Up on the Mountain....

On Wednesday night, I began my ascent to Shyira. For those of you who don’t know, I’m terribly afraid of heights. In fact, I can’t remember anytime that I’ve arrived on a mountain without cramping, clammy hands. I had been pretty concerned about this. Over the course of planning this trip, I had growing anxiety about it. At night, I would try not to think about these winding mountain roads as I went to sleep. I flew into Kigali, and Caleb and Louise picked me up and drove me up a mountain to the home we’d stay the night in before we continued on to Shyira. I felt very safe, and unworried about the traffic and hills of Kigali.
When we began our three-hour trip to Shyira the next day, I was still a little concerned about the “unbeaten path”. We drove high on paved, but small two-lane roads towards Shyira. Now the predicament is: pretty shortly after two hours are up, the roads turn into craters and there is a lot of bumping up and down, and a little necessary swerving to miss outrageous holes. The two lane road turns to one lane on the edge of a mountain for the remainder. (Hannah Smolinski knows the dread of being in these sorts of circumstances with me better than most.)However, I knew that this road led to Shyira, and more than anything I wanted to see Shyira. There is something about the Rwandan mountains that makes you long to go higher. The safety of the foot of the mountains has a certain charm, but the heights cultivate a greater desire within. It was actually quite amazing. The whole ride up I found the bumps to be part of the adventure, the rain was beautiful, I felt complete trust in Caleb as a driver, and I couldn’t stop looking over the edge at the inconceivable mountains below and around us.
This was an answered prayer from God. I can’t convey to you my worry over this one point, and the relief I felt in being able to love looking down from the mountains as much as looking upon them. It has been a continual thought entering my mind- the Lord makes “safety” resistible. There is no safety outside of the Lord, there is no longing like that which is for him. I believe the Lord has called me to Shyira for this time to serve him through serving his people. There is a comfort found in obedience which outweighs a mind’s worry. There is no promise that the ways he leads us will look unassuming. There is no promise that it won’t beckon fear, but there is a promise that we needn’t fear and there is a desire so great that it cannot take fear as a companion.