Jett sat without a helmet or harness the whole afternoon, clearly communicating that while it might be great for the students he led to face their fear of heights at the climb site, he was exempt.  After belaying the last of his youth group kids down the rappel, I made my way toward Jett.  I wanted him to take a turn, face the fear, and lead his students by example, but his body language and my intuition, built on two decades of inviting freaked-out people to face their greatest fears, told me he wasn’t budging. 
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I knew there was a good chance that if he didn’t step over the edge, he was going to lose his voice of influence.  Pondering this dilemma, I suddenly heard the still small voice of the Lord remind me of something He had been communicating to me for weeks, “Watch Me work.”  He spoke to my heart like a fresh breeze blowing through my soul on a hot summer day.  Instantly, I knew that despite my misgivings about Jett’s courage, God was going to do something great.  The best part was that I no longer felt the pressure to use some facilitative verbal jiu-jitsu to coerce Jett into leading bravely.  

Beckoning Jett to join me next to a granite boulder out of earshot of the group, I began by telling him that I wanted him to know two things.  First, I wasn’t going to strong-arm him to rappel.  I wanted to honor him and let the decision be his.  Second, if he chose to take a safe, comfortable stance while pressing his students to face their fears, he would likely lose some of his spiritual influence with them.  It's difficult for people to follow you as you follow Christ when you aren’t going anywhere. 
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His response surprised me.  “I have this problem,” he admitted.  “I feel like I only have enough courage to face a few fears, and what if I use too much courage here and don’t save enough for the future?”  I’d never thought of bravery having an expiration date, but his question was authentic.  I had always thought facing fears built more courage and enabled one to face even greater challenges in the future, but I couldn’t deny that Jett had a point worth considering.  So, I answered with a different tack.  

“You may need courage to face future fears, but the courage you could use today will undoubtedly bless others.” 

Jett pondered this point for a moment and then resolved to face his fear, saying, “I’ll do it now…for my students.” 

We walked back to the rappel and scrambled up the slope to the top.  His 15 middle schoolers watched and chanted his name, cheering him on.
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With his trembling body hooked securely to the rappel rope, Jett leaned back over the cliff like a new convert being laid beneath the waters of baptism and descended into something he had never experienced before—true bravery.  His action was true and holy because it was not done to show off or to prove something or even to impress others.  Bravery is not the act of being fearless, but quite the opposite.  True courage is being afraid and facing it anyway, especially when it inspires and encourages others to face their own fears.  

​When Jett’s feet touched down, his group erupted in celebration.  He was elated; he had done it!  And I wiped a glistening tear forming at the corner of my eye because I had just experienced again the faithfulness of God, watching Him work to make a timid soul brave.  In the shadow of the fearful crag, God and Jett taught me that if you’ve only got enough courage to spend once, spend it on others and that the courage we need comes from an infinite source a little at a time.  That day, despite the odds, all I had to do was watch Him work. 

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you
with my righteous right hand.”
Isaiah 41:10

Angie came as part of her grieving process over her husband’s recent, premature death.  She hoped to find some consolation in seeing what he had been doing at Discovery Ministries all those years, to connect to him in the silent absence and experience him again by walking where he had walked.  By the end of her stay, Angie found more than solace—she found revival. 

The first evening around the dinner table at the lodge, Angie indicated just how different her interests were from her late husband’s.  She declared in no uncertain terms that she would not be going rappelling!  She wasn’t even sure if she was willing to do anything outside her comfort zone.  Adventurous quests had been her husband Ron’s sort of thing.  
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It was true.  Ron had been coming to DM for years with the church youth group as an adult sponsor.  He first came out of curiosity, but he kept coming out of conviction that what he was seeing and experiencing was truly life changing.  It was on his first canoeing trip with Discovery Ministries some 20 years earlier that he had made the decision to follow Jesus, being baptized under the Current River’s cool, flowing water.  Angie, on the other hand, had never come.  Now she faced a dilemma.  Would she follow her husband’s path by going adventuring with the students she chaperoned or play it safe and reserve her right to distance herself from the challenges?  Slated to go spelunking, hiking, swimming at the local falls, bluff jumping, rock climbing, canoeing, and, yes, rappelling, too, could she go through with it?  

Angie was experiencing the positive peer pressure of those who’ve gone before us.  Like Hebrews 12:1 describes: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…”  The context in this passage of the cloud of witnesses depicts folks who had the faith to face challenges, fears, and trials and keep believing that God was going to use their efforts for good.  Today, we stand on the shoulders of faithful Christians who kept the faith and endured, handing the baton to us so we could run the great race of faith in Jesus.  Angie didn’t know it, but she was here with the opportunity to receive that handoff from the work her husband had been doing all those years.  

The last day of their stay, the group went on a float trip down the Current River.  They took the usual accoutrements—paddles, life jackets, sandwiches, and water, but Angie also stowed away something unique, a small canister that she clutched closely.  I drove them to the river and helped them shove off, so only later did I hear the story of what happened next.  The float fell on an arbitrary Thursday, but it marked the anniversary of Ron’s baptism to the day, so about halfway down river the group pulled over on a solitary gravel bar, held a prayer service, and watched with rapt fascination as a teary-eyed Angie produced her parcel, opened it, and sprinkled some of Ron’s ashes upon the water.
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They were just ashes, but her action reached back in time and connected the group to the apostle Paul’s words he wrote in 2 Timothy that he was “poured out like a drink offering.”  It vividly portrayed the beautiful and terrifying words of Romans 12:1, “Therefore…present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”  Seeing the ashes of a life poured out connected to the group members with such impact that a cadre of teens waded into the waters that day, marking their own commitment to Christ through baptism.  

