Every summer for the past 8 years, I have taken a personal retreat. I love my husband and 5 kids, but the opportunity to escape and spend 24 hours alone has always been a wonderful gift for my weary soul. I always go to the mountains and each retreat starts the same way. I access the Blue Ridge Parkway and drive south to the Moses Cone House, which sits perched at the top of a mountain. This beautiful estate, built by textile entrepreneur Moses Cone nearly 100 years ago, is now run by the park service and offers miles of beautiful hiking trails. Often I will hike, but always I begin by simply sitting on top of the mountain, taking in the breathtaking vista that stretches beneath it. It is here that my soul starts to settle and the weariness begins to fall away. It is here that my perspective is renewed and I start to see my life from a larger view. This is where God inevitably begins to refresh me and breath fresh life into my heart.
I'm not very different from most women who spend their days pouring into other people and managing lots of details. As grateful as I am for my life, I lose sight of why I do what I do. More significantly, I forget who I am and who I serve and for what purpose God has made me. I have to step out of my normal life in order to remember and have my vision for purposeful living renewed. Waking up early in the morning, sitting with my coffee and my Lord, does this for me. Going on a personal retreat alone, does this for me. Sometimes a good book or sermon or a heart conversation with a friend will do this for me.
The name of this blog, Mount Lookout, reflects my desperate need for perspective. I am asking God every day to give me His vision for my life. I am asking Him to give me the eyes to see Him at work in the every day, mundane tasks, as well as the huge and disruptive events. I am asking God to help me remember timeless truths: God loves me; I belong to Him; He knows me better than I know myself; my life serves a purpose that He has determined; God can be trusted at every turn; life is hard, but God is good.
Every so often I read a book that takes me to the mountaintop. One of these books is A Praying Life by Paul Miller. I love this passage:
If God is sovereign, then he is in control of all the details of my life. If he is loving, then he is going to be shaping the details of my life for my good. If he is all-wise, then he's not going to do everything I want because I don't know what I need. If he is patient, then he is going to take time to do all this. When we put all these things together -- God's sovereignty, love, wisdom, and patience -- we have a divine story. . . we are actors in his drama, listening for our lines, quieting our hearts so we can hear the voice of the Playwright." p. 22
If life is a journey, there are milestones along the way and scenic turnouts. This blog is meant to chronicle those moments of meaning and beauty, where God gives renews perspective and purpose.
