What a Wonderful World

Two years ago this June, Andrew and I went back to the H.F. Holidays Centre in Brecon, to celebrate ten years since we first met there, on my very first H.F. Holiday (In our case, H.F. means Husbands Found!). I have chosen this title, because on our first morning, we heard Louis Armstrong on the radio, singing his well known song!

Indeed, Brecon was a wonderful world, and throughout the week, we got some really cracking views from the mountain tops, but there is one particular walk which really sticks out in my mind! On this particular day, our planned walks for both medium and harder levels, involved a very tough ascent to Pen-y-Fan, the highest point of the Brecon Beacons, where the itinerary told us that we "may be rewarded with truly spectacular views in all directions". However, as we ascended, we were enveloped by a huge white cloud, and as we reached the summit of Pen-y-Fan, all we saw was a mass of mist, as the fierce wind blew us to pieces! would we ever see anything through it? However, we plodded along with our walking poles, to the top of neighbouring Corn Du (pronounced Corn-Dee), which is 50 feet lower than Pen-y-Fan.It was here that amazing things began to happen! The mist started lifting, and little clear pockets began to appear.As these gradually got bigger, we began to glimpse the spectacular views we were promised, through them! As the mist continued to lift, the view widened out, until we could see for miles and miles! The views were incredible. The mountains, hills, streams, sky, etc, looked perfect in every way. A true example of the wonders of God's creation. These views remained clear, and as we descended, we continued to absorb the beauty of what was around us. Not only was the vastness of it amazing, but also the smaller details of what we saw (Wild Flowers and Unusual Birds), heard (Sheep and Skylarks), and tasted (Wild Strawberries).
There is a message here, that as we walk with the Lord, we go through periods where a deep mist envelops us, and we wonder if we will ever see anything through it. It is when we keep plodding on and remembering he is there, that we start to see gaps in the mist. Keep trusting him and the gaps get bigger and bigger, until the mist clears completely, and we can appreciate the vastness of his beauty! As we keep searching and listening, we discover that there is more to life than we realise, and that is when we notice all the finer details!
Around the time we went on this holiday, we had just had a sermon at church, on the theme of "Windows to Heaven", and how easy it is to get clouded by the mist and not to see God through it. This experience was definitely a "Window to Heaven!"

Parable of the Rock Scrambler

The year was 1999. Andrew and I were not yet engaged, and we were on an H.F. (Holiday Fellowship) walking holiday in Malhamdale, Yorkshire. For those of you who are familiar with that part of the Dales, i am sure you will get the picture.
Our walk for that day (we were doing the highest level walk) involved scrambling the Waterfall Gordale Scar. Luckily, the water was only falling down fairly lightly, but even so, it was a challenge, and when it came to my turn, panic gripped me! I asked Geoff, our qualified leader if there was an easier way of ascending, and was told no, he was sorry but there wasn't. Still, I gritted my teeth and did it. Andrew was in the lead, and he kept guiding me and saying "put your foot in there!" "Keep going" etc, as I hung on to dear life, not daring to look around, in case i lost my grip and fell.(It was limestone, so it was extremely slippery!) Our mutual friend, Roy from Manchester was just below us, so i had the reassurance that he would catch us if we fell!
To cut a long story short, we finally got to the top, and the first thing that Geoff said, was "Well Done. You 've made it!" and he then declared that it was time for our first tea break!
As a Christian, I see the message in this story as follows. As we go through our journey of life, following Jesus, we meet many obstacles along our way, and have to face many dangerous situations. Roy, Andrew and myself are ourselves dealing with the situations, and Geoff the leader represents our Lord. We know that God does not promise us an "easy" way once we accept him in our lives, but that he is there to guide us through the dangerous situations and to stop us from falling into temptation. He also sends us other people to guide us through these situations. when we reach the goal, the Lord says "Well Done! You've made it!" and he tells us, "Let us Celebrate" so we have a party! (our tea break).
One of my favourite Traditional hymns is all about what i mention here. i will not quote it word for word, as I do not want to risk breaching copyright laws. The hymn is "Father Hear the Prayer we Offer" Here, we ask our heavenly father that we should not ask for an easy life, but that we should have courage and strength to face all the dangers and challenges that life throws at us, and that we should rejoice in treading the steep and rugged pathways. The hymn ends up with us asking him to be at our sides at all times as we deal with with worrying and dangerous situations!