​Later that evening Angie pulled me aside and told me the story.  She proclaimed praise to God and revealed how she had surprised herself by facing her fears—even rappelling twice on climb day!  She got choked up when she shared how God had spoken to her as a fish jumped out of the water at the moment she sprinkled the ashes of her late fisherman husband.  With tears glistening her cheeks, she confessed “I came to see what this place was all about, and God has met me here, turning tears of grief into tears of joy.”  

“Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering
of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.”
Philippians 2:17  

​This spring, my mom brought a group of ladies from my home church to DM for a weekend retreat.  In working with her to set up their schedule for the weekend, we decided that climbing on our 5-Fun Rock Wall here on camp would offer a great chance for the group to experience challenge and victory while uniting them for the weekend.  I was quite excited with the plan, knowing that since I am currently the only female senior instructor here at DM, I would get to facilitate their day of rock climbing.

A couple weeks before the retreat, when I received the group’s roster, I was delighted to find that I had deep ties in this group of 9 ladies whose ages ranged from 35 to 75 years old.  My mother, my aunt, a previous boss, a high school mentor, and many other gals from church and the community had all signed up to come.  It would be fun to see them all again.

​Then doubts began to grow.  How would they receive instruction from someone that they had watched grow up?  What authority did I even have to speak into their lives? Could the Lord really use me in this situation?  How was I supposed to lead all these women who had led me in so many ways?  I was feeling nervous and unsure of how the Lord could use me when these ladies had so much more life experience than I do.  Most of them have been walking with the Lord longer than I have been alive! 

​The morning of the scheduled rock climb, I opened my Bible to the story of Moses in Exodus chapter three, and as I read, I was deeply encouraged. There in the wilderness, God comes to Moses in the burning bush and reveals His plan to rescue the Israelites out of Egypt.  He tells Moses he is the man for the job, and he is to start by delivering a message to Pharoah. Whoa!

​Moses’ response is something I can relate to.  “Who am I,” he asks “that I should go to Pharoah and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

God’s response to his question blows my socks off.  I would have given Moses a pep talk, telling him about all the miracles he would perform, giving him a glimpse of the epic adventures ahead, and assuring him of success.  But God…God offers just five words laden with power, grace, and love: “I will be with you.”

​Those five words change everything.  Moses doesn’t need a pep talk; what he needs is the Lord’s presence.  God doesn’t shine the spotlight on Moses and heap on pressure to carry out the plan.  He points the spotlight upon Himself so that Moses can keep his eyes on the Lord.  God essentially said, “It doesn’t matter who you are. I AM!”
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The Lord kept His promise.  His Shekinah Glory—His tangible presence—went with the Israelites for the next 40 years as they wander through the wilderness. A pillar of cloud covered them by day and a pillar of fire protected them by night.  He never broke this promise.  Even though they grumbled and disobeyed Him over and over again, the Lord’s presence was with them every step of the way.

​I needed that reminder that morning, and I needed the support of the staff.  As we gathered for a quick prayer time to start the day, I asked for prayer over the ladies and confessed how nervous and unsure I was feeling about stepping into a leadership role with this group. Joel gave me a word of encouragement and guidance, and we prayed that the Lord would reveal His Shekinah Glory to this group, that they would experience His tangible presence that day. 

​When the ladies gathered with mixed feelings about the rock climb, I asked them a question:  What do you want to get out of this day?  I knew that I could neither force them to get anything out of the day nor make them truly commit to the experience and give it all they had.  Only they themselves could do that, and I had to let go of control, allowing the Lord to do His work within these ladies.  

​After a pause, one of the ladies responded, “I’m 75 years old, and when I heard we were going rock climbing, I didn’t think I was going to participate, but what better time is there to try than now?  So, my goal is to get on that wall and then go as high as I can!”

She had definitely set the bar high, and I could see everyone else in the group considering her target.  Gradually, I saw in each woman’s eyes the commitment that I was looking for.  They accepted the assignment; they wanted it!  I could see that they would not give up when it became difficult but would lean into the challenge and experience what the Lord had for them within that place of vulnerability.

​About halfway through the climb as I was belaying one of the ladies, I took note of the group as they cheered and coached her up the wall.  She was struggling and muttered, “I don’t think I can.”  I barely heard her denial because the ladies’ cheers of encouragement at the bottom drowned her out.  Despite her doubts, she kept moving—right hand up, right foot up, left hand up, left foot up. Then she reached the top of the climb! 

I looked over and saw joyful tears shimmering in my mom’s eyes and falling down her cheeks. She had been unsure how the rock climbing would go, but the Lord was here.  His presence was with these ladies and His spirit was inside them, doing only what He can do.

​I remembered my earlier uncertainty and realized every prayer so urgently uttered before the climb had been answered more abundantly than I could have imagined! The Lord was reminding me of what He can do through a willing servant.  That is exactly what I want to be, unconcerned about who I am and fully engulfed in who God is and what He can do through me!