Lesson in Perseverance

On the way to our friends' house in Hood River, we always drive past Multnomah Falls. Isaac asked if we could leave early in order for us to stop at the falls (even though it was a bit rainy and we had a birthday party to attend afterwords).

We arrived and headed up for the bridge to view the falls (0.2 miles up a little incline). Abigail was already walking very slowly, and I was switching off  between carrying her and pulling her. When we stood there looking up at the 500+ foot drop from the top down to where we were standing, I asked the kids, "Do you want to go up to the very top?" (Let me remind you that it is another mile of trail, wet from rain, 11 switchbacks and a heavy 3 year old that is already begging me to carry her). I said that they were having ice cream at the party and needed to get a little exercise before getting a "treat." With that said, they both agreed.

Wow, another mile up felt like a lot longer than that. I found my heart getting flustered as I half dragged/carried my daughter and constantly reminded my son to both hurry up and stay away from the edge of the steep ledge while still stopping to move over and let people pass us on the trail.

We made it to the marker that said 4/11 switchbacks. Then we made it to the pivotal 1/2 mile marker. At this point, I was fully carrying Abigail and Isaac was so tired, asking how much further while insisting that he was too tired to go on. I was began to grumble and get obviously flustered, but my heart opened to the moment. Do we quit or do we continue?

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!" Phil 4:13

If you look carefully, you can see the tiny specs...people.

For the next 7 switchbacks and 1/2 mile, we discussed God's beauty in creation, how we can rejoice in trials that produce perseverance, how God's strength will get us through if we rely on Him, how it is easy to be a sluggard who doesn't want to work hard, yet how being a sluggard results in missing out on the harvest time, and how the "Korens don't quit" (with Jesus' help, even when we feel like we really want to). The shift in focus changed everything. We rejoiced in the journey...even though it was hard. As we neared the top, people descending were rooting us on, reminding us that we were almost there. It was a good reminder of the importance of finishing a race. It was also a good reminder of how much it makes a difference when we encourage one another an build each other up.

When we got to the top, Isaac was so proud. He could not believe how little everything looked so far down below. People that had passed us earlier were congratulating Isaac. His face beamed as he told everyone, "I never quit. I made it to the top, and my mom didn't even carry me."

In the moment of Isaac's little victory and the splendor of the view, I thanked Isaac. "Son," I said, "Thank you for giving me this special gift. Because you didn't quit, I am able to see all this beauty." With a genuine smile and sincere voice, he replied, "You're welcome Mom."

As much as we wanted to bask in the moment, I took a look at the time; we had to nearly run down the mountain to get to the party on time. It was steep and still very wet and slick. Abigail was falling asleep in my arms, and Isaac was now too tired to think about traveling the distance to get back. We relived our perseverance discussions from the journey up as we took the trek down. The cool part about coming down, was being able to encourage the others coming up (many of whom ranged in emotions from being too tired to even notice us to full of sympathy for me as I carried the dead weight of a sleeping daughter). One particular lady was motivated to also finish strong, inspired by a five year old boy who never quit...and was smiling.  She  stopped Isaac on the path, bent down, looked into his eyes and said, "If you can do it, I can do it!"

The highlight for me as a mom was back down at the bottom of the falls. Isaac said, "Mom, thank you for being a great mom and making me do things like this, getting me healthy, and so I could go and see all of that." I beamed!!! The hard work, perseverance and obstacles were definitely worth it.