So I crossed number 16 off my Summer Bucket List - Photobomb. There's not really a cool story, I am just now in the background of an Asian family's photo at Mount Rainier. Yay!!
Down to business though....
It's a struggle to be a Christian. There's a part of me that wants to live so differently and uniquely than the world around me and another part of me that just wants to fit in. I want to do all those things that the world does. And it's not like I wouldn't be a Christian if I did those things, I just want to live in the way that God would want me to. (If this makes no sense and you want me to explain it better, just ask.)
People say stuff to me like, "Well, why don't you do it? It's not going to hurt anything." or "If it feels good, go for it." (Yes, people say these things.) I think that's a terrible way to live. To me that type of living seems like it could only spiral downhill and out of control. Like, that's a ridiculous philosophy and it's one that dates back to the Epicureans in Ancient Rome. (Probably before that, I don't know my history very well.) The way I look at it, even outside of the repercussions of that kind of pleasure seeking behavior, you're missing out on so much.
So, Saturday I went hiking at Paradise in Mt. Rainier and it's obviously covered in knee high snow still. The guys decided they wanted to climb to the very top of this freaking ridiculous ridge and I was just thinking that there was no way I was going to go up that. So I sat at the bottom for a bit with my other female comrade and we just kind of watched the boys trek their way up and disappear over the ridge. When they didn't come back for a while we decided we had better go find them, so we hauled ourselves up the snow laden mountain and found the boys just chillin...I don't know what they were doing. Then it was time to find our way down and we decided to go down the other side. We started making our way slowly down, and then of course the guys started careening down as fast as they could. They were running and jumping like general hooligans before they started slipping and sliding down on their butts. It was so much fun to slide down that hill. And I never would have gotten to if I wasn't forced to make that climb.
A hard climb can yield unexpected results. It's so worth it to just hang in there no matter how hard it may be. I know that if I stand for my convictions now, it will lead to a better future for me. Not just because of the risks I'm not taking, but because of the way it is preparing me for my future career, my future husband, and the future me.
