Awakening of a Summer

When it comes to hearing God's call, it is sometimes difficult deciphering whether God is calling us to a place, or if we are calling ourselves to that place.

Regardless, I arrived here at Mt. Rainier and made a priorities list for the summer. My number one priority was to God: walking with him and helping lead others to him through the ministry.

There were 30 foot mounds of snow lying on the ground then. June and July came but the snow piles still lingered here at Paradise. Very slowly since then, the landscape has been revealing itself to me. Rivers appear and become audible. Small trees once buried now stand tall. Snow drifts disappear and change into boulders and young trees. Hills take shape and color the earth with the budding wildflowers. In the same way, God has been slowly revealing this summer to me.

Things have not been easy. At times, I wanted to give up. The company treats us (employees) poorly and the winter weather began to wear me down simply because it was winter in June and July. Paradise, I assured myself, was a misnomer. The Pacific Northwest proved itself true to its notorious reputation for cloudy weather. The lack of sunshine drained my patience until one specific evening, Kayla and I found ourselves arguing.

"You were the one who wanted to come here."

"What do you mean? You suggested it to me!"

"No, you picked here. I wanted to go to Crater Lake."

"I didn't pick here, I wanted to go to Zion or Yosemite."

The argument didn't go anywhere but in circles. Our efforts only convinced ourselves into a state exhaustion. However, the exhaustion built a nest of silence where God's silent voice tucked in close between us. We both realized that, if she didn't choose to come here and he didn't choose to come here, God must have chose for us to be here.

When life in Paradise was becoming complicated and difficult, it was a simple answer that God offered in his perfect timing: God brought us here.

I hold onto the belief that God has a reason for bringing us here.
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