Mountaintops

 Something I’ve come to notice, especially recently, is that life is full of highs and lows. What’s amazing to me is that sometimes those can happen at the same time!

A little under 2 weeks ago, John and I sold our home in Pennsylvania. All of a sudden, our upcoming family move became very real. This past weekend, we flew down to North Carolina to find our new home! Within 48 hours, we had explored 10 homes, made an offer and had that offer accepted. In the hustle and bustle, we met with our (amazing!) Realtor and lender multiple times to set up inspections, fill out paperwork, and work through logistics: put simply, it was crazy!

At the same time, we also got to spend our first ever 5 days alone since having kids. We tried fantastic restaurants and, quite literally, climbed mountaintops – that’s Chimney Rock in the picture (which, by the way was a massive accomplishment for me. I am terrified of heights and experiencing that one with John was wonderful!). It was exhilarating. We were also given the opportunity to attend the church we will be a part of come January and to have some times of fellowship with new friends. What a rush!

It was absolutely a mountaintop week. The crazy part is that during all of this, there were also times that felt very low. When our offer was accepted on our new home, we celebrated. Then tears came quickly as we realized that all of this is really happening. Spending times with friends we became so excited to think about the adventures that have yet to come, then were heartbroken at the thought of being separated from our family and friends back home. What a contradiction!

I think that what I’ve learned through this past year is that mountaintops are there for a reason. They’re there to give us energy and to prepare us for what’s ahead. They’re also there to serve as reminders that really great things are happening; sometimes we just have to look for them and allow ourselves to be open.

Sometimes though, I think we tend to focus on the shadows and the valleys…to become so focused on the negativity that’s around us that we forget about the highs, and we forget to make room for new heights. It’s not a good place to be.

For me, I’m choosing to focus on the mountaintops, to be grateful for each and every one of them and to look for new heights pushing forward. What’s your choice today?