A few days ago, I had a bright idea.
“Let’s go on a sunrise hike!!”
Little did I know that this hike would have me waking up at 2am.
Nonetheless, six of my friends and I woke up at the crack of dawn and made the hour and a half trek to Old Rag, a mountain in the Shenandoah Valley. We arrived, excited, energized and a little sleep deprived at the early hour of 3:30am.
We started off strong. Each of us hurrying up the mountain, eager for the picturesque view above.
That sprinting slowly turned into a crawl, though. About 30 minutes into the hike, the terrain changed from a slight incline to a not-so-slight incline. And it changed fast. It seemed to me like most everyone was doing fine and that I was the only one struggling. I was begging for water breaks about every 10 minutes and complaining twice that amount. Thankfully, my friends kept encouraging me. They kept reminding me about the view and that it would be worth it. And they didn’t give up on me.
At about 5:30, we reached a peak – just in time. We climbed up onto a large rock and just marveled at the beauty that stretched on for miles and miles. We made it and my friends were right – it was definitely worth it.
Pink and purple hues filled the sky and in a span of thirty minutes, the sky changed from those soft shades to the warm tones of orange and yellow. The sun overtook the sky and I just stood there in awe – thankful that I had friends who were able to push me up the mountain so that I could see this – this magnificent and overwhelming beauty.
The whole sky – perfect and one-of-a-kind. It made me feel so small. It made my problems feel so insignificant. It made my worries disappear. It just put everything into a different perspective. But it also made me feel important. I’m not sure exactly how it made me feel significant, but I definitely felt a sense of purpose up on that mountain. Looking out for miles and seeing God’s endless beauty created a feeling of liveliness and determination in me. I felt revived. I felt gratitude. It seemed as though I felt all things that are good and true and that I was supposed to feel those things. In that moment in time, it was like God was placing these feelings in me for a reason – that He really wanted me to feel loved and cared for. And oh, I sure did.
A few hours later, we made the journey back down the mountain (much quicker and much more leisurely than the way up). The way back down was actually a little sad. I kept thinking that we wouldn’t be able to see another view like that unless we hiked all the way back up to the top again. But it was also encouraging. It was a reminder that not all good things come easy.
Sometimes you have to be in some pain and go through some hard times to experience true joy. Sometimes you have to go through the pain of the hike to get the view of the sunrise at the top.
But what I learned is that it is worth it.
With all of the pain and the struggle, the uphill battle may seem impossible, but with a few good friends (and some water), you’ll make it to the top and it will be so so worth it.
So to my six friends that pushed me up the mountain…THANK YOU!
