Blogrimage Day 1: Mountaintop experiences

March 12 - I went to Yosemite national park with Crave, Saddleback Church's college group (the ministry i'm working with) on Sunday the 11th. We were going there for a retreat and to "get away from it all". My desire for this blogrimage is to get back into shape. So my goal for every day is do at least something that has to do with exercise every single day for the next 30 days. So March 12, a bunch of people decided to go hiking. It turned out to be a 7 mile hike with an increase of 2700 feet in 3 and a half miles. Needless to say, it was tiring, beautiful, hard, and totally worth it. When we finally reached the top, we were standing on top of a waterfall. The only thing separating us from inevitable death was a rail.

There were several highlights of this hike, seeing the waterfall from both the bottom and the top, going from sweating my butt off to freezing as i was surrounded by snow, and talking with people from Korea, Canada, and England along the way. It was incredible to make connections along the way as we all journeyed together yet separate. It also got me pondering about the different journeys in life that we all go through.

The biblical aspect of the mountain top, and the deserts of life were so relevant for this hike, and it had me questioning where on my journey I was. I believe that right now i am coming out of a desert journey in my life and heading towards the mountaintop. However, is the mountaintop really the goal? No. The journey and what we learn along the way is the goal. Through the deserts are we still seeking after christ? I know in this past desert of my life in South Korea, I was not. I was going to church, praying every now and then, but seeking Christ, and desiring to follow after Him was not my number one priority. As i've been in California, I've been desiring more of what God has for my life and less of what I want for my own life. The mountain top experiences are only meant to be lived for a short time. Eventually you must come back down. Those mountain top experiences can fuel us for a little while, but we must, and by we i mean me, learn to be fueled by the journey.

Journey on.