My Mountaintop Experience - Meyer

I’m too serious and I work too hard. I’ve tried to change this, and have made some progress over the thirty some odd years that I’ve been conscious of the problem but have discovered along the way that it is pretty much impossible to completely get away from your religious and family upbringing.

My first monumental step in the right direction was to marry John, an eternal optimist. He’s cheery, friendly and energetic. While I would rather sit with a book or watch a movie, John likes to get out and meet people and do stuff like biking, canoeing and hiking up mountains! Once I’m actually on the move, I enjoy it too. It’s just that I can usually find a million reasons to procrastinate on anything that drags me away from my current task at hand.

This summer, we had grand plans for a book tour but bit by bit, it fell through. I didn’t feel disappointed as much as confused – what did the Lord have for us this summer? Gradually, I started listening to what the Holy Spirit was speaking into my heart – it was time for some R & R – and strangely enough, some time alone with my husband. I say “strangely enough” because we are empty-nesters. But my husband has to often compete for my attention with my work, which often consumes most of the day.

So, here we are in Wyoming – my favourite spot in the world! I absolutely love it here. And we’re doing a lot of things together, John and I, that are just plain fun. We camped for three days by a creek, drove through scenic mountains, biked several times around a small desert town, and generally enjoyed ourselves. I am still working on editing a manuscript which is due at the publishers tomorrow – but John has been reading it with me and making a lot of very helpful comments. And writing is a pleasure for me, one I too often neglect to do. Taking time to write (not including course outlines and course materials!) is something I really wanted to do this summer as well.

The highlight of my “mountaintop experience” has been a four hour trek through the mountains driving a four-wheeler. I honestly felt I was risking life and limb through most of the trip – it was some very rugged territory and it was my first time driving an ATV! I can certainly now understand the attraction people have to extreme sports. You have to keep going. There’s really no turning back and it’s best not to hesitate but to just plough right on through, even if the way ahead looks totally impossible.

We’re meeting some really cool people, too. This one couple just stopped by our campsite to visit and eventually ended up asking us if we’d like to go four-wheeling with them (hence the adventure described above). In church this morning, we met some folks from Tennessee and a couple of alumni from the same college that I went to in Indiana!

We’re heading up to Cody next where there’s a singer (Don Miller) who sounds just like Roy Rogers! And we’ll go to a rodeo there before heading to the ghost town of Virginia City.

Hope your summer is going as great as mine is!!

Dorene Meyer

http://www.dorenemeyer.com/

Contributor to Hot Apple Cider series www.hotapplecider.ca

Author of Jasmine, Lewis and soon-to-be-released Joshua

Published by Word Alive Press www.wordalivepress.ca