"Take Heart!"

A couple of weeks ago, I had the incredible opportunity to visit the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee with my grandparents, my mom, and my sweet little boy.  We had an unbelievable time! I am so very thankful for each moment that we spent together,  for every experience that we shared, and for each adventures that we had!  

One of those adventures was ZIP-LINING! 

Thanks to my sweet grandparents, who kept an eye on Titus, my mom and I were able to do this! I have wanted to zip-line for SO long and I could not wait to get geared up! 

Once we checked in, we were introduced to the other members of our group. I looked around at the 7 men standing before me. All of them in their late 20's early 30's. All of them friends...some were family. What brought them all together on this particular day? To this particular zip-lining course? Well, quickly we learned that one of them was about to get the ol' "ball and chain." So...a group of his buddies got together to throw him a big "Smoky Mountain Bachelor Party!" "Oh great," I thought, "out of all the groups that have come to do this course today, this is the one that my mom and I get stuck with!" Although this was my initial reaction, it sure didn't last long. They were terrific guys who made the experience all the more fun! (Hats off to the Baltimore men and their motto: "zip-line first, booze later!") Had the motto been reversed...it could have been bad out there! :)  

After hiking up the side of the mountain to the first platform, our 6o year old guide, who by the way, did not seem winded AT ALL...turned to us, and with a crooked smile, dramatcially asked..."whooo's first?" I looked around and silently waited, for what seemed like FOREVER! In reality, however, it was probably only like half a second! Although I was about ready to jump out of my skin with excitement...I made myself pause. Surely the adventurous men needed a chance to tackle their way to the platform! So, for a split second, I waited. However, there was 

nothing. Silence. Nobody volunteered...not even my mother. So,  I threw my hand up in the air and in a nervous/excited high pitched voice, yelled "I'll go!" I jumped up on the platform and the younger guide clipped me onto the line. The older guide, whose name was Evelynn, looked at me again with that crooked smile and laughed..."I'll see you on the other side!" She leaned back, pushed off, and as she was flying through the air we could hear her chuckle as she yelled..."This is why they call me 'Evil'-ynn!" My eyes got big and I thought to myself "oh my...that woman is going to eat me!" However, there was no turning back. "Alright", the guide said, "now don't forget...left hand holds on...right hand breaks. Now bend your knees, lean back, and take off!"

WOW! There is NOTHING like zip-lining through a mountain forest! I think I screamed the whole way across to that first platform...and once "Evil"-ynn came into view...I am pretty sure that my screams got even louder! :)

What an incredible experience! So freeing! So relaxing! SO FUN!!! :)

You know, sometimes, it is SO nice to go somewhere where nobody knows you. Where nobody knows your story. Where nobody knows anything about you. When you are somewhere like that...you can tell someone your name and absolutely no recognition or emotion crosses their face. Their eyes stay dry and they don't get ackward or weird. You can actually start to feel somewhat normal in a place like this.

You can feel normal, that is, until your zip-lining guide asks you a question...one that takes you completely off guard. One you weren't prepared for. You see, had you been prepared, you would have had an answer already planned out...already rehearsed. But you had nothing. So, you just babble around for a minute and then pour out your whole sob story to an innocent small talker who really meant no harm at all in her questioning. (Poor "Evil"-ynn. She sure didn't know what she was getting herself into when she decided to bat the breeze with me!)

She had seen Titus from a distance when my grandparents had dropped my mom and I off at the tour office. During one of our water breaks, her and I start talking and she asked me whose baby that was at the front office. I told her that he was mine. I was then ready to answer the string of questions that usually follow a statement like that. You know: "How old is he? What's his name? Do you have any other kids?" By the time questions like these get rolling, I can usually turn them around and get the topic off me. I was prepared...I was ready. However, instead she asks: "Well, where is his daddy? Didn't he want to come zip-lining with you?"

Ugh! Of course he would have wanted to zip-line with me! He would have LOVED it! 

Although I was the first one off the platform when we started, I was the last one off as we ended. Evelyn was left with me on the platform. She looked at me and said "I am so sorry about your husband. What are you going to do?" I smiled and then responded with..."well, today I am zip-lining!" She chuckled and then said "Well good for you! We just got to keep living our lives don't we?" I wholeheartedly agreed. I then told her how God has been so good to me and that it is only by His strength that I am able to stand. She looked at me, smiled, and nodded her head.  She went on to tell me that not too long ago, her mom passed away from cancer. It was after that happened that she decided to live her "bucket list" and move to the mountains. She needed an escape.

After my brief conversation with sweet "Evil"ynn, I took my final leap off the platform. AWESOME! 

One thing that became clear to me this week is that I will never be able to run from my reality. No matter how far I go or what distances I travel. My past will always be my past. My experiences will always be my experiences. Good or bad...they are a part of me. I can pretend that things are different. Pretend that I've escaped; however, no amount of pretending can make the truth fade. The heartache go away. The sadness disappear. 

I said earlier that I sometimes want to just feel "normal." But what is normal? Pain free? Because that life certainly doesn't exist for anybody.

Life is hard. For everyone. It doesn't matter how young or how old you are. It is hard.

Thankfully...

there is hope.

Jesus says:

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!" John 16:33

When life seems unbearable. When difficult experiences seem to suffocate. When we try to run away from our troubles and vanish from our realities, we can be comforted; knowing that this life is not all there is.  (Zip-lining was an unbelievable experience...but even it cannot compare to the glory that awaits God's children in heaven.) Although we don't always understand His ways, we can trust that His purposes are always for the good. 

Praise God...we serve a risen Savior! 

Praise God...He has overcome the world! 

Praise God...in midst of hard times, we are able to "Take heart!"