Mountaintops

The youth at church had a weekend retreat last Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday. I didn't hear from V until Sunday morning when she called me to tell me that her throat was hurting. We picked her up from church and she came home and lay on the couch sucking on Sucrets. V is at the age now that she doesn't have a lot to say to me. I was dying to hear all of the details of V's weekend, but she had less than 20 words to say about it on Sunday. It seems like the more I asked about the weekend, the more she clammed up. I finally just quit asking.

Monday morning she was sick and we stayed home together. She literally lay on the couch all day long. Tuesday she wasn't feeling better so I took her to work with me. She lay on the couch in my office most of the day. Wednesday morning she woke up ready to go to school. She went to school and seemed to feel better. Mother's just know what is best for their child and when they don't listen it is a big mistake. I knew that V needed to come home and rest, but she wanted to go to church. She was worried that I wasn't going to let her go because she had been sick. I really felt like she needed to stay home, but how do you tell your child who is dying to go to church that she has to stay home? I just couldn't do it to her. (By the way she missed school on Thursday.)

On the way to church V told me that she wished that I had been at the service on Saturday night. She then told me that they mostly sang and praised God. She said that the Spirit of God fell on their service and you could truly feel his presence. She said that most of the youth were crying looking towards the heavens or on their knees praying. It really must have been an incredible time for them.

We all need these Mt. Top experiences in life. I have had a few and you NEVER forget them. I am always looking for the Mt. Top, but in a book I read recently it asked us to reflect on a Mt. Top. Mt. Tops are rocky and cold, there isn't a lot of growth there. The view is great, but the view gives us a glimpse of where we are going, our next destination or target. But to hit the target we must come off of the Mt. Top and go into the valley to begin our next trek up the slope. In the valley is where we slog through the lush grass and rich soil, learning and becoming what enables us to summit's lifes next peak.

So, I am right where God wants me! It may be bleak at times, but this is where I learn. This is where I grow. I am in fertile ground. Now, what will I do with this? Will I feed my soul? Will I choose to grow? The Mt. Tops are incredible and I look forward to the view from the top, but I don't want to stay there. I want to be in the lush valley where the soil is rich and my soul will be fed and I will grow.

So neither he who plants is anything nor he who waters, but [only] God Who makes it grow and become greater. 1 Corinthians 3: 7