With Kate Hudson on an Alpine Adventure

The other night I came home from a late meeting and flipped through a few channels to see if there was anything of interest on TV. Suddenly, there was Kate Hudson alone in a cable car that had stopped halfway up the side of a mountain while a helicopter hovered overhead. Her exit? She had to go out the open door and down on a rope! So much for the fear of heights and dread of helicopters! I was hooked.

EXTREME CHALLENGES
Hiking with this MacGyver of the mountains, Bear Grylls (not Girly!) led her from one incredible feat to another in the Dolomites Mountains of northern Italy. They faced extreme dangers, climbed over waterfalls and rappelled over rocky cliffs. Being tied together, Kate spoke of the need to trust her guide even when filled with fear. She heroically pushed herself as they explored a dark passage through an abandoned mountain tunnel with headlamps.

At first it seemed she was more sure of herself. “I went to sailing camp,” she said sweetly. “I can do knots.” But gradually, all fortitude and self-knowledge were put to the test as the terrain and challenges increased. Many times she would resist and question him. “Seriously, this is insane,” or, “Wait a minute! I’m tied to you! What happens if you fall?” To which he would respond, “Don’t worry, I won’t.”  Gingerly, she followed, doing exactly what he said. “Follow my footprints in the snow,” or, “Don’t look down.” She was amazing!

WILD EXPERIENCES
For food, Bear twisted off the head of a pigeon and they roasted the meat over fire started by the gunpowder from a bullet they found in the tunnel. Another time, they tasted ants scavenged from a mound of dirt near their tent. Is there anything he wouldn’t attempt?

It all culminated with a sheer drop, straight down to a waiting craft loaded with supplies and a road out. As her fearless leader disappeared over the edge and descended out of earshot, she had to wait on that ledge for a tug of the rope to signal that he was on the ground. It must have felt interminably long before the rope tugged. Then, she took hold of the rope, hoping the tree would sustain her, and proceeded over the rocky edge. I wondered, how much grit and determination stem from the fact that she is a mother of two who desperately wanted to see her children again?

FINAL APPRAISAL

“Well done,” Grylls would say, cheering her on. He never wavered, remarkably capable, patiently instructing her every step of the way. When she finally reached bottom, the tears spilled over and she couldn’t speak.  It must have been overwhelming to realize what she had done and how far they had gone to make it to the ‘end of the road.’

MY GUIDE
I too, am on a journey that started 42 years ago the first time I read the Word, spoke to God, and heard his voice on the tundra of Alaska. And just like Kate, my guide has tested me in regard to all my fears. There were fears of running out of money and starving, of leaving the relative safety of American soil, learning an unwritten language, living in a cannibal tribe, facing countless episodes of malaria, separation from my children—and even the fear of never being able to walk again as I lay in a third world medical facility bed.

Do you feel unsteady at times? Don’t you wish God would give you the roadmap?

I’m here to tell you, the Lord Jesus has been a trustworthy and capable guide. He is the Bear Grylls of all time and there’s nothing he can’t do! His Holy Spirit instructs and protects me on the perilous places and counsels me to trust Him. Also known as the Comforter, he patiently walks beside us every step of the journey.

He knows the ropes. He knows the way. He will see you through!

My legs get wobbly at times, but the Lord has called me down this path. As I've left a secure paycheck to follow what the Lord is calling me to do, I am getting back into the unchartered territory. Now the question is, do I truly trust my guide? Am I going to follow in his footsteps and trust my weight on these ropes? 

This is a journey we must all take alone. Only you get to choose who you trust. But only you will reap the rewards of trying, so I urge you to do it. Don't turn back from the fears.

Psalm 16, a song of David, were certainly recorded in the midst of perilous circumstances. He penned these lines as though planting a stake in the ground, and they echo with visual concepts that could have accompanied Kate on her trek across the mountains.

“Keep me safe, O God, for you in you I take refuge…

Lord, you have assigned me my portion… and made my lot secure…

I will praise the Lord who counsels me; even at night…

I have set the Lord always before me.

Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

My body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave…

You have made known to me the path of life;

You will fill me with joy in your presence,

With eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

I, too, want to hear that “Well done,” when I reach it to the end of my journey. Don’t you? If we’re going to make it, we need to go despite our fears and trust the One who leads us.

Lotus Flowers

TIMES OF UPHEAVAL

In recent days, my life has had its share of upheaval. For one thing, I totaled my car when the pickup in front of me stopped short after going through an intersection. Then, following a bout of pneumonia and bronchitis and a sinus infection (all at the same time), I had to step away from my job. Not only were my lungs aching and my breathing difficult, but even more, my dream for ministry was suffocating. I knew if I stayed any longer I would lose my voice and my vision. Time to reclaim my purpose and passion for life! 

TRANSITION

But transitions aren’t always easy.  The speed bumps of life force you to slow down and create a necessary pause for reflection. It’s a time to strengthen the inner self and stand a little taller on conviction.  Maybe it’s time to return to the basics. Who are you and what did God create you to do? Stop striving to make it work and let God’s designs unfold.

