Mt. Baldy

Last weekend a friend of mine and I met to hike Mt. Baldy. It has the official name of San Antonio. The hike begins at 6000 feet elevation and finishes at 10,064.  I began my journey leaving my house in Joshua Tree at 4:30 am. I met my friend where we dropped a car off and began the drive up to the start of the hike. When we arrived just before 7am, the parking area was overflowing with fellow hikers. There are 4 different ways of arriving at the peak. We chose the longest, but most gradual for gaining 4000 feet elevation gain. We hiked up the road for about 3 miles arriving at the ski lodge. Since the lift was running, we were able to take advantage of indoor plumbing.

Upon starting the next phase, we noticed two ways to proceed. a fellow hiker stated that the one we were on was shorter and steeper but they both lead to the same place. As we arrived at the top of the very steep one, we saw a sign indicating we had just climbed up a ski run. No wonder it was so steep. We proceeded up the trail to "Devil's Backbone" where the trail is on the top of a narrow ridge. We continued hiking taking advantage of the small shade spots provided by intermittently space trees. The last half mile or so is the steepest part of the hike and the trail becomes loose rocks. After carefully ascending with some fellow hikers evenly spaced, we were welcomed by a crowd of people scatter around the top. All 4 of the trails must have had many people on it as there were plenty of hikers we had not seen on our trail.

Instead of making a loop as originally planned and descending a even steeper but shorter trail, we decided to retrace our steps and descend the same way. This meant the hike ended up being 13.2 miles instead of 11.2.The weather was perfect the entire day: sunny with occasional breeze. It was a wonderful hike with a good friend.

Freedom

For years I have questioned why I was born here in the time that I was. I would often push down feelings of guilt. Through a process over several years, I have come to trust God's sovereignty that this was the best for me and Him. It has been freeing to believe this. The devotion from Jesus Calling for May 17th speaks to this. "As you sit here in My presence, remember that I am a God of abundance. I will never run out of resources; My capacity to bless you is unlimited. You live in a world of supply and demand, where necessary things are often scare. Even if you personally have enough, you see poverty in the world around you. It is impossible for you to comprehend the lavishness of My provisions:the fullness of My glorious riches.(Phil 4:19)...Rejoice in My abundance-living by faith, not by sight ( 2 Corinthians 5:7).

Although there are many people who live by faith trusting God for the daily bread literally, I have always been amazed by missionaries.  They step out in faith to serve trusting that God will provide what they need each month and when they are on furlough. I remember hearing story after story of God's faithful provisions for their needs. My family supported missionaries for years while I was growing up.  Sometimes we would support them with prayer only; sometimes with prayer and financial support. I was always aware that missionaries could not serve without our help. My mom made the wise analogy of comparing it to the military. The "front line" cannot fight or do their job without support from the home front making the supplies, shipping supplies, and providing moral.  Likewise, the missionaries serving here or abroad cannot do their job without prayer and financial support. One position is not more important than the other. It is truly a team effort. 

On another component of living in God's freedom is allowing yourself to enjoy the blessings and grace He gives you. Sometimes they are financial, sometimes a necessity of life, sometimes a vacation or a thing you truly enjoy. Sometimes it is seeing a hummingbird, sunset, sunrise, a good conversation with a friend, a skirt, an unexpected free yogurt on a hot day, a wonderful day on a hike or with friends, a car, a place to live, confetti cupcakes on your birthday, etc. He is an extravagant God. We can look at the specifications He ordered for His temple. Cloth, gold, choice wood, to name some of the resources. He wants to bless us. He wants to provide our needs. I have seen Him do this over and over in my life in the past two years.

I have been living more freely than I ever imagined I would or could. I have needed a job, an answer for the immediate future, a place to live, a community multiple times. He has always provided.Proverbs 30: 8-10 expresses this well. "Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty or riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, "who is the Lord?" Or I may become poor and steal and so dishonor  the name of my God.  

I will tell you, it has not always been easy to trust. God often seems to wait until the last minute according to my timing. I think one of reasons God's "perfect timing" is  timed this way is so there is no mistake that God did it. It is not a coincidence. Also, we are called to a walk of faith. If faith was not required, He could provide our needs sooner than "the last minute." Lydia Prince, a woman who adopted 9 girls and raised them in Israel, would often say in dire situations, "It sure will be interesting to see how you work this one out, Lord." While it has gotten easier to trust, there is and always will be an element of faith involved in living in freedom.

