_{Photo Credit: Catalyst Sports, Top left 2021, Top right 2022, Bottom left and right 2023}

I started adaptive rock climbing a couple of years ago.  I saw that Catalyst Sports started a chapter in Louisville and they were going to have a monthly adaptive rock climbing event for people with disabilities.  I thought why not give it a shot.  

Y’all I’m afraid of heights.  That first climb was brutal and I only made it a third of the way up.  I had a waist harness, chest harness, and two people climbing beside me to help since I have right side weakness.  I couldn’t have been safer and yet I doubted my safety and my ability to climb with the help.  It was hard and I was hyper focused on how hard it was and how afraid I was in the moment.  How often do we focus more on the hardness of circumstances and fears rather than the fact that we are anchored into God?

            Before a climb, I get with my belayer and tie into the other end of their rope.  Together we check the knot and ensure we are safe and set for the climb.  When I climb, I am usually only focused on the holds I can see and the next move.  The belayer sees the whole climb and can guide me when I get stuck on what move to make next.  

            As I have gotten more comfortable with climbing, I have learned that I can trust that the rope and belayer have me.  When I get tired or frustrated with the next move I can lean back and shake it out.  I’ve learned to also take a moment to enjoy the view from new heights especially in the Red River Gorge.  When I make a move and fail to grab onto the next hold, I may get bruised, but I’m not falling off the wall.  I can trust the rope and belayer.

            God is our lead climber and our belayer.  He goes before us and anchors the rope.  When we tie into Him, we are secure for the climb.  When we get stuck on the next move we can pray and read Scripture to gain His wisdom because He sees our whole climb.  When we make a mistake on the climb, we might get bruised, but He catches you.  

            I just got back from my second Adaptive Climbers Festival at the Red River Gorge in Kentucky.  It has become one of my favorite weekends of the year.  People with varying disabilities get together for community, climbing, and fun.  It’s a bunch of people accomplishing incredible things that so many people would say are impossible.

            I had a couple of hard climbs and didn’t make it to the top of either of them.  According to my friends, they were “gnarly climbs.”  I’m super competitive with myself and was feeling pretty frustrated.  As I sat there in my frustration, I watched more experienced climbers also struggle to get past the places I got stuck.  I realized that sometimes the climb is just plain gnarly and it isn’t always about going full send to the top.  Sometimes it’s just showing up and learning from the gnarly climbs.  

            Isaiah 26:3 says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” When we are anchored into God and trust that He has the rope we can have peace even in the gnarly climbs, that might even leave us bruised.  I’m praying that you will trust Him no matter how hard the climb and circumstances might be right now.  May we land on His grace.

_{Red River Gorge ACF 2023}