Don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment..They keep you safe on your way.” Proverbs 3:21-23

My daughter and I had planned our dream trip to France for over six months. We envisioned a three week road trip to places we each wanted to revisit or to explore for the first time. Any adventure I had like this in the past included my husband as the designated driver. But this time, I was the sole driver for the 21 days. Oh course, I questioned my ability to navigate in France, but we made sure we had a European GPS. Therefore, what could be amiss. I’m a great driver, at least in the United States and more specifically Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi.

As we planned, I don’t recall being overly concerned about the French terrain. My concerns centered around navigating the cities and the tiny roads in the villages. Why didn’t I think about the hills and the mountains? Possibly because I don’t confront them often at home. The Rockies I have left to my husband’s driving skills. And the Appalachians were not so imposing on many trips to Virginia.

Now, I had to face my mountains alone–challenges I put in front of myself and accepted by the lack on my part of dwelling on the obstacles the Pyrenees and the Alps might cause. And there they were…

The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord gave me. Acts 20:24

I had to conquer the Pyrenees upon entering Andorra. These rugged mountains with a high point of 9,652 feet forced me to calculate my proximity to cliffs and to curves where other vehicles seemed awfully close.

I did it even when I had to back down the mountain half a mile due to construction. I hope never to have to do anything like that again….

The most impressive sight on our whole trip was our introduction to the Alps when leaving Italy for France. Slowly the range crept closer, immense and imposing. My mountains, my challenge. I laughed instead of shaking in fear or crying. How did I get in this situation?

Mont Blanc, 15,781 feet of solid mountain, the highest mountain in the Alps, looming, challenging, drawing me near. Praying for a calmness that I didn’t feel.

This mountain, like many challenges, had a way through it–an 11.6 km tunnel (at a hefty cost of $55.) God is like that too. So often He provides a detour or a reprieve in the midst of the hardships or challenges of life.

I conquered and claimed my mountains in the literal sense last month giving me a visual of how to face my other challenges ahead of me.

What mountains are you facing or have you faced where God gave you a way through, a reprieve?

We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield…Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone. Psalm 33:20-22