Outings

The past few weeks I have taken advantage of some of the free opportunities in the area. I went to the Palm Springs Art Museum free second Sundays.  I attended a free tour with a docent. The tour began with about 8 people but ended with just 2. It was practically a private tour of the museum. The museum has an eclectic collection of art at the moment. The original collection was western art. Some of the galleries still display this type of art. I enjoyed hand woven Native American baskets the most. Several had lizards and rattlesnakes images woven into them to "scare" them away from what was in the baskets. I don't think it was effective, but it was interesting to see.  Another piece that was interesting were golden raindrops that were hung from the ceiling. The piece was commissioned for a Scandinavian lighthouse festival. Inside each of the blown glass raindrop the artists put a small piece of art (letter, painting). These are "hidden" and cannot be seen. 

I then went to a nearby park to read in the shade with my toes in grass. Yes,  shade and grass are not common here in the high desert. I enjoyed relaxing and reading a book thinking it was not too hot. When I got back into my car that was parked in the shade to head back up the hill the thermometer read 107 degrees Fahrenheit.  Since it is a dry heat unlike the southern United States or the Republic of Congo, it is not too hot. Thankfully, it has not been that hot for many days yet.

Also, last Sunday at church, I sat down beside a woman I had only seen from a distance. We began small talk. She asked where I was from and how long I had been here. I told her I was a travel physical therapist and I had been in Africa prior to moving back here. She said, "I like you, you are different." After church we continued chatting back and forth. Before I knew it, I agreed to be a greeter/guest book attendant at her wedding the following Saturday.  At the reception this past Saturday, I sat at the table with the groom's family who are from Puerto Rico originally.  By the end of the night, I was invited to their house for dinner in the near future where I can practice my Spanish. 

Thursday, I decided to go down to VillageFest in Palm Springs. It is a weekly street fair with food, art, soap, lotion, etc and music. I had tentatively planned on going with coworkers. The plans fell threw, but I decided I would go anyway to get out of the house and see something new. I parked my car and began walking towards the market. I greeted an African American woman as she passed by. I caught up to her while walking. We ended up talking and wandering through the street fair together. She was likely in her late forties and a Christian. It was such a blessing to have a friend to share the night with and to talk openly with someone who shares the same worldview. I even got to roast a marshmellow at one of the vendors. 

This Saturday morning I went to the local Swap Meet. It was similar to a flea market where you can find all sorts of odds and ends. Some junk, and some true deals. It was great people watching and interesting to see all the items ranging from clothes, to old rustic tools, to dirt bikes, to costume jewelry, to junk. 

To my surprise, I have been told by several different people that I am one of the happiest people they know. Some ask how I so often have a smile on my face. I do feel the most free and confident in God that I can remember. As many of you know, I have been growing in many different areas over the last few years. I would not say I was the most joyful person.  I am still growing daily. I am very aware of struggles and areas of improvement. It is often said we are our own worst critic. I am glad to hear that Jesus is shining through despite my flaws. This season in my life truly is an adventure for me. I never know what will happen.  Stay tuned for the next episode:)

Summer

Seasons: changes in weather, plants, animals, light, sports, activities, and even people. One of the aspects I enjoyed while living in North Carolina was the seasonal changes. North Carolina has all four season. Spring and Fall are long and winter is mild, but does have snow once or twice usually. I did not even mind the summers hot and humid. One of the questions often asked young children along with what is your favorite food, color, etc is "what is your favorite season?" I always had difficulty answering because there are characteristics and activities I enjoyed in each one. I also enjoyed the change. There is so many different directions a blog about seasons could go, but I am going to focus on a phenomenon I saw this week. 

This week the arrival of summer seems to be official. Although the steadily rising temperatures have announced the change in season a few weeks ago, peoples attitudes are just now changing. There is something special about summer that makes people more laid back, friendly, joyful. I have wonderful memories of summer evenings as a child. Pops in the Park concerts, running around catching fireflies in the backyard, sitting on the candlelight screen porch, running around in a field with friends after church, even lying in bed listening to the neighbor children still playing in the street, making homemade ice cream in a hand cranked churn, swimming in the pool, playing in water hose, riding bike for hours to name a few.

The change in the environment makes sense for children and families with children still in the home. Often there is a break extra circular activities or at least a change. Also, most schools, even year round schools, have a break for summer. Somehow, though, it carries over to adults too. Adults even without children or with grown children not on a school schedule. This has been particularly evident this week in my interactions with people. Here are a few examples.

While here, I have been attending a Wednesday night Bible study. Most of the nights everyone leaves quickly after the study is over. This past Wednesday, however, people continued to stay seated and chatted for a bit. We then moved outside where the temperatures were very pleasant and proceeded to talk for a while longer. (A true southern goodbye is present in the desert in the summer). 

