Mountains in My Rearview

I was driving to a friend's house Saturday, and it was a gorgeous day. There were mountains to my left, and to my right, but when I looked in my rearview mirror, I noticed there were mountains in the mirror. My first thought was wow, they are beautiful, and then it hit me... those mountains were literally behind me. I wanted to take a picture of them but I was using the GPS on my phone so I couldn't stop and take it, plus I was driving. What I realized in that moment was a sense of relief and joy. Even though I loved looking at all the mountains, the ones in the mirror really made me realize that some of the greatest mountains in my life were behind me. WOW. I could breathe a sigh of relief as well as let out a huge THANK YOU JESUS, because I have overcome so much. I never looked at my life in that way. We are always looking at the mountains ahead of us instead of looking at the mountains that we climbed, hiked, cried all the way up, and all the way down, walked, ran, crawled around, and finally pushed out of our way! And yet those same mountains of obstacles were beautiful.

As I sit here and write this, I am overwhelmed and tears flow at the sheer thought of how far I've come in my life. I have accomplished many, many more things than I have ever realized. Those MOUNTAINS are proof!! God's way of saying YOU ARE TOUGH.... I SAID I'D NEVER LEAVE YOU... YOUR TROUBLES DIDN'T OVERCOME YOU, YOU OVERCAME THEM!!!!! He reminded me that I CAN celebrate my successes and stop being so hard on myself, stop telling myself the lies that my past was too big to get over. I can look at those mountains and appreciate who I was then and who I've become because of them. It made me love myself so much more. It made me carry myself with pride, healthy pride, strength and exude the confidence and courage to conquer any mountains ahead.

I also realized that I wasn't the only one to have this experience either as there is a book written about it called Mountain In My Rearview Mirror. Wow, how cool! The book seems to illustrate my same feelings and thoughts I had when seeing those mountains in the mirror that day. (I'll be ordering a copy myself) I encourage you to look at your own mountain in your own rearview and just take a moment to appreciate the view that signifies your growth, courage, and your ability to overcome some of the biggest obstacles you may have faced in your life. You are more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ!!

Looking back on that day, I realized that it finally felt great just being able to ride off into the sunset feeling empowered, accomplished, and full of God's grace and wisdom!