Photo by Paul Venturo
Harsh, cruel wind bit into our skin, and icy, cold snow crunched beneath our feet as we turned and left behind yet another unfinished 14er—our fourth failed attempt. If you have read any of our other recent posts in this section, you will know that a 14er is a mountain over 14,000 ft., and that our family is crazy about mountain climbing. Just last week, we were finally able to summit our first ever 14er, and now we were moving on to the next level. We were climbing a more difficult peak—and for a while, we were certain we could make it. Starting at precisely 3:16 in the morning, we had made good time, and prospects were high that we should evade the tempestuous weather forecasted to unleash upon the mountains later that day. We could make it.
But we didn’t. At 7:30 am, at around 13,100 ft., we found ourselves turning around.
We have had to turn around in the past for many reasons—melting snow, knife-edge ridges, gale-force winds—in all these instances we have had to make wise decisions based on time, the extent of danger, and how much risk we believe it would honor God for our family to take. This particular climb, we again had to make such a decision. We looked up at the summit in view, so temptingly close, and then we looked at our mom, whose physical condition was deteriorating rapidly.
Now don’t get me wrong. Our mom is one of the strongest people we know. She will push past any limitation, strive against any obstacle, no matter how physically or emotionally exhausting it is, in order to accomplish a goal. But this time, despite all her ferocious tenacity, she was set upon by a condition over which she had no control. Mom came down with a serious altitude illness known as HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema). It was incredible she had made it so far. But now we saw that it was too dangerous to continue. We had to make another wise decision.
The trouble with wise decisions is that they are almost never the exciting or enjoyable ones. No one wants to turn away from something they’ve worked this hard for and wanted this badly. In fact, probably no one was more devastated than Mom herself at the dreadful turn of events.
But climbing mountains has taught us one or two things. However good or rewarding or incredible your dreams and ambitions, there are things that are more important. There is One Who is more important. He is Jesus. And He has given us certain responsibilities—these are more important than anything else. A summit is wonderful, but the family we are responsible for is far more important. Many dreams and ambitions are wonderful, but reaching the lost, dying world around us is more important.
What is your greatest dream, ambition? It may be a good and wonderful thing. But is this thing that you’re working so hard for, that you want so badly, causing you to neglect your family? Is it making you forget about all the people around you who will die any moment to spend eternity in Hell?
I close this entry by reminding us that though family and reaching the lost are extremely important things, Jesus is the most important of them all. And if Jesus is everything to you, all those other important things He has made you responsible for will become important to you as well. So give your heart, your life, your everything to Jesus, and all your priorities will fall into their proper places behind Him.