Most Thursdays, I have been participating in a beginner's line dancing class. The line dances alternate with square dances. As I do not know how to square dance, I watch the dances. This Thursday in particular, the square dancers were full of smiles, laughs, and overall having a wonderful time just being together and doing something they enjoyed. Simply watching their joy brought joy to me. 

At the grocery store even the workers and customers were more friendly and in less of a rush. So, even though many of the necessary daily and weekly routines in life remain during this summer season  let us enjoy the more laid back atmosphere, seasonal activities, and continue to smile about the small things in life.

 Bold and Courageous

Courage means the ability to do something that frightens you. Tasks that require courage are different for everybody. Over the past few years, many people have made the comment " You are so courageous moving and traveling to new places where you do not know anyone." What I am about to share may surprise you. While it is a challenge to go to new places to live, work, make new friends, learn new policies, that is getting easier and easier. Like anything, the more you do it , the better or easier it becomes.

What takes more courage for me it to walk into a new situation where there is guaranteed human interaction.  I am an introvert at heart. I am completely content hiking for hours or days with only a few small talk conversations here and there if any human interaction at all. Don't get me wrong, I do like to have friends and community. There in lies the problem. In order to have community, one needs to interact with strangers. Although I do try to maintain relationships from the past, it is different from day to day interaction with people. It is the frequent conversations or simply being together living life that creates friendships. 

These past few weeks, I have been attempting to earn my courageous badge :) Last weekend, I went to a local bar/saloon which has free line dancing on Sunday evenings. I attended line dancing lessons while I was here in the winter. A classmate, who is much more advanced than me, told me about the Sunday night dancing. I thought she was going to attend last Sunday. I hummed and hawed and finally gained enough courage to go down there. I opened the door to a restaurant full of strangers many of whom were already line dancing. I quickly scanned the restaurant for my classmate. She was nowhere to be found. After waiting a few minutes, I returned to the car and was going to drive back home.

 As I was sitting in my car, I received a phone call from someone from church inviting me to a Memorial Day potluck the next day. While I had seen people from church, I did not know them more than their name from the meet and greet time. I accepted the invitation. This gave me enough courage to reenter the line dancing. The dances were not called which means you have to know them already. I attempted to follow a few but quickly became frustrated and sat down to people watch.

There were people of all ages. The children were fun to watch as they had no inhibitions and simply enjoyed to music and danced their own dances. There was a table of friends and family who were communicating through sign language. This actually proved helpful as the music was loud making it difficult to hear someone talk. What was fascinating to me was the difference between the adults signing and the children. The children had clear distinct signs while the adults had quicker, sloppy signs. Also the adults had well developed peripherial vision and spacial awareness knowing when the waitress was coming. The children, on the other hand, did not and had to be told or surprised by the waitress. I did enjoy dancing a few more dances prior to leaving. All in all, I am glad I went and stayed. 

The Palm Desert Art Museum is free on Friday. I figured I would take the courage and time to drive down there and see it and the meet a friend at the farmer's market afterwards in another city. Limited human interaction, but getting out of the house...or so I thought. Upon entering the museum, the docent was very talkative. After enjoying the museum, I drove down a street with many galleries. I stopped at one and went inside. It was one that featured Richard MacDonald, a bronze sculptor. His work was amazingly detailed. He sculpts ballet dancers and gymnasts in circus de solei while performing lifts, jumps, rings, and the like. The consultant was very friendly and we ended up chatting for about 30 minutes about the pieces and Mercy Ships. 

I then drove to the farmer's market where I was going to meet my friend. I arrived a little early and was sitting on a bench at the end of the farmer's market...I had met my courage quota of the day so I was going to wait for her before walking through the market. Not long after that thought, two young Mexican girls approached me and began speaking to me in English. The younger of the two, who was 4, spoke in broken English. I answered her in Spanish without thinking. The older girl, 7, responded in English with surprise "You speak Spanish!" We then continued talking in Spanish about little girl things of riding a bike, playing in the park, playing with the dog, going to school, etc. My friend arrived and off we went to enjoy the market. About an hour or so later, I walked by the bench where the girls were on my way to the car. They came running up and wanted to continue interacting.

At a friend's prompting, I organized a hike in Joshua Tree National Park Saturday morning with coworkers from both clinics. It was a great day followed by a relaxing lunch. The days of courage paid off, a museum, garden, sculptor, Mercy Ships, Spanish with little girls, farmer's Market, hiking in the park, eating at a new restaurant, talking about things other than physical therapy.  I take comfort in the scripture Joshua 1:6-9 especially verse 9 "Have I not commanded you? Be bold and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you whereever you go."  Even when I feel alone in new and challenging situations, I can trust I am not truly alone. God is there right beside me.