I FINISHED!!!!!

I FINISHED!!!

Thanks to the Glory of the Lord, the hike is done and over with! I crossed the finish line with six minutes to spare!!!!

 

It was long, and tough, and really incredibly difficult on my already broken knee, I finished and the cheers coming from my team were deafening as they crossed the finish line with me. Literally deafening- if you’ve ever been to a concert, you know the kind of buzzing noise that comes with being surrounded by loud noise. But it was amazing and I’ve felt the most love and support ever coming from my teammates and I’m immeasurably grateful to them.

 

I am so thankful to God for giving me the strength to finish this MONUMENTALLY DIFFICULT hike. Not once did I ever stop my feet.

 

Well, okay, I did stop once to throw up the very small lunch I had just eaten, but I still finished in time. There is a video of me crossing the finish line and subsequently sobbing into the arms of my teammates in relief at the end. I’m so grateful. They even prayed while I was on the hike, and hearing those prayers and just knowing the Lord was with me was what got me through.

 

I practiced the entire thing yesterday with a friend and without my backpack and at the end it was still so tough that I started reciting Bible verses at the end. And that was when I figured out I needed to focus on God throughout this whole thing rather than what I was doing, and the things I thought I could not do.

 

So, that’s what I did!

 

And let me tell you- it helped so much. My squadmates, especially one of our team leaders Sam, kept telling me stories from their lives and races that they’ve all been on. It was helpful for many reasons, but mainly to get my mind off the hike and onto the things that they’ve gotten to experience because of God’s goodness.

 

I could continually hear my squad mentor Kyndal (bless her, I love her so much) ask people around us, “What’s your most embarrassing story?” Because last time I did the hike, she was right there with me for most of the time and would tell me story after story just because I asked.

 

I love Kyndal so much. You guys have no idea.

 

So there we go! I never have to do that ever again in my whole entire life ever! And I’m very much looking forward to that!

 

But I know that it was God who did that in me. In fact, He even showed me a vote of confidence before the hike even started! My friend Abi, who I practiced with yesterday, told me before the race: “I feel like God is telling me not to do the entire thing with you, so I’ll meet you on the hill.”

 

And He said to me right after that, “I have confidence in you!”

 

As you can imagine, that helped a LOT. God, having confidence in me? For a hike? Amazing!!!

 

Abi saw me slowing down so she shouted into the forest, “Can you guys pray for her?” It was so incredible. God was there the entire time with me. Aaron, who is one of our squad leaders, walked the forest part with me and I heard his prayer from behind me. While I didn’t really comprehend any of the words, it was just amazing that God heard him and gave me strength.

 

It was just. Amazing. I have no words for the overwhelming feeling of love, accomplishment, and delight God had in me and gave to me right after I finished the hike. It was enough to make me cry, honestly.

 

Now, I know that I know that I can do ALL things in Christ who strengthens me. And to Him be the glory!!

 

That’s what I prayed right before the start of the hike- God, I want you to get all the glory from this. And He did.

 

The next thing to tackle is my knee. As many of you may or may not know, I broke my left knee all the way back in sophomore year. While it has gotten progressively better because of knee braces, physical therapy, ibuprofen, and prayer, I hurt it here a couple days ago and it’s gotten worse since then. I have finished the hike, but now it’s gotten to the point where I cannot move my leg using the muscles it was given. Not because they are not responding, but because it hurts so much. I have to use my hands to shift my leg to wherever it wants to go.

 

If you could pray for healing over that, I would really appreciate it. My knee was healed by God before I even got to Gainesville, but excessive stress hasn’t done any good things for it.

 

Anyway, I know you all were wondering and I wanted to give you an update. Thank you SO MUCH for all your prayers and confidence in the Lord and in His ability to give me strength for this.

 

But I’m in!! I’m all the way in- I’m not going home because I can’t finish a hike, I’m not going home because of missed financial deadlines. I’m HERE TO STAY!!!! God has chosen me for His work and I’m here for it.

 

On another note, I really hate the smell of the forest now. Breathing in hard for at least half an hour doing a strenuous activity that you would rather do literally anything else other than that three times does not make one inclined to the smell of the forest. But it’s okay.

 

Again– thank you all so much for your support and prayers. The Lord has worked in this so amazingly and I’m so grateful to never do that hike again.