Monday, July 6, 2009

Wild At Heart

I'm just returning from two weeks of vacation. Ah, but it's good to be back.

Each summer, my family has the privilege of traveling to Westcliffe, Colorado, where my husband's family owns a cabin in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. It is always a refreshing time and one we anticipate each year. The past few years we've only been able to squeeze in about 10 days at the cabin, but this year we had two full weeks. And by full, I mean "full."

The first week we hosted 13 graduating seniors from our church. We kepts six boys, our high school minister and his wife in our cabin. Seven girls slept in a cabin across the street. But, Vic and I were entertainment directors and cooks for all of them for four days. Let's just say I made a lot of trips to the grocery store.

The second week we enjoyed with just our immediate family. I now have a better understanding of why I work with women though. I just don't have the "Wild At Heart" spirit that men possess. My husband had decided we needed to take the old 1970 something Jeep up to the top of the mountain one day. While we had very beautiful views, it was a several hour bumpy ride to the top. My daughter and I kept saying, "Really. You can stop now. We've gone far enough." But, ladies, you know that's never enough for men. We only stopped when the road was too narrow to drive and snow was blocking us.

While we looked below at where we had come, my 18-year-old son, Conner, saw a frozen lake. He made the comment, "I'm going to go hike over there." Yeah, right. There was no way he was going to hike to that mountain lake.

As we ventured back down the mountain (bumping all the way), we decided to stop and fish at one of the mountain lakes. I could tell Conner had something else planned though. He told Vic and I he was headed to the frozen lake that was over a ridge where we had stopped. So, off he went before we really had the opporturntiy to say "no."

An hour later, I was beginning to get that mother worry. I had not seen Conner and had no idea where he was (by HIMSELF!! Yes, you too, can panic) I was trying to tell myself that he was a big boy and knew what he was doing. I was close to Vic when we heard it. Rocks falling. Yes, a rock slide. We looked at each other and simultaneously said, "That's Conner!" (panic again)

I ran to the other side of the lake trying to see if I could see any glimpse of him. No Conner. Nothing. For 30 minutes I looked up at the mountain praying that either he was fine or that I would have the opportunity to kill him when he returned. After 30 minutes, a miracle happened. In an area where there is no cell phone service, I heard my iPhone go off alerting me to a text message. It was from Conner. He had made it to the top and was fine. He just needed to find a different route down because of the danger. Really? Now he decides there's danger.

After 30 more minutes, we were finally within eye sight. Let's just say I was pretty quiet on the trip home. There was a lecture given about never going off alone in the mountains. He should have known this from getting separated on a mission trip in the mountains of Jordan. But, boys are wired differently. They really do long for adventure, even to the point of danger. They are truly wild at heart and we should be glad.

So, today, I'm thankful I get to work with women. I'm thankful for the two non-scheduled appointments with women. I'm thankful that I'm getting to spend next weekend with 115 moms and daughters at CrossTimbers Camp. In fact, there's still room for you and your daughter! Go to www.bgco.org/escape24 while you have time. It will be a weekend with adventure--but probably no rock slides.


Psalm 121:1 "I lift up my eyes to the hills--where does my help come from?"

No comments:

Post a Comment