Moses, the Mountain, and Milestones...

This past Saturday, I went with a group of friends to Christian Heritage Day at Ontario Place in Toronto where we had the opportunity to attend various leadership seminars, see Hillsong United in concert, and just generally have a good time….which is exactly what I did!

Though seeing Hillsong United live was the best concert I have ever seen (800 people made a decision for Christ that night…AWESOME!), the most incredible moment I experienced happened well before the concert started. It all started when my friend Jamie and two of our other friends decided that they wanted to try the out the big water slides at the water park that use big yellow inflatable raft type things. I decided that I would take pictures of their fun since there were stairs winding up to the top of the slide (89 according to Jamie’s estimation), making it impossible for me to partake. Being well aware of this, I thought it would be funny to start whining sarcastically about how people that walk get the best rides, and that Jamie should channel Moses and just carry me up! Again…totally joking…I was totally fine with not going up, I was just being my sarcastic self. After their first run, I noticed that Jamie did not immediately join the others back where I was sitting…So I look around, and I spot him talking to a couple of people who work at the park and sporadically glancing over in my direction. It took a few minutes, but it finally occurred to me what Jamie was doing…he was trying to get the permission to carry me up so that I could try the slide…

After convincing the staff in charge that he is stronger than he looks, they finally agreed to let Jamie carry me up with a lifeguard there as a safety measure. I was stunned that somebody would go to such lengths, not to mention, risk seriously hurting himself, just so that I could experience something I never had before…And so began our journey up the mountain…and with the exception of a quick rest about 24 or so steps up, Jamie carried me safely up all 89 steps. I have to admit, as we got closer to the top, and I could hear Jamie breathing harder, I started to wonder if maybe I should have just stayed quiet and never made those jokes. The last thing I wanted was for Jamie to hurt himself on my account.

Once we had reached the top, however, those thoughts faded and I was filled with an overwhelming sense of excitement and anticipation. Before I knew it, I was sitting in a bright yellow dinghy with Jamie sitting on my right and out 2 other friends, one on my left and the other by my feet…thus preventing me from getting spastic and falling over. The feeling of cutting those corners (the turns in the slide reminded me of a bobsled track.

I don’t think I will ever find the right words to properly describe how amazing and, in a way, life-changing this experience was for me. There is no way to emphasize how blessed I feel to have someone in my life that will do anything and everything possible, it seems, just to help me do something that I have never done before, because I thought it was impossible. On Saturday, God, through Jamie, reminded me that nothing is impossible with Him by my side.

Jamie likes to say that this day was legendary…and it truly was. The thing that really amazes me about this whole thing is that it was Jamie who put forth the necessary strength and determination required to climb that mountain…but when we came down, it was my face that was shining with the Glory of the Lord.