I Climbed That Mountain…

…and a month later, I still haven’t been able to put adequate words around it. I commemorated the 5 year mark of my late husband’s passing by hiking to the top of Stone Mountain for the very first time in my life.

Perhaps more words will come later, but for today, I share this journey in pictures.

And for anyone walking through circumstances that seem insurmountable right now, I humbly offer this encouragement:

Walk this difficult road…

one step…

one moment…

one day…

one decision at a time.

StoneMt-step

Allow others to help you. You don’t have to walk the path alone.

{A huge thanks to my dear friends Sue and Susanne for climbing with me. They represent so many people who accompanied me along this long, hard 5 year journey.}

StoneMt not alone

Even if you feel like fear will overtake you, don’t give up. Stay the course.

{It was at this moment that I realized the mountain was not as scary as I had imagined it to be. As my wise pastor, Billy, reminded me, fear tends to shrink when you face it head on.}

StoneMt face it

And finally, trust God no matter what. Yes, I said no matter what.

I stood in the very place where my earthly love shared his final moments on this earth because I know that this earth is not our final resting place. Because of Jesus, death does not and will not have the final say.

StoneMt-19 final moment

So I walk on. I live to face another day. I live to give all the Glory to the One, Jesus, who is my very life.

I live to tell you to keep climbing.

StoneMt-horizon

Dearly loved, climbing on,
Melissa

Photography by the amazing Jade King Horton.

Convinced…

I have a 2 by 4 piece of wood sitting on my desk in my parents’ living room. It is no ordinary piece of wood, for it is adorned with duck tape and is actually 2 pieces of wood glued, screwed and nailed together. Written in one corner is “Romans 8:38-39.”

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to seperate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Our good friend Scott, who so amazingly spoke at Tony’s memorial service, brought the wood piece to me after it was used as a part of a sermon at Buckhead Church a few weeks after Tony died. The point of the sermon was that no matter what bad or good things come at us in life, nothing, NOTHING, can seperate us from the love of God. Those 2 pieces of wood permanently stuck together represented that.

The wood certainly does not match my mother’s beautiful decor in their home, yet its meaning is a lifeline to me. It speaks of the word “convinced.”

For I am convinced that God’s love is with me. Always. Forever.

Convinced…no matter my joy and bliss, nor my deep sorrow and pain.
Convinced…on the day Tony proposed and on the day Tony departed from this earth.
Convinced…whether life makes sense or never does again.
Convinced.
Convinced.

Nothing will seperate me from the love of Christ. Nothing.

Settle that in your own hearts, my dear friends. Though God’s love doesn’t promise to take away your pain or guarantee a happy life, it is the only promise I will stake my life on.

Dearly loved, and convinced,
Melissa