Baobabs and Fear

These past few days I have been in meetings with my team. My team is made up of 10 different people who live in 3 different countries. We do not usually get to all be together, so it was nice to see everyone and talk about the different work that is going on in West Africa. As part of our team meetings we had the chance to go to a high ropes course that is up in Baobab trees. Now if you know me at all, you know that I am deathly afraid of heights. I do not like going up in tall buildings and I hate flying. So, to me, the idea of doing a high ropes course in WA among Baobab trees sounded both really cool and absolutely horrifying. But of course, I wanted to try it to prove to myself that I could do it even though I was scared out of my mind.  

As I started to climb the very first ladder to get up into the tree I knew that this course was going to be really really hard. I was able to get through the first few obstacles without too much fear, but as they began getting more difficult and higher up, my fear began to set in. I reached the platform at the end of a zip line and I couldn't move. I just sat on the platform, perched 40 feet in the air unable to move. My fear of heights had crippled me. I sat on that platform for probably 15 minutes shaking, and crying because I was so afraid. I am so thankful that my friend MB was with me, otherwise I think I may still be sitting up in that tree. When I was sitting on that platform thinking that I was never going to be able to finish and that I was such a failure, she sat there beside me and waited. She kept encouraging me, saying that I was doing so good and to look at how far I had come. In that moment I was just so done with that ropes course that I just wanted to get down. I was finally able to compose myself enough to get across one final rope bridge and then down one final zip line to the ground. I can honestly say I had never been so happy to be on solid ground.

As I sit here today and write this I cannot help but think about how that whole experience could describe our lives and our walk with the Father. I think about how many times we go through things that we are so afriad of and how many times we just end up sitting high up in a Baobab tree unable to move. Each one of those obstacles on the ropes course is just like obstacles that we go through in life; some are easier than others, and there are always a few that we feel like we will never be able to get through. But even in those times when we reach the point when we get stuck in the tree and can't go on, the Father is there, sitting next to us, holding us, reminding us of how far we have come and showing us how strong we truly are. No matter how difficult the obsticle may be, my Father stays the same. 

I'm not gonna lie, I was really disappointed with myself because I wasn't able to do the entire course and I was embarrassed that I broke down like that in front of my team, but even though I felt that way, they still were encouraging me to finish what I could and loved me through that difficulty. Our Father does the same thing for us. There are times in our lives when we are disappointed or embarrassed, but here is the really cool thing, the Father still loves us the same. When we think how upset we are when we don't finish something, He says to us, don't focus on how you didn't finish, but look how much you have accomplished! Look how far you have come, look at all you have done! We serve a Father who loves to walk with us through all of our difficulties in life. He has also placed us in the Body so that we may walk through life together. We are not meant to walk through life alone. Even in the times when it feels like our community has abandoned us, the Father is still there, sitting by our side encouraging us to keep going. 

So when you have those times when you get stuck up in a Baobab tree too scared to move, remember that you are not alone up there. Remember that the Father is sitting in that tree right next to you, ready to help you take your next step, and to help you finish the course. It may not always be easy, but when you are able to stand up, and to finish the course, all of that fear will become a thing of the past and you will see, just as the Father does, how far you truly have come.