Today is a beautiful day, filled with pleasant spring weather. When the scene surrounding me is peaceful and serene, I feel a hint of contentedness that I used to know more often. It’s easy to lose sight of that peace when our days seem to be filled with turmoil and struggle more often than not. Yet, so much of what we worry about and stress over does not matter at all.

I think back on the hard times – times when grief, anxiety, and fear hung over my family like a cloud. I remember times when death was on our doorstep for months. I remember times when doubt took over and threatened to drown out the voice of comfort I’d known for so many years. Those were the times when I truly had something to fret about – and yet God was faithful.

When I was younger, I often prayed for strength. Many times I’ve heard the phrase, “Be careful what you pray for” because He so often brings about those answers through adversities. Sometimes you feel like saying, “Just kidding, God” when you’re in the middle of a hardship that you know is there for your benefit. But the more we’ve held on and still come out okay on the other side, the more ready and willing we are to face whatever comes our way. 

The more we walk by faith, the more sure-footed our steps become.

Oh, how we want to hurry up and get through it all. The disappointments come, our expectations are shattered, the brokenness of this world screams at us – but oh, how glorious is the beauty on the other side of the mountain.

The life I’ve enjoyed with my family has been a glimpse into eternity spent in God’s presence. At this point, so many of my prayers are for my children – I want faith and hope and love and goodness and kindness and courage to follow them all of their days. It sounds like so much to want, like too much to ask, but I’ve been on the journey long enough to know better. What a gift it is to be able to look back on all those mountains I’ve climbed and remember that I can trudge through any dark valley that comes my way.

“You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.” – René Daumal