Old Man of the Mountain......The flower photo that I posted called Old Man of the Mountain is my favorite yellow flower. We have a joke around here about yellow flowers. Everyone says, "Oh, it's just another yellow flower." I think this yellow flower deserves some respect! This yellow flower grows only at the alpine level which is above the tree line. It grows in a harsher climate and in rocky soil. In spite of these circumstances, it blooms and turns its head toward the sun.

I can learn a lesson from the Old Man of the Mountain. In spite of my circumstances or the conditions around me, I can turn my head toward The Son and bloom even though I am just another one of God's creation or better said because I am one of God's creation, one of His beloved!

On the trail........We hiked a portion of Avalanche Creek trail today. As usual we were confronted with God's magnificent creation everywhere we turned from the wildflowers to the open meadows and to the roaring creek itself! I feel so alive on the trail and at times everything in my heart comes close to the surface.

On our way back, in the midst of the beauty I thought about my father's memories slipping away and wondered how I could hold on to the beauty around me. I thought about brain tumors and vision and wondered how I could hold fast to the things I was seeing. And I looked up into the blue of the skies between the canopy of aspens and conifers and yelled out, fellow Christian, " to hell with Alzheimers, to hell with brain tumors!!!. This does not define the child of God! The trail led up and I attacked it and allowed the sorrow to flow out with the effort of each rock-covered climb! I began to proclaim; "every memory we hold, every experience we experience, everything that we see, they do become a part of us!!! And the Holy Spirit knows every one of them! And Jesus Christ knows every one of them! And God, the Father knows everyone of them! Nothing that is part of us is lost because the Three in One experiences our lives with us!!! And one day when we pass through the vail of
death and through Heaven's gates into the arms of God, all the memories, all the experiences and all the things we saw good or bad will be part of the journey that led us into God's arms and thus are not lost but are held tenderly until that day we are made whole again before Him!"

So dear Christian friend, we do not climb the trail of despair in vain! We do not rest beside the roaring creek in vain! We do not see the beauty all around us that becomes a part of our soul in vain! We do not stumble and fall and skin our knees to sit there! No! We get up! We go on! We finish the hike! WHY? Because dear Christian, we still believe, we still have faith! And one sweet day we will finish the "hike" and hear the words,"Well done my good and faithful servant."