MOUNTAINS

MOUNTAINS…⬇️

Massive, Powerful, Intimidating yet… Peaceful.

Take a few moments to think about these questions… you can view it as a personal evaluation:

-What are some of the mountains in my life?

-How do I approach them?

-What are my results after my mountains?

Just with asking yourself simple questions like these⬆️ daily or weekly when you come face-to-face with your mountains, it actually gives you a chance to mentally and physically prepare yourself for the climb ahead. It allows you to give yourself a fair chance to succeed before you start doubting.

When we think of mountains we often think of these massive, powerful, intimidating rocks, stones, dirt and whatever was used in the process of the growth of a mountain overtime. So the question could be asked: have mountains always been so big or were they once small- like the trees, rivers and blossoms we see outside? What causes a mountain to grow?

My seven year-old mountain to climb:

When I was about seven years old I had to face a mountain that seemed impossible to climb.

Everything about it felt hard and

overwhelming.

I remember feeling alone, lost, forgotten and not wanted. These were my natural reactions to a situation (mountain) that had me totally faithless and hopeless. I had no idea how I would get through it.

As all of you know by now, I was adopted from Liberia at age seven to the United States- and this adoption felt like a mountain that wasn’t fair and too heavy and long to climb.

What was my actual mountain to climb,

compared to what had me doubting and imagining things:

The only actual mountain I had to climb was my adoption (to adjust to a new life), but because I felt lost and broken, my mind made up other ideas that made it harder for me to climb. I’m not saying my mountain was easy (it was very hard), but it wasn’t the mountain itself that was hard to climb, but it was my doubt, fear, misunderstanding and hopelessness that made me feel weak and unable to climb.

After my parents had adopted me, I had many days and months where I felt great. I felt loved and cherished by my parents, I felt loved and wanted by my siblings, I knew this is where I wanted to be, and I felt real happiness. These months were filled with bliss and joy. Then… something would go wrong. I’d accidentally mess up and make a mistake (like every child does) but because of my unique situation, my mind would make it worse than it actually was.

Suddenly I’d feel alone again and like I was a horrible child. I’d lay so much guilt and weight on myself that it would feel hard to climb. Fear and hopelessness would start taking over telling me “it’s all my fault and how I’m a bad child, and my parents would probably get rid of me now”. This was a battle (a mountain) I would face over and over and over again. It became harder and I wondered what was the point of trying again?

Then one day I had an experience with my mom that changed my thinking- Instead of my mind going into a fearful and victim mindset when I had made a mistake, it went into a hopeful and evaluating mindset. This became a game changer for me. A true life hack.

Breaking it down- remember a mountain was made one stone and rock at a time:

These are the words that my mom had told me over and over again, but I guess now my heart was ready to eternalize it. She said something along the lines of: “Crystal, only you can have full control of your life. Only you can choose what happens. The adversary cannot enter your mind, thoughts and life until you give him permission.”

These words changed everything. My mind went from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. Let me let you in on a little secret: it wasn’t till I was fifteen that I took action to all of what my mom said. It was not an overnight change. I was adopted at seven, and my heart wasn’t ready to understand and fully take action to what my mother said until I was fifteen. That was eight years worth of learning, making mistakes and growth I had to do to truly understand which mountain I was actually climbing.

My mountain I was actually climbing was adjusting to a new life, but with that change of course came everything else like doubt, fear, loneliness etc. It was important for me to know what I was climbing regardless of the stones and rocks that kept adding to it. The happiness I felt after realizing what I was actually climbing was amazing. I felt more confident in myself, I felt an enormous love for Jesus and my family! I felt free from a weight that was there for so long.

Of course my life didn’t become easier or perfect from there on out, it got harder in a way. I had to create good habits like talking to my family, listening in church, serving others, praying and telling myself “I’m worth it in God’s eyes” to get me where I am today.

I had to keep climbing the right way so I wouldn’t lean the wrong way. I was now fighting the right battles with Jesus as my teacher. I wasn’t fighting my adjustment to a new life, but my fear and doubts that kept nagging me. It took lots and lots of prayers from myself, my family and many angels from above to get me over that first mountain- to get me to a place where I can keep going in the right direction.

What mountains are you actually climbing?

So… just like mountains are made up of little stones, rocks, dirt etc, your mountains are made up of little rocks stones too.

How are you climbing your mountains and what is it you’re actually trying to climb over:

-FEAR?

-DOUBT?

-HOPELESSNESS?

-HURT?

-LONELINESS?

-ABUSE?

-FAITHLESSNESS?

-DIVORCED?

-A LOSS OF A FAMILY MEMBER?

Whatever it may be you’re climbing it’s okay if you don’t know yet, it okay if you haven’t figured it out. As you now know I took about eight years. Take the mountain you are trying to climb to God. Tell Him all about it. Cry to Him and let your feelings show- then ask Him “Father what will you have me do” and He will not fail you. He will help you see where you should be and which battles you actually need to be fighting. Once you do that, the other stones and rocks will start falling away because you are focusing on the right mountain.

You will see how much good can come from something that almost broke you.

“Only you can have full control of your life. Only you can choose what happens. 

The adversary cannot enter your mind, thoughts and life until you give him permission”. 

So… Take a few moments to think about these questions…

you can view them as a personal evaluation⬇️

I'd like to end where I began...

-What are some of the mountains in my life?

-How do I approach them?

-What are my results after my mountains?

I’d love to hear how you’ve been able to climb some of the mountains in your life, and what resulted from it!:)