Mountaintops

I just read in my devotions that when you are looking at others,  behind every spotlight moment there are struggles you missed. That resonated in my soul. The past week on Facebook I shared GOBS of pictures of mountaintop experiences. Because I believe in raw honesty I also shared some of the struggles as well. But here's the brutal truth of it:

*we drove roughly 40 hours

*we jumped through hoop after hoop (COVID vaccines, COVID tests, last minute screenshots of recent vehicle registrations)

*we never got ANY information from the battalion about graduation other than the start time for the live stream event

*my knee has completely given up the ghost and I hobbled everywhere I went. A lot of the time using a crutch to help me walk

*the a/c was broken in our hotel room

*it was a VERY long walk from the elevator to the lobby and our room (exponentially longer for a person with an ugly knee) 

*we couldn't take Elijah off base... not once. We spent roughly 12 hours sitting at a picnic table in the on-base park

*we spent A LOT of money

*we got VERY little sleep

We endured all of that for just 20 hours with our soldier... [and the list doesn't even count the struggles Elijah went through in basic (little contact with family,  no sugar, lost sleep, being hollered at, push ups on top of push ups) a lot of sacrifice!] That's a lot of struggle for a mountaintop experience, but I would do it all over again just for those moments.... when we first found him.... when he squeezed the life outta me with that first hug.... our whole big loud family there to support him. 

The entire point of this blog is that I want to remember that nothing good comes easy.  That every beautiful moment captured on Facebook came after a TON of hard work. That the glamor and shine of graduations come AFTER a butt ton of hardship and struggle. 

But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.

2 Chronicles 15:7