Journey Up the Mountain

Sometimes you just have to unplug! Well, I say use the word "unplug" loosely as I have an entire office set up  here on the mountain thanks to my sweet husband!  Out of a great many square feet of cabin, I am holed up in this little space with just this little lamp light and my computer - having the time of my life!

It is so quiet.  Other than a few technology bobbles, it has been very productive.  And I've even learned a few things from the techno-bobbles!  So nothing wasted. I'm just thankful to be here!

But that is not what I wanted to write about.  You see my life is so busy in this season that I rarely have time to just hang out with the Lord.  We are usually on the run together these days - not a bad thing.  He said this season would come.  I had a few years to prepare.  But this week is something I treasure and want to add to my regular "To-Do" list - these little getaways where it is just He and I.

From the moment I decided to come up on the mountain and after my brother- and sister-in-law graciously offered the cabin for my use this week, I slipped into this beautiful place of anticipation with the Lord.

As always, I could never "just leave".  Oh no, the dog needed a refill on his medicine and more dog food.  I had to make sure there were groceries in the house. My husband ran out of clean, white socks!  Not to mention that I've had Jaci Valesquez' jacket and jewelry from the video shoot hanging on my closet door since April and I wanted to mark that one off my list!  So I had to run to Nashville that morning.  Finally it was time to leave, but those storms were coming and I am committed to pray for the safety of my city.  I felt compelled to sit tight until the worst was over.   Here is where it gets fun!

I was watching the sky.  It looked interestingly dismal.  Already in pockets on the outskirts of town, trees were down, roofs were damaged, and many reported hail.  But I'm thinking, "Okay Lord, let's get this show on the road.  I want to be in tune with you tonight as I am going to be dodging this storm and arriving late to the mountain as it is.  So help me to know when to leave, how to be safe, and so on.

My first impression was to get a haircut.  Well, I needed one, so I made an appointment where I felt led to go.  While I was in there, the bottom fell out and we had a rain so bad that my husband called to check on where I was and if I was okay.  So while it is storming outside, I am sitting in a chair with a heated towel around my neck getting a head massage.  I'm thinking, "Great choice Lord!"  By the time I was done, the rain had stopped.   The skies are still looking pretty nauseous, so my next inclination was to go and get my eyebrows waxed at a different location.  So I drove there and got just inside the building when the bottom dropped out again.  I'm starting to catch on to what the Lord is doing - sharpening my ears to hear His direction.  So I enjoy a bit of salon conversation and walk out looking like I'd been slapped around a few times but with nicely arched brows :)  I'm saying, "Now what?"

"You forgot your pillow!"  Okay, so I call my husband to say that I'm coming home to get my pillow.  He said, "You're still in town!  I thought you'd be halfway up the mountain by now.  I am concerned about your travel tonight.  Why don't you just come home and leave in the morning?"  I said, "Nope!  I'm already having too much fun.  I'm going on tonight."  So I went home and fetched my pillow, kissed my concerned husband (he's so sweet) and left with fairly clear skies over the 'Boro but really nasty looking skies in the direction I am headed.  I'm suddenly thinking of the character Pecos Bill in the old movie, "Tall Tales" lassoing a tornado just for the thrill of it.  Not that I would ever do that or anything - I hate storms and I hate tornados.  But something about this night gave me assurance that God was as excited about my trip as I.

I started out for Altamont, which is about an hour east of Murfreesboro.  It was sprinkling but so very dark due to the ominous clouds.  The sky looked like it was about to erupt.  When I was just about to Manchester, my next impression was to stop and get peanut butter for my celery.  Indeed I had forgotten to pack it.  So I stopped at exit 114 and pulled in to the Walmart.  Just as I got inside the building, the bottom dropped out once more.  The rain was so loud you couldn't speak to your neighbor walking next to you through the store.  I began to pray for safety.  I got what I needed and just waited to see what I should do next.  "Why don't you look at some hair gel to go with that spiffy new spike-do?"  I have to walk to the other side of the store, but okay.  The bottom drops out once more and again it was something you wouldn't want to be outside in, and certainly not driving through.  It passed, I checked out and left Walmart, heading for the mountain.  It never rained more than a sprinkle the rest of the way.

