Uphill Adventures

"Killer Hill". I promise, it's bigger
than this picture makes it look...

We are currently in Kijabe, Kenya. It is about an hour and a half north of Nairobi and is set in the Rift Valley. I went on a run the other day and came to a hill that the people who live in this area have named, "killer hill" because, well... it is killer! It is a straight uphill for longer than a healthy distance (that is how I measure things...). I huffed and puffed going up the hill the other day. As I was trudging my way up the hill, I thought, "this is a perfect metaphor for our life right now! It is like going straight up a very steep hill where we are not sure where it will end or if we will make it up before collapsing".

So, if you can't tell, I was feeling a bit dramatic at the time.

And then, the next day, I went down the same hill. You know what I learned? Going down a "way steeper than necessary" hill is just as difficult as going up it. Because you know what? Whether you are going up or down, a hill is a hill. It takes effort.

While I was going down the hill, I was thinking about the metaphor again and how the steep downhill was still a representation of our life (yep, a day later, but still feeling equally dramatic...). I was thinking about how at any second my knees were probably going to collapse and I was going to ride down the hill on my buttocks. I thought, "well, that's just perfect because that is how I feel right now. Just like the hill is too steep and I'm riding through life on my backside".

Luckily, in the middle of my dramatic pity party, I looked past the fence to my right. 5 feet from where I was (luckily, on the other side of the barbed wire fence), was a family of baboons! BABOONS! There were about 7 or 8 of them and they were playing in the tree, running and grooming each other. It was amazing! I had never seen anything like it outside of the confines of a zoo before.

After enjoying the baboon family for a few minutes, I continued my walk (or butt-scoot) down the hill. Immediately, I felt like God said, "Theresa, you live in Africa! Life is going to be difficult, but take time to look off to your right and enjoy the baboons every now and then- this life is an adventure!" Yes, that is what I have forgotten in all of this! This life is an adventure. It is difficult, yes, but isn't every adventure difficult? Isn't that part of territory? The beauty of an adventure is the unknown.

I have a renewed hope for the unknowns at the moment. I am reminded that this adventure will not be easy. There will be times when I feel like I'm coasting down hills on my booty with no hopes of flat ground. However, God created the hill and you know what, He also gave me the legs to withstand the inclines and declines. He gave me the ability and strength to sustain the movements and the falls.

And since He is a loving and creative Father, he also provides baboons along the way to makes us laugh and remind us that we are on an adventure and He is right there with us.

So today, I'm grateful for baboons (and fences in between me and the baboons).