Mountaintop Experiences

Today I went to the mountaintop. Literally, to the top of Stone Mountain, I went there. It was a hard journey but a few years ago I was walking and I heard God whisper in my spirit "Mountaintop Experiences." It was intimidating. I'd never completed a walk up a mountain before that because my mind had already convinced me that it was hardwork. I was already defeated and didn't have plans to accomplish this at any point in time. I remember my old job had a young CEO named Bryan Mundy that climbed mountains. Before his untimely death, he explained that he had a dream to climb the highest peak on every continent. He even wanted to take underpriviledged youth with him on these journeys to teach them this message that "if you can accomplish this, you can do anything." While I was impressed by his tenacity I was still not moved with anything that even remotely looked like interest. When God said mountain top experiences, I felt a Sarai spirit coming on who laughed at the prospect of being a mother in her old age. Then I reflected on things i'd heard about that involved mountains. How Martin Luther King Jr.'s I have a dream speech touched on going to the mountaintop and seeing the promised land. A reference to the promised land that Moses got to see but Joshua got to experience. And how Jesus was tempted of Satan on a mountaintop. I began to think about the pictures I saw and how the views from the mountain are beautiful to behold. So I began to think, if it was important enough for God to place in my spirit, then I can't not pursue it. I had to fulfill the purpose. Thus began my journey. I had to find which mountain; Stone Mountain eventually became the obvious choice. Climbing it for the first time was an experience. I was exposed to the wonders and beauty of nature. I was excited to have accomplished a goal that I initially felt unobtainable. And I was exhausted because of the extreme mental and physical exertion that was placed upon my being. But I wasn't totally fulfilled. I still didn't know what mountaintop experiences meant. I soon realized that experiences was plural. God must have wanted me to go back. I had to go back and face the mountain again and again. Journey, beauty, accomplishment, hardwork; journey, beauty, accomplishment, hardwork; journey, beauty, accomplishment, hardwork over and over again. But where was the lesson? Where was the meaning? What was the purpose? I stopped going up the mountain. My body immediately responded. A brief visit to a healthfair revealed I had borderline high cholesterol which prompted a visit to my doctor. She said that I could take medicine or control it through diet and exercise. Back to the mountain to start the cycle again journey, beauty, accomplishment, and hardwork. Then I met Chad. When I was tired, frustrated, and ready to go back down the mountain. I saw Chad whose body language demonstrated outwardly what I was feeling inwardly. I went to him and channeled all my energy and I summoned all my willpower to help him make it to the top and we did. At the top was his wife and children. The look on his wife's face said that I took away her ability to punish him for not making it. She could no longer laugh at his inability. But I didn't care because i'd just found purpose. Knowing that I could make it to the top is one thing; but my job that day was to help someone else get there with me.