So I'm praying for everything I can think of since we're alone - God and I.  Suddenly I pass my exit!  "Shoot-Fire" I said.  Lord, there is not a turnaround or another exit until Monteagle mountain!  Oh well!  I go on up Monteagle mountain, which is one mountain beyond the one the cabin is on.  As I ascend, it gets foggy.  Aaahh!  I see.  So this is the safer route!  The Pelham exit (the one I missed) and corkscrew drive up the mountain I usually take has very little street lights, the road is narrow and the mountain path very winding.  My drive would have been a test on my nerves for sure.  So I got off at Monteagle and took Highway 41 through Tracey City and over to Altamont.  Once I was on the mountain and crossing over the top, there was hardly any fog at all.  God is so smart :)

It was nearly 11:00 p.m.  The family cabin is in a gated community but way off the beaten path.  Someone knocked down the street sign, so I'm saying, "Okay Lord, is this it?"  I feel a witness of the Spirit, as it is very dark in this area of the mountain.  I drive on the little one car road, then off the pavement onto the gravel road, winding more and more into the woods.  Finally I come to the entrance gate.  Everything is dark and still, no sound - just stillness.  I go in and follow the road until I see the cluster of signs pointing the way to the cabin.  I follow the turn and finally reach the white gated entrance to the property.  Now I have to get out into the dark and open that gate.  So far, I have not seen anyone at their cabins along the way - it's just me and God and the stillness of the woods.  And of course, by this time, it does begin to sprinkle a little.  Why?  Because every time I come to this mountain it rains or snows! What are the odds?   Anyway, I get out and sense my surroundings.  So far, so good.  So I open the gate and get quickly back in the car and continue the drive to the cabin.
The cabin is situated on a bluff overlooking the valley below.  It is breathtaking and beautiful.  The Lord has timed my entire trip just right so that every time a stormy outburst occurred, I was safely inside one building or the other.  And the end of my trip is no different.  I find the key, go in and disarm the alarm system.  I unload my entire vehicle, go in and lock the door behind me.  Suddenly, the rain is so loud once again that I am wondering if the tall front chalet windows are going to fall in!  I set up my little office and immediately commenced to working - after I thanked the Lord for the adventure.

Being alone with God is not like being alone at all.  He has done an amazing work in me in regard to fear.  He has sharpened my ear to hear His voice over the years.  This evening was just an opportunity to see just how well He has made my heart attuned to His guidance.  I am so grateful.  And here I've been since Monday evening - in a beautiful cabin, in almost perfect weather (after the storms), in the pitch dark of each night in a cabin with no curtains and lots of windows.  And yet I am at peace.  My God, how You love me!

King David said, "If I make my bed in hell, you are there!"  He knew what it was like to be in tough spots and still feel the overwhelming presence of God.   I cannot say that I've always felt peaceful in my surroundings or circumstances because I didn't fully know that I could trust God.  But I can say, that in spite of my immature distrust, I do not ever remember a time in my life when I was in serious trouble - and there were a great many of those times - that He didn't show up.  In every attempt on my life, when I was lost in the mountains alone, when I was chased by a ferocious dog, when I was almost struck by a rattle snake, when I was stalked by a strange man in my hometown, when I had demonic encounters at night...I could go on and on but my point is that He was always there and He always showed me what to do.  Here I sit at 1:25 a.m. writing this for you to read and I'm alive and well because, "Even if I made my bed in hell" (or in troublesome circumstances) He is, has been, and always will be there for me.

Life is busy.  Evil is busy too.  All around us bad things happen to good people because evil has yet to be extinguished in our world.  However, we have a Redeemer who is alive and well!  He is the Master and Commander of the Host of Heaven.  He is all-powerful and an ever present help in time of trouble.  But if you can just get in the groove of acknowledging Him - as if He is always there, because He is - your life will never be the same again.  That has been my story for a very long time now and it gets better every day, every month, and every year.

This year, I am passing a torch to my daughter.  I pray that she too will discover His faithfulness as we launch her into the nations for His glory.  Ahhh - there He is again, holding my heart when I speak of her departure.

You are good Abba and I love You.  Your Presence is the only safe, sane, significant, sound and sensible place for my retreat.  Thank You for accompanying me here this week.  Until tomorrow...You are my peace.