A Prayer!

This will be the first post in a long while, but this post is more like a prayer, than a story. Lord my God, Heavenly Father of all above, most Holy Lord, thank you for the breath in my mouth to speak, and my hands to write with, you Oh Lord are most high above all, Forgive me when I forget that I am mere dust and vapor, and why should you consider me! But for some reason in your thoughts and mind it was in you not only to make Adam, but to also redeem him and all his family, when we fell from the innocence and believed a lie that we could be like you! When you placed all of your wrath on your own Son, who bore our sins in his flesh for our redemption, rather than just removing man from your creation and starting over, you chose to love me first when I was incapable of true love, your mercy is overflowing, your compassion deep beyond comprehension. Lord when I forget my place, forgive me, and draw me gently Lord to repentance and cover my sin once more, Let me give Honor to my Redeemer Jesus and praise most high to the Father who showed his true nature to the sons of men through the life of his most precious son, I know my Redeemer lives, so I may come before you Lord. Show your mercy and compassion upon me that all may see how great your love is and how freely you give it to all who you draw unto you. Praise to the Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. Only you are worthy!

Sunrise on Whitney!



Sunrise on the way to Mt. Whitney!

When you hit the trail at 4:00 am or was it 3:30?, and you walk in predawn darkness with nothing but the sights and sounds you can perceive with a headlamp and the closeness of companions as you head up, up, up, the only thing that is really on your mind, is your pace, will altitude take you out and will it be this dark when you return? Then as the day progresses and the nights starts disintegrating into day you pick up your little camera, and what your eye perceives, you hope it catches! It was there in the dark, and the flash spoils it, so you turn off the flash, fiddle with gloved thumbs and catch something to take home. You can't take the experience back, but when you reach out and capture a moment of God's gesture of beauty it brings back the moment, the emotion, the knowing life is important; it can save you later on! I trained for months, I was in the best physical shape of my life and Christ helped me that day to do something some people can never accomplish. Am I a mountain climber?, in the broadest sense yes, because I have been on the top of mountains, not in the narrow sense though, no ropes, chalks or desire to tackle sheer walls and I do not enjoy precipice's or dangling my legs over the edge, but I do enjoy the view! Hiking through mountains, over mountains and the smell of  pine forest is a joy for me, which challenges and draws me closer to my maker, it inspires confidence and reminds you of your vulnerability. It is something you can do solo and enjoy but it seems to be enjoyed even more when shared with others, because you just can't convey to those who were not with you, the same thing, even though I am sure that each person has a different perception, a different message with each passing step. It is important to know, that when I am alone on a walk, I am not really alone, I have a companion who sticks close, he never outpaces me, and when I tire, he sits with me and waits while I recover, and when my feet bleed, and yes, they have bled, he understands my pain and keeps me going. So while friends may fail you, he never will. Show me the path home, I am very weary, I am not sure if I will make it to the next rise, bring me through the pass over the trail summit and then to the peak as you have done before!

Whitney trail summit!

Whitney summit!