SOMETIMES BENEATH THE PAVEMENT

It was a surprise when I came out of the x-ray lab at a medical facility the other day and started walking back to my car.  My mind was already on the next appointment, when I noticed an older woman with a straw hat crouching in a grassy area. She was holding a large camera with a zoom lens and was captivated by something beneath the level of the pavement. I was drawn to her.

Approaching the area, I saw the object of her gaze. A lovely floating garden of lotus flowers filled the basin right in the center of the parking lot. It was below the level of the pavement and I had driven right by without seeing it.

Wow! The blooms and the leaves of these Asian plants were enormous, fanning out like elephant ears. I crept down the sides of juniper brush, pulled out my phone camera and started snapping up a few shots, and then we started talking.

Liz had been informed by an email from her photography club about these blooms and drove an hour to shoot them. In her late 70’s, she is retired from writing school books and loves photography. As we chatted further, I learned that she is also fighting cancer. She picked her steps carefully and said her balance has been off since the last surgery.

We talked about the things in life that are hard to recover from, and I alluded to the losses in my own life, of losing parents and my husband of 31 years, and then I spoke of God.

“I’m Jewish,” she said, and started talking about an old book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, and what she learned from it. (For a second, I flashed back to my husband who said that in 1973, and three months later he believed the Jewish Savior.)  “Oh yes,” I said, “Rabbi Kushner, right?” She was amazed I knew of it.

CHANGE FOCUS

She said she had been challenged by a support group to make sure that her first and last thoughts of every day be filled with gratitude. At first she said it was hard to do, but over time, this has become a wonderful and life-changing habit. It’s a good one to have and operates in our lives the same way prayer does, changing us from within. 

Then I mentioned a book that impacted me when I was studying motivational behavior. I first came across Frankl’s Search for Significance about 40 years ago when I was in training and never forgot his descriptions of living in the prison camps of WWII. We talked about life's challenges and the things you learn through trial and loss.

FIND NEW PERSPECTIVE

We kept moving around to change perspective and capture the shots that moved us. “Look at the little pools of water and how they balance in the center of the leaves,” I snapped more pictures and pondered these little treasures, “like crystal jewels shimmering in the sun! With all the breezes blowing, it’s amazing that they have held onto it since the rain!” These enormous fronds aren't floppy and wavering, but extremely poised, and devoted to their precious trust.

I stood looking at this floating garden, full of my musings about the storms of life and how they shape us. Do we savor and hold onto our blessings from above, or do we let the splashes and ripples of the frogs around us steal our joy?

STAND STRONG AND HOLD ON

Just as Liz has changed her focus to gratitude, she has found a deeper measure of peace even as she faces the uncertainties and surgeries and dabbles at new clinical treatments. She is just like the subjects of her photos! She is standing tall and brave. She is holding onto God’s gifts like crystal jewels. 

SUPPORT EACH OTHER

As our feet crept around the edges of the pond, startled frogs leapt into the water with a splash. I never actually saw one of them, but we knew the whole pond was teeming and rippling with life.  Yet, the broad leaves remained almost motionless as they stood together side by side, propping one another up. One broad leaf would quickly be toppled and tossed around in the wind, but this massive outcropping was tightly meshed together.

In the same way, we need to support each other. There’s great overcoming strength when we stand together and encourage each other. It’s like spiritual scaffolding in the body of Christ.

GOD'S DESIGN

A week after this, I had to go back for some blood work at the same office, and decided to walk down and take a few more pictures before leaving. To my surprise, a car pulled up and Liz stepped out at the exact same time, straw hat and camera in hand for another look! 

Not only did we talk about the obvious and colorful blooms in various stages of development and opening in all their glory, but we looked at all the patterns and the petals. The beautiful centers have a big pod of seeds that resembles a shower spigot in the middle, surrounded by colorful pistils. 

We also observed the broad elephantine leaves. Some, unfurling like new scrolls, and others opened up like large fruit bowls, all the way to the final ruffled edges of the aged.  “Every stage of life in one view,” I said, “but it's so easy to miss it, and drive right by." 

Wow, how many of us rush through life and miss the beauty and the design of God? How many of us never learn to stop and give thanks as we rush to our appointments? 

Our first meeting was a delight, but that second meeting, totally unplanned (by us), provided another great reminder that God is an expert in the design field. He directs our steps! We need to stop and pay attention.

As I drove away, I thought about the unexpected beauty and productivity of that one little spot in the middle of a parking lot. It seemed like something that would be more fitting on a Hawaiian Island or a mountainside somewhere in Japan, not beside Route 9 in Metro West! 

But I’m so grateful for this vision of God’s beauty and balance in a world full of noise and change.

I’m especially grateful for an opportunity to share part of the journey with a beautiful Jewish woman named Liz.