I Will Praise You on the Mountain

Traveling has always been something that makes me eager! Seeing all of the beauty around me that our Creator has sculpted and breathed life into is such a beautiful aspect of life. 

I’m currently sitting here in a cute little coffee shop in Crested Butte, Colorado writing this lil blogpost. Our family has been coming specifically to CB since 2003. Every year around mid July, we come here to be stunned by the colorful wildflowers covering the mountains that stretch so high and wide. We prance through the streams in our chacos and always make sure to splash each other with the freezing cold Colorado water. And when I say freezing, I mean purple veins poppin out freezing! I love it here, plain and simple!

The mountains stretch high and wide. While I am in complete awe of these mountains, they also look like impossible obstacles to me. How does one get up this intimidating mountain? I always wonder how mountain climbers summon up the courage to climb the mountains. But when I see these enormous obstacles, I also see such a magical breathtaking beauty within them. 

This gives me a new perspective about the mountains in my own life. Living with type 1 diabetes is a daily uphill battle. There are a multitude of challenges that come with this chronic disease every single day. And sometimes I find myself feeling hopeless. I find myself wondering why I can’t operate like people without t1d; wondering what I could do differently to overcome the daily struggles of this disease. 

Earlier I talked about my love to explore and travel! I will take any opportunity for adventure that I can get! However, there are lots of times where I physically cannot keep going. Times where I get stuck and my eyes fill with tears because I simply cannot keep up with everyone else. In these moments, I feel the most weak, vulnerable, and exposed. In these moments, I try to put on my bravest face and act like everything is okay. In these moments, I hide what is really going on. I’ve even lied multiple times to people who care about me, because I don’t want to ruin the fun. But eventually everything catches up to me and I simply have to stop going. 

These mountains I face are scary. They are intimidating and make me feel weak. They make me feel like a lesser human being. But if I choose to look at these mountains with a new perspective, I can see beauty all around me. When I really look at the mountains, I can see a few little plush green places. God provides places for me to rest (as much as I want to keep going, I have to rest). If I’m going to climb this mountain every day, I’m going to praise him on the days that I reach the top, I’m going to praise him when I’m in the plush green spots resting to keep going, and I am going to praise him when I’m low in the valley and can’t even start to climb up. I’m going to look at the mountain with a new perspective. I’m going to spread my arms wide and give it all to him, no matter the outcome.

"I will praise you on the mountain. And I will praise you when the mountain's in my way." Highlands - Hillsong United

I’m writing this blog, because I want all truth to be exposed. I don’t want to hide who I am or what I struggle with. Maybe God will use my vulnerability to shed some light in someone else's life!

Thank you for reading,

Kait Madison