1)Who was Abraham and why did God choose him? Was Abraham a God-fearer?
2)How did Abraham hear God? It seems that Abraham would've had to discern His voice some how.
3)How did Abraham KNOW that God's promise of the Promised Land and many descendants was his to claim?
We know that God is leading us somewhere. Like Abraham, Moses, Joshua, we are not sure where He is taking us. It would be nice to have more information. It would be comforting to tangibly see the hand of God giving answer to our questions and frustrations. I suppose that not unlike the men and women of God in Scripture, we must just simply place one foot in front of the other. And I also suppose that when we look back on this chapter of life we will see that God was in fact showing himself to us. I just wish that we could see it now.
On a different note, Allie and I had a great time this last weekend backpacking into the Massive Wilderness Area west of Leadville, CO.
Friday, we backpacked in to the Halfmoon Lakes that sit at 12,400 ft on the west face of Mt. Massive. The freshness of the air and awesomeness of the surrounding peaks was refreshing to say the least. It rained lightly Friday night as we slept soundly.
On Saturday, we climbed the west face of Massive. It is important to note that a trail does not exist on the that side of the mountain. Rather than backtrack to the trailhead to go up the north ridge, we just went straight up. Having tackled several "14ers" I have decided that this was the most difficult and intense way to go. For two-and-a-half hours we scrambled up loose shale and expansive boulder fields. There is still a significant amount of snow on the mountain too, so we had some exciting moments picking our way through slushy snowslopes and couloirs. But we made it!
Allie was unstoppable as she conquered her first "14er." The air was thin and storms were approaching, but we reveled in the incredible feeling of being on top of the world (or at least the Rocky Mountains. In the Rockies, only Mt. Elbert bests Mt. Massive in height by 3 feet). Having drank most of our water and feeling winded by the lack of oxygen
at 14,434 ft, we started our decent.Observing storms building around us, we decided to make a quicker decent than what the trail would allow. So, we turned off the trail to take a more direct route to our camp. About 1,000 vertical feet from our camp, we were confronted by an almost sheer wall of loose granite. Tired and worried
about the building storm, we both began praying that God would help us get off this dang mountain. Cursing the rocks that kept sliding beneath our feet, we helped each other navigate the endless maze of shifting rock. Finally, we made it to the bottom breathless, bruised, bleeding, and thankful that we were back on level ground. As we caught our breath, the thunder rolled around us and we began the final mile to the safety of our tent. We used every last ounce of energy jogging up the slope to our camp site and made it just as the waves of rain and hail fell around us.Sunday, we reluctantly pulled ourselves out of our bags, aching and limping (ok, I was limping, stupid sprained ankle). We lifted our packs back onto our backs and started the 10 mile trek back to the car. That green Saturn never looked so comforting before.
