Hiked Prayers:
Morgan
Patty Radloff
Janet Randolph
Jennifer and Caroline Chapman
Amy Paik
and 4 more.
So, this first hike didn't go as I had envisioned it. Like, at all. I am torn between whether this is a tragedy or a miracle. Ha. But life is like that, though, I suppose. Anyway, here's video of what happened.
To start from the beginning, I was super excited to begin this journey with you all today. It took me a while to figure out my system of how to print out all of the prayers, how to organize them, etc., but after that I was good to go, and set out for the trail.
As with most of my hikes for my mom, I spent much of my time on the way up just thinking about the prayers and, I guess,
praying for the prayers. If that's even possible! :) The hike takes about an hour to get to the top, so I was relieved when I started getting closer and could see the end in sight! Remember, I've been in Houston for a couple of weeks, leading to a sharp decline in my fitness level. Ha.
But as I neared the Survival Tree, I noticed a fence that I had never seen before. It didn't concern me until I climbed a bit further and realized that it was surrounding the entire area of the tree. Even worse, I then noticed big signs reading "Construction Zone", "Hard Hat Area", and "Keep Out". I most certainly would
not keep out.
I darted past the signs towards the tree, and my heart absolutely sank. There was a bulldozer and the entire area under the tree had been wiped out. Torn apart. Gone. I just knew in that instant that the prayer boxes were gone. And I say prayer box-
es because not only had I hidden the new box for this project to hide
your prayers in, but my mom's prayer box was still up there. We planned for her to fly out here this summer to do the hike and bring it down. Today, however, I was certain that it was gone. But people, you are not even going to believe. My mom's Prayer Box, much like the Survival Tree, somehow managed to escape harm's way, and was sitting there under some rubble. I grabbed my mom's prayer box just before the city workers kicked me out of the area. Seriously.
Unfortunately, the Prayer Box I had hidden for this project did not survive the construction zone catastrophe, and was nowhere in sight. Although it is a little disheartening that the new Prayer Box is gone, I am so thankful that, first of all, there weren't even any prayers in it yet! I am also so thankful that my mom's box was safe, and I was able to bring it down. In a way, there's something beautiful about the fact that just four days after my mom's big cancer-free celebration, I brought her prayers down the mountain, out of harm's way, all of them answered. Had the construction started at any point during the eight months that her box was hidden up there, I would have been devastated.
So what now? Well, people, this project is gonna need another box! Tomorrow morning I'll make another one, hide it on the mountain, and hike more of your prayers up to it. Easy as that!
Because many of your prayers
did actually make it up the mountain today, I'd like to post excerpts from some of them. They'll be safe in the box tomorrow!
Today's prayers:
Much love,
Paige
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