Climbing Mountains

It was a hot July afternoon when I showed up for a suggested parent fundraiser for the high school boys basketball team. My oldest was an incoming freshman with aspirations to play not just high school basketball, but eventually in the NBA. He would often ask me if I thought it was possible. I would always tell him the same thing. “You are going to have to work harder than anyone else and then decide with God if it’s what He would have you do.” At 14, motivated by the pure love of the game, he worked harder than anyone else.  

As a parent, I felt like it was my job to do whatever I could to support him. Participating in events that supported the program felt like a fair parental sacrifice. We were a sports-loving family. I was currently training and only four weeks away from competing in my first Elite Division Sprint Triathlon. My early morning workouts gave me time to think and ponder and be grateful for the blessings that filled our lives. 

On that particular July afternoon, a handful of parents showed up; most of us were parents of freshman… The task was simple. We were asked to move a hundred cars from a car dealership across the river bridge to a local shopping mall parking lot for an off-site sale. We each drove a car across the bridge, met at the mall, and were shuttled back to the dealership in a van to drive another car over. 
The service opportunity extended well over the agreed-upon period of time. I troubled in seeing a job unfinished so I stayed late to help complete the task.
On our last lap to the mall, only a few of us remained. It was now well into rush hour and traffic was heavy. We were about halfway over the four-lane -half a mile long bridge when traffic abruptly stopped. I stopped and immediately looked in my rearview mirror to ensure the vehicle behind me had stopped as well. His head was down and I could tell he was moving quickly. I immediately turned my wheels to maneuver into the adjacent lane when his solid Ford truck struck with great force the small, tin can of a car I had been asked to drive. The force of the crash sent me sailing seemingly in mid-air into the adjacent lane that was miraculously clear of traffic. I managed across the bridge and pulled over.  The driver of the truck jumped out iterating a slew of apologies.

I made a phone call and the car dealership sent an employee to pick me up. The car I was driving was totaled. I was in complete shock- physically and mentally. I put on a tough face as the dealership manager told me he was grateful for my help and that this was a “best-case scenario for them financially”. Given my physical pain, it seemed ridiculously harsh.

My husband had just left the day before on a 14 day business trip to Spain. I knew I needed to quickly get home as I was now hours later than I told the kids I would return. I drove home and began to feel ALL of the pain…
In the following year, I racked up well over six figures in medical expenses and a surgery that would hopefully enable me to have a somewhat normal life. However, I was told I would likely never be able to run again. The news wasn’t even that hard to hear given the problems I had. I was a mom of 3 whose husband traveled two weeks of the month. I simply needed to function. I needed to grocery shop, vacuum, walk to the stadium from the car, fold laundry and sit in church with my family. Competing again was not even a remote concern. 

A year after the accident at a post-surgery appointment with my orthopedic doctor who was a close family friend, he explained the limitations I would face moving forward. He apologized that “this” happened to me. With absolute surety, I told him I would do it all over again to keep the lessons I learned and the resulting refining spiritual growth. He was surprised by my response and asked me if I would perhaps later share my thoughts. I agreed. 

I felt the lessons were simple. I needed to not lose sight of my footings on the covenant path. There are many amazing opportunities in the world today. And I needed to re-focus my efforts on what mattered most. What were my core values and goals? As I did the spiritual work to better identify what was important and what was not, personal truths emerged clearly.
As I journeyed through trials in the past, I often wondered if I quickly learned all I needed to, could I shorten the time-table of the struggle? 
I am certainly NOT going to say that I believe that this is how God works. But it IS how I work. Peace in my struggle comes more quickly as I assess what I can learn from the climb up the mountain God has entrusted me to ascend.

-JC

Peppermint Fudge Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookies

1 cup soft butter
½  cup vegetable oil
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
¾ cup cocoa (I use ½ cup regular, ¼ cup dark)
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter, oil  and sugars with an electric mixer on medium-high for 1 minute or until fluffy. Hand stir in eggs and vanilla; don’t overmix. Add dry ingredients all at once and mix until fully incorporated. Add 2-3 Tablespoons more flour for high elevation. Scoop out approximately 24+ 2” balls of dough. For a richer flavor and smoother texture, form cookie dough balls, flatten slightly and refrigerate or freeze until ready to bake. Place on greased or parchment paper on an aluminum cookie sheet.  
Bake at 350 degrees for 12+  min. Let cool. Frost with Peppermint Fudge Frosting. Garnish as desired with melted white candy disks sprinkled with chopped peppermint candy sticks. Let set. Share!


Peppermint Fudge Frosting
1 cup whole milk
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
 Dash of salt

Melt chocolate chips into milk in microwave. Add peppermint extract and salt; stir until smooth.
Transfer into freezer strength Ziploc. Let cool until room temperature.


-JC