Jesus was in the middle of teaching a lesson when a gaggle of scribes and Pharisees traipsed into the temple. While turning the spotlight from the Great Teacher, the religious leaders claimed the center of the room and carelessly tossed a young woman in the middle of their gathering. The crowd watched this unexpected showdown take place as Jesus rose from His seated position in the treasury room of the temple.
This morning I sat up and quickly decided to lie back down. Could I do life today? I wrapped myself tightly in the soft covers that always welcome me and closed my eyes hard. I knew what my mind would chant, and I knew I would have the choice to combat it with Scriptures, whether I committed to a day standing upright or not. One eye at a time reopened tentatively. The loud thoughts pressed in around my mind.
My friend, Kyla Pace, is one of those women who oozes Jesus. I’ve known her for over a decade, through some of the most challenging seasons of her life, and can honestly say that Kyla walked as intimately with Jesus in good health as she did throughout her recent battle with cancer…in fact, I’d say she walked even closer in the crisis.
Hiking isn’t that hard, right? It’s basically just walking, and I walk everyday, so I can totally do this. This is what I kept telling myself as my trip to hike the Grand Canyon from rim to rim in one day (roughly 26 miles with 4,000 ft of elevation lost and then gained) came closer and closer on the calendar.
My mom has given me a lot of good advice over the years. Some of my favorites include making sure I’m careful walking in the mall parking lot (even if it’s at 2 PM in broad daylight) and teaching me the value of blush. (My skin tone is classified as “porcelain” which is the nice way of saying “ghost-like,” so blush is definitely a necessity for me.)
