Juniper Trees

So, this is the second half, and it comes from the same hike, but instead of talking about hiking, it's about a juniper tree that I saw. At the top of one of the peaks there is a level bit of ground that is about 100 yards long by about 20 yards across. It is almost completely surrounded by rocks and the soil is sand and rocks, that only grass seems to be able to get a good hold on. There is however, one juniper tree that has found it's home amond the rocky soil, and the roots snake in and out of the ground to get a firm grip on the edge of a dastardly fall. Looking at the tree I realized that it wasn't given the most ideal place to live, but God chose that tree to live in that place for some magical reason. Maybe specifically so I can draw some wisdom from it, maybe to leave a spot for a bird to sit as he's flying south. Either way, there is a tree, and it's healthy, about 10 feet tall. It could be very old, but I can't tell because there aren't a lot of other trees around. I got to thinking about it's ability to live, even though it wasn't given the best spot to live. We are all given places to live by God, we weren't randomly placed by some cosmic roulette wheel, God picked us. I have no idea what it is that I am supposed to do with my life, but I need to be like that tree and make the best life of it that I can in the place that I am. I'm not given another choice, I get the one pick, and after this, I have to answer to the man about how I chose to live the life that I was given. I don't get to ask for a second chance and I didn't pick this as my first choice over some list of other less desireable lives. Who then would be born to drug addicted parents, or even live in the suburbs. We would all be rich, but we would all have little need of God. I am happy with my life, I pick wrong sometimes, but for the most part, I have done well with the life God has given me.

Climbing Hills

The below post is actually an email that I sent to a friend of mine, it is in two parts and I'm going to post the second part as well, but you might, if you're reading this, have read the other part first, that is ok by me.

This is only a half of a coherent thought, and I"m in a rush, and I'm not sure why it hit me that I needed to send it now, but here goes. I've been hiking a lot since I took over this job. It's hard not to when I can walk out my front door, look left OR right and have 1000 ft climb just waiting for me. It's one of the advantages of being down in a hole, the view of the mountains is quite glorious. This week I've met a lot of great people and one of the questions that I ask almost anyone is if they like to hike around the hills or not. I was suprised to hear that many of them did not. It's a pretty enough view, but when I was up behind my house on about a 4000ft 'hill' I could see for miles. The view was spectacular. I felt a little sad for the people that never climb up there to take a look. It's like my own walk with Christ. I was comfortable just looking a Jesus and doing my own thing for so long that I missed out on what could be there if I started walking toward him. I get closer all the time, climb hills all the time, get to the top of the next ridge only to discover that further on there is a higher hill that is just out of reach. I know more and more about Jesus all the time, but there is always more to see. It won't be until I reach the end of life on this Earth that I will really get to see all there is to see. That is the pinnacle of this life, death. With death, we get to see God, Jesus, family, mother Teresa, whomever it is you desire to see, and they will love you. Some of this just spewed onto the page, but I think it worked out ok.