There I stood, a piercing high pitched squeal filled the air, and my stomach dropped. Something was wrong. Something was very very wrong. I scanned the massive hiking crowd for his big brown eyes, long eyelashes, and seconds rolled by. It felt like eternity. His eyes found mine. My eyes locked on his, and I took an audible sigh of relief for a brief second until I saw the big tears that filled his eyes waiting to pour down his beautiful skin. And my heart sank.
You see I had this amazing idea to do something crazy. You know those things you’ve always heard people talk about that sounds amazing BUT only for that person! Right! I had heard hiking was fun FROM other people, but I’m not the outdoorsy type. Or at least I thought. When my dad got sick and almost died, it shifted my entire world. No longer was I the scared gal, afraid to do this or that. No longer was I the gal who sat by on the sidelines allowing life to pass by. No longer was I the gal who watched on autopilot. Years ago, I felt like someone else kissed my kids at night before bed. Years ago, I felt like I was walking through life GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS! I felt numb, I felt sleep deprived from having tons of babies back to back and nursing tons. I felt so incredibly blessed, but I did not love the little years. You can read about that in another blog. I did not enjoy waking up each morning, and in certain seasons I went in and out of depression. In other seasons, my anxiety was super high, and I managed it by doing too much and other seasons wine was my home girl. Moscato was my best friend. Give me Jesus and grace, today friends. That was my life. Perhaps you can relate or you know someone who can.
My journey to getting past depression, and anxiety, and even PTSD was not an easy one. It has taken me years, and tons of therapy, and tons of people pouring into me and holding me accountable even when I wanted to give them the finger. Can I say that here? They were angels to me, and I was a pain. My mentors probably can take on any case because of me and my mess. But by the grace of God, friend, God saw fit to surround me with people who would not LET ME QUIT! And he strengthened me in the mess of life. When I wanted to give up! When I didn’t want to live! When I almost took my life 12 years ago, friend! He never let me fall. And I can write this today because of the goodness and grace of God and because of those people!
So my dad gets sick a few months ago, almost dies, and my life is forever changed. The things that were “Absolutely not” became “ I CAN DO THAT”. So I take my four kids to Chimney Rock, NC to hike one of the hardest trails. And it was grueling. It was terrifying. It was exhilarating, but it was absolutely one of the hardest things I’ve done. Now, I’ve given birth to 4 babies. I had three of those babies without medication, and I’m telling you, hiking Chimney Rock was difficult. At one point, I wanted to quit. It had gotten too hard, and my body was exhausted. And parts of it, I carried our 4 year old daughter who was beasting it and not complaining at all. Two absolutely pivotal things happened on that hike.
Before we started our ascent to the top, we were about a few minutes in. A young couple, tried to talk us out of it. Talk us out of climbing. They meant well. They were super sweet. But they tried to tell us that it was too difficult. And I get it. They had a little one, and they took the bus instead of hiking which is great for them. But sometimes in your life, people who are scared to do hard things try to talk you out of doing HARD things. They project their fears onto you, and they mean well. But what if God has asked you to do something specifically, and you instead listen to that scared person. And I’m not saying, “Don’t get wisdom. Or don’t listen to people. I’m not saying that at all. Because Proverbs is full of scriptures talking about listening to wisdom.” But I feel today, that some of you are listening to the wrong people. The people who are too afraid to DO BIG THINGS FOR GOD. The people who want to stay in their comfort zones and want you to stay there too! If we would’ve listened to the people on our journey who were afraid, we would not have gotten to experience the fullness of God’s beauty. The fullness of what He had for us that day!
The 2nd pivotal thing that happened on that hike was that we finally made it to the waterfall! We had finally gotten to experience the beauty of God, and then I hear a piercing squeal. It was our son, our baby boy. He is six, and bless his little heart. He had overheard someone talking about a snake. They had not seen one. They were just talking about it, and all of these details about the snakes being poisonous and this and that. It incited so much fear into his little heart. He became terrified, squealed in absolute terror, and he immediately just wanted to leave. The waterfall and the beauty of it all was right before his big brown eyes, and he could not enjoy it. He could not enjoy it because his fear was so great. Wow.
He is so brave, and I’m so proud of him. He wanted to peace out, and so we left shortly thereafter.
The girls experiencing God’s beauty at Chimney Rock, NC
But I love how God works because had we not left when we did, we would have missed a moment. A God moment. You know when God orchestrates the very details of something in His timing, like only He can do. So we are walking back down Chimney Rock when we notice an older woman who has fallen. Her knees are scraped and bloody. Her head has a huge knot that has formed, and she had fallen on one of the rocks. We get to her and assist her in any way we can. Someone gives her ice. We are helping her clean off her wounds, when the Holy Spirit says, “Pray for her.” Now. There are hikers all around. We are on a mountain. And this lady is a complete stranger. DO IT SCARED! So I ask her can I pray for her. And she said, “Yes please.” I pray for her, for her back that she had been having trouble with. Her head so that she doesn’t get a concussion. And so much more. In that moment, I knew that I was not on that mountain for me. I was not even on that mountain for my kids. I was on that mountain because of God, and what He wanted to do through me! DO IT SCARED! He could choose anyone, but he chooses us to advance the kingdom of God! He chooses us to bring hope, and life, and victory, and peace, and JOY to those around us! He chooses us to reveal His glory to those who don’t know Him! SO DO IT SCARED! He chose YOU!
I was almost talked out of taking the journey up the mountain. I was almost talked out of praying for the woman on the mountain because fear has a way of doing that. BUT GOD! Will you “DO IT SCARED!” Will you tell fear to get out! Will you obey God even when it is messy and hard and the journey to getting there may be too steep! Will you sacrifice all the sweat, tears, and even blood on the way to reaching out for the promises of God knowing He has more for you, and all you have to do IS DO IT SCARED! Yes!
Isaiah 51:9 says, “Awake, awake, put on strength.” Will you put on the strength of God today and DO IT SCARED!?
My son was scared. I was scared. Goodness, it was hard, it was painful, BUT it was worth it! I can do hard things friends! And so can you! It starts today! DO IT SCARED!
Until next time,
Shelly
Want more? Check out our new “DO IT SCARED” journal! Pre-sale starts this week!