This morning I was meditating on the idea of God being an “everlasting rock”, and I was again struck with the similarities that that spiritual concept had with my favorite hobby. This is a personal excerpt from my journal, so its a little on the deep side, so bear with me… 🙂
“Putting my trust in an Everlasting God is a little like doing a really hard trad route with bomber gear placements on perfect rock. I know the protection is sound, so I’m not afraid to keep going, even if it gets hard and I think I might fall.

It's good to know you've got solid gear in...here's some visible relief after getting a good placement following the Zoo View Traverse last summer.

Just when I feel like God (my protection) is far away, He’ll show up in ways that are better than I ever could have imagined (like a thread-thru or a perfect constricting crack with a great big jug to slot my nut from). Inch by inch I keep moving forward in this journey of life, sometimes getting stuck and having to rest for a bit so that I can figure out a sequence, other times having to rely upon techniques and strengths that have developed from cruxes I’ve encountered on past routes. Sometimes I might get ahead of myself and do things out of order, botching a sequence. I might be able to hang on for a little while trying to figure out my way thru, but eventually my forearms will get pumped and I’ll have to take a fall, which is okay, b/c my faith (protection in the rock) is in something far too strong to let any mistakes I may make to break it. God will be there for me each and every time – sometimes with a nice soft catch (but maybe preceded by a long fall), and other times with a herky, jerky stop that might not feel very good at the time, but will keep me off the ledge I was headed straight for.”