Recently I was told to begin a blog...I'm not a fan, nor do I believe I have something promising or profound to share with the world of strangers, friends and adventurers, but I figured life's an adventure, let's give it the ol' college try.
Last week I spoke at a youth retreat out at Camp Christopher and we were talking about discipleship and living a life worth living. It wasn't until I prepared for the talk that I came to the realization that life is a lot like climbing mountain after mountain and never ceasing to stop wanting to climb higher along the path set forth for you.
Here's a bit of my talk:
Back in the spring I was faced with a time where I was challenged: professionally, personally, spiritually and in every other facet of my life. I was on my journey and quickly came across many obstacles that prohibited me from reaching my mountaintop.
I had been a Youth Minister for two year and doing great things, but after a while, and for a thousand-and-one reasons, I was beginning to feel beat down personally, professionally and spiritually. At the same time I was talking about proposing to my girlfriend. Then one day everything just began to unravel. Work got worse, so I quit. My relationship went south, and quick, so we broke up. It took months to get over her and I still struggle. My cousin was in and out of jail and rehab for an addiction to drugs and stealing. My grandfather’s health was getting worse. I was still living at home. My friends were getting great, successful jobs. Some even were beginning to get married. Everything just sucked.
Yet through all of it, I stayed humbled and passionate to overcome all of it. I prayed whenever I got scared. I met with my spiritual director regularly. It took months but I weighed all my options and made sure I was making the healthiest choices for me and I decided to do exactly what Jesus does many times in the Bible...I left the craziness of life and headed for the mountains.
I moved out to Maine and for four months and lead back packing trips in the mountains and back country of Maine and New Hampshire. I climbed a dozen mountains and backpacked hundreds of miles of trails. It was my opportunity to escape everything that happened and refocus all my energy and strengthen my relationship with God. I had remained faithful, but I also had to work on surrendering myself to His will, his plan he had for me. That was hard for me to fathom. It’s easy to want to live out our own “plan” for our lives and it’s just as easy to blame God for all that is wrong in my life, but it takes so much just to surrender yourself and say: “Lord, I am yours. I am here for you and I know that in my darkest hour you will guide me back to the trail that I am on for this journey. I surrender to you..."
...As I lived out my adventure this summer it taught me many things, but gave me time to seek out answers. Strive for so much more and keep me from living a life of fear. When I wasn’t on the trails I was helping at the high ropes course, conquering my fear of heights. I kayaked during a hurricane just to experience the rush of attacking what God’s furry had to offer, wearing a speedo, aviators and a smile. I lived a summer where I pushed my limits knowing that if I truly surrender myself to the Lord I have nothing to fear...
...Along our journey we need faith in God to stay positive, when we’re hungry we need the Eucharist, when we feel lost we need prayer. Whether we are on or off the trail we can’t do it alone, we can’t survive on our own and that’s why we must be committed to being disciples. To always know that we are here for God as he is always here for us along the way.
I still struggle with living out His plan instead of mine and I still fall on my face, but to succeed in life you need to fall and learn how to pick yourself back up. No one ever said it would be easy, but with knowledge of the Lord’s love, my trust in His plan and my faith in Him nothing will get in my way...
Until next time...
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