Half Dome. Double Blessing. Triple Lesson. : Three lessons from a mountain I didn’t even climb

My guys, my husband and our four sons, recently returned from the ultimate male-bonding adventure in Yosemite National Park and a hike up Half Dome.

They planned and prepared prior to the grueling climb, and before dawn one morning, they set out to accomplish the task they’d calculated and anticipated for quite some time.

By dusk, they had completed the 17-mile trek to Half Dome and back. What began as an intimidating physical and mental challenge ended with tired bodies, grateful hearts, and the unmistakable joy that comes from accomplishing something hard together.

But the exhaustion, gratitude, and joy wasn’t reserved for the mere moments they spent on the mountaintop, they were evident throughout the entire journey, even in the valley.

Every step mattered. Every conversation counted. Every mental hurdle prepared them for the next challenge. The long miles through the valley, the steep ascent of Sub Dome, the sheer, intimidating face of Half Dome staring at you, the cables waiting to assist you to the summit, and then the long trek back down are all a part of this arduous adventure.

Like I said, I did not experience this firsthand, but the photos and videos my guys shared with me coupled with the stories they told me, truly gave me a glimpse into all that they went through during that 14-hour climb, and as a way of processing it all for me personally, I’d love to share these three lessons I think we all can learn, apply, and keep in mind throughout each adventure we encounter on this journey we call life…


1. God meets us on the mountains, but He keeps us in the valleys.

Mountaintop experiences are wonderful, aren’t they? The journey is exhilarating, the views are breathtaking, and sometimes God meets us in unmistakable ways at those heights.

I love sharing God’s Word with others. Weekend retreats, conferences, small groups, and Bible studies can all feel like spiritual mountaintops. God shows up, shows off, and shows us how much He loves us through all that we experience together. When we welcome Him with praise and worship, He teaches us, convicts us, moves in us and works through us in ways that blow us away.

But we don’t live life on the mountaintops. When my guys summited Half Dome, they caught their breath, drank some water, took some photos, and took in the amazing views from that pinnacle perspective, but they knew rather quickly, they needed to start their trek down to the valley if they wanted to make it back before dark.

We live a majority of life in the valleys, where the days can be dark and the views can be hidden, where hard things happen and hurts take time to heal, where faith isn’t always about what we can see, but about trusting the One who sees us and everything we’re going through.

The same God who meets us on the mountain proves Himself faithful in the valley.

He sees our deepest pain and knows our deepest need. He isn’t distant from our suffering. In fact, through Christ, He entered into it. His love kept Him there, and that same love is continually keeping us now.

In Christ, we can meet Him in those mountaintop moments to behold the splendor of His glory, and in Him, we can confidently return to the valley and be held by the beauty of His grace.

2. Look up to Him, and He’ll look out for you.

When the climb gets steep, the best thing we can do is raise our gaze, fix our focus, and keep the main thing the main thing. When the guys were hiking, this meant they needed to keep their eyes on the prize. Half Dome was the focus, and the closer they got, the more daunting it looked, but the steeper the climb, the sweeter the time.

The sense of accomplishment after something like this is something that’s hard to put into words. It requires strength that is beyond ourselves.

Life can be like that at times also. Situations can feel daunting, relationships can be challenging, and the circumstances surrounding us at any given time can weigh heavily on us, zap us of our energy, and remind us where true strength comes from.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV)

We can always look up to Him because He is always looking out for us.

The world gives us plenty to look at and plenty to fear, but God’s Word gives us something better to look to. Don’t be discouraged by what you see in the world. Be encouraged by what God says in His Word. Feelings are fickle, but He is faithful. His promises are true. He is still on the throne. He will finish the work.
Raise your gaze. Fix your focus. Look up to Him. He’ll look out for you.

3. You never know what your faith will inspire in someone else.

This one’s personal, even though I was a part of it from afar, heard about it after it happened, and wasn’t in the actual moment or the interaction.

There are seasons of motherhood you do a lot of things that feel completely unseen. You pray, teach, encourage, correct, repeat yourself, worry, release, pray some more, and then eventually, you have to let go, move on, and let God work behind the scenes to bring about the greater thing.

Out of sight, out of mind, right? At least, that's what we've been told, and sometimes it is easier to worry less when the things and the people you are worried about are not staring in the face.

But God reminded me, through a story my guys shared with me after they returned home from the Half Dome hike, that even when I am not there with them, He is, and He is working all things, behind the scenes for their good, His glory, and even other people’s story.

Teri, a fellow mom of young adults, happened to be hiking in front of them that day, and as they approached the cables of Half Dome, fear of the unknown of the final ascent started setting in. Teri was with a larger group, and she was at a decision point. Should she power through her fear and make it to the summit, or should she stay there and wait until the rest of her crew had summited without her and returned from that pinnacle to tell her about all she missed?

My guys were somehow aware of Teri’s struggle to make a decision and immediately started encouraging her. They reassured her that she could do it, and that they would be there with her each step of the way. That encouragement continued up that 45° cable climb, and with each step, Teri’s confidence grew, and the distance to the top shrunk, until they finally all summited together, and celebrated at the top.

And therein lies the whole point of this lesson. I did not physically join my guys on this male bonding trip, but my prayers went with them, and God placed a mom (my age and life stage) to journey with them during the last leg of the hike up Half Dome. She needed their support and encouragement, and God equally encouraged them through her faith in Him.

They exchanged numbers at the top, and ever since that day, Teri and I have been communicating as well. We've shared stories already about our faith, specific ways we are praying for one another, and we express our gratitude for how God allowed our paths to cross, not physically yet, but spiritually, and we hope and pray one day we can meet in person.

My guys went to Yosemite to climb a mountain, and they did that and so much more. I didn’t climb that mountain with them, but God used their adventure to remind me that there are mountains I have been climbing with them. Faithfully loving them, praying for them, encouraging them, and surrendering them to Him as I let go. 

Maybe you’re on a similar, and equally or even mores challenging mountain adventure.

Maybe you feel unseen, you wonder if your prayers matter or if your obedience is making a difference because it all seems to go unnoticed at times.

Can I just encourage you like my boys encouraged Teri that day and she equally spoke life into them…Keep going, let your light shine, trust God with the people you love, trust Him with the work you cannot see, because you never know what your faith will inspire in someone else.

We seek. He keeps. On vistas and in valleys.
We look up. He looks out. Our job is to focus on Him. His job is to take care of us.
We let go. He goes to work. We can surrender because He is our Defender.

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.
(Psalm 121:1-8, ESV)

P.S. I may not have been with them on this hike, but three years ago, we did Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park together, and here are a couple photos from that summit…

The (bonus) lesson here: With and/or without me, they can do hard things, and with and/or without them, I can do hard things…all because God is always with us!