through. But my body had rested too much and climbing up was wearing on my body and mind. Once again, Omega (who was now quite tired as well) and I fell to the back. About a 5 min walk from the pass we were taking, I started to feel a panic attack again – I stopped walking, started to shake, and started to gasp for breath a little bit. My body was tired like I had been in the water and it was hot outside. Omega asked me a couple times if I was okay – pretty sure that I freaked him out a little bit. But after a couple minutes I pushed myself to start hiking again – I knew that we were close to the pass and then it would be all downhill from there (literally and figuratively). At the pass we met up with the group, who had waited for Omega and I – I am fairly certain that they all thought I was just tired from climbing all day (which is a lot easier for them to assume than have to explain the whole background of what was going on). I sat there for awhile and looked around at the beautiful peaks and earth that surrounded us.
It made me realize, once again, that God is an amazing God. He has created all of this beauty and he has created each one of us – and most amazing to me, is that he is there to protect and support each and every single one of us whenever we may need him. He created us and loves each and every one of us. He will be our strength when we cannot find it within ourselves. And that is exactly what happened for me… I found something to lean on and help support me through my mind attempting to control my body. And I think that is what allows faith to be such a source of hope for people who have difficult lives. I don’t think that it is so much the fact that ‘religion is the opiate of the masses,’ rather I feel like religion and faith give people a sense of support and hope when they need it most - it is something that is always there and can be seen in every living thing that comes to life after the rains.
Now I don’t want this to be a pity post – I actually spent quite some time debating whether or not to publish this post. But I feel like it is the easiest way for me to explain things. The hike was beautiful and I really did enjoy it – not only did it remind me of God’s amazing power, it was also a great relationship-builder between us and the teachers here.
The hike down took about four and a half hours. We kept a really brisk pace but were still passed quite a few times by running men who had harvested bananas and were carrying baskets full of them – each time they passed us, I was amazed at their ability to run downhill with pounds of bananas on top of their heads and either barefoot of in flip flops. It was a beautiful climb and descent and it was done in the company of some amazing people.
I was once told by some very intelligent people (aka my pastors and church’s director of education) that whenever you are in the shower or it rains, it is an opportunity to remember your baptism. So I found out my baptismal verse, and it turned out to be quite appropriate for our adventure on Saturday.
My baptismal verse was Isaiah 26:4 – it reads, “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is a rock of ages.”
I will start at the beginning, Saturday we woke up and, around 8:30, eight of us pilled into a truck and headed off to the village (kijiji) where we would start our mountain hike up the mountain range in our backyard. The group consisted of the four American students, the Danish couple, and three language school teachers (Omega, Delta, and Kidege). In total, the climb lasted about 5 hours up and then about 4.5 hours down. I had woken up with tight hamstrings so I had a feeling that the climb up would be rough – and I was right. I tended to trail towards the back (until Peter got sick and had to hold back too for awhile) and was keeping a fairly good pace for myself. But about 2 hours in my legs were sore and I started to get the feeling that a panic attack might be coming quite soon. (For those of you who don’t already know, I had what you might call a close call with a rip tide off the shore of El Salvador about five years ago, and sometimes I will experience something that incites flashbacks.) I had to stop quite a bit to allow my body to rest and remind myself that I was landlocked. But Omega, bless his heart, was a saint and he held back with me throughout the hike. We reached the pass that we were going to take after about 4 hours of climbing. Throughout the hike, we passed through a forest of banana trees and Omega was even given some bananas by a man whose house we passed. It was beautiful and truly breathtaking. We continued to hike for another hour on the inner side of the mountain range. Around one, we stopped to eat the sack lunch that the kitchen had given us (oranges, bread, peanut butter, jam, boiled eggs, and banana chips). After lunch we decided to head back down so we could get to the village at the bottom before nightfall. In order to hike back, we had to climb back up a little bit to get to the peak we had passed through. But my body had rested too much and climbing up was wearing on my body and mind. Once again, Omega (who was now quite tired as well) and I fell to the back. About a 5 min walk from the pass we were taking, I started to feel a panic attack again – I stopped walking, started to shake, and started to gasp for breath a little bit. My body was tired like I had been in the water and it was hot outside. Omega asked me a couple times if I was okay – pretty sure that I freaked him out a little bit. But after a couple minutes I pushed myself to start hiking again – I knew that we were close to the pass and then it would be all downhill from there (literally and figuratively). At the pass we met up with the group, who had waited for Omega and I – I am fairly certain that they all thought I was just tired from climbing all day (which is a lot easier for them to assume than have to explain the whole background of what was going on). I sat there for awhile and looked around at the beautiful peaks and earth that surrounded us.
It made me realize, once again, that God is an amazing God. He has created all of this beauty and he has created each one of us – and most amazing to me, is that he is there to protect and support each and every single one of us whenever we may need him. He created us and loves each and every one of us. He will be our strength when we cannot find it within ourselves. And that is exactly what happened for me… I found something to lean on and help support me through my mind attempting to control my body. And I think that is what allows faith to be such a source of hope for people who have difficult lives. I don’t think that it is so much the fact that ‘religion is the opiate of the masses,’ rather I feel like religion and faith give people a sense of support and hope when they need it most - it is something that is always there and can be seen in every living thing that comes to life after the rains.
Now I don’t want this to be a pity post – I actually spent quite some time debating whether or not to publish this post. But I feel like it is the easiest way for me to explain things. The hike was beautiful and I really did enjoy it – not only did it remind me of God’s amazing power, it was also a great relationship-builder between us and the teachers here.
The hike down took about four and a half hours. We kept a really brisk pace but were still passed quite a few times by running men who had harvested bananas and were carrying baskets full of them – each time they passed us, I was amazed at their ability to run downhill with pounds of bananas on top of their heads and either barefoot of in flip flops. It was a beautiful climb and descent and it was done in the company of some amazing people.
The group on the pass/peak - my theory on photos... if you're going to look bad in a picture... why not at least have fun with it?
The view from above.
Stopped for a minute or two to watch a soccer game on our hike back down.
Omega (and Delta laying down taking a nap atop the rock)
The group (plus our drivers) ready to go.
Still climbing...
Banana break.
The rest of the group stopping for a banana.
Still on the the way up...
Where do we go next? Aka which banana running path should we follow?
Taking a break atop a rock.Peace.
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