Gary and I just got back late Tuesday night from a vacation to Greece.
It was wonderful to get away from our normal routine and explore a different country. We spent a few days in Athens, and then we rented a car and visited lots of cities on the mainland.
In quite a few places, we had to hike up to the monastery or archeological site or fortress or castle. It seems like I reached a point in each hike where I questioned myself.
Can I really do this? Is it even worth it? Maybe I should just sit down and let Gary tell me about it when he comes back down.
I got tired, but I took a little break and pressed on.
And every single time, I was glad I did it.
The views from the top were magnificent and I felt a sense of accomplishment because I had kept plugging away and made it to the end of the hike.
At the beginning of our vacation, I had more energy and enthusiasm. It didn’t bother me too much to make the long climbs to see the sites.
When we got toward the end of our time in Greece, it got harder. We decided to pass up the chance to climb 999 steps to see a fortress in Napflio. And when we explored a fortress overlooking ancient Corinth, I started crying when I saw yet another building high on a hill. I was sure I couldn’t make it there (it was getting close to closing time) and I was just so tired.
But I walked as I cried, and I was surprised to find that it only took us fifteen minutes to get to the top of the building. The wind blew my hair all over the place as I cried grateful tears that I had made it to the top.
Once again, I was glad I did it.
As we travel this road of life, there are going to be ups and downs. We may wonder if we have the strength to make it when it feels like a long uphill climb.
Take a break if you have to, but keep going. You’ll feel that sense of accomplishment when you get through a hard season, knowing that you didn’t give up.
As I was hiking, I was always glad I had kept going and made it to the top of whatever we happened to be climbing on a given day. There were little joys that we experienced on the way up and down: poppies and other wildflowers blooming along the path, the ruins we passed on the way up, hearing various languages spoken by other travelers (I love foreign languages), stopping to take in the views as we got higher and higher on the trail, finally reaching the top, and enjoying the easier trip back down to our starting place.
I thought about how that compares to going through our lives. I sometimes get overwhelmed and want to quit, but I want to push past those feelings and live my entire life. The ups and downs…all of it. I know there are going to be hard times, but I also know there are going to be thousands of joyful moments along the way. When I get to the end of my life, I just know I’m going to be glad I did it.
Keep going, friends, you’ll be glad you did it, too.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7 NIV)
Do you ever get tired of life’s ups and downs? How can focusing on God help you keep going so you can be “glad you did it” someday?