Thankful to be alive today and for God's protection this past week during a hike to Comet Falls at Mt. Rainier

Mt. Rainier - Comet Falls

I'm so thankful to be alive today, I had the most terrifying experience earlier this week and I'm just now able to talk about it without crying. Last Tuesday Natalie, Josh, my niece Janell and I went on a hike up at Mt. Rainier to Comet Falls. It's a beautiful hike that takes you 2 miles up the mountain to view one of the most spectacular falls in Mt. Rainier National Park, this was my 3rd time to go on this hike, so I thought I knew what it was going to be like. It was a gorgeous day, very warm, the skies were deep blue and you could see for miles as you walked up the side of the mountain. As we were going up the trail the first little scare we had was when we noticed that there had been a sink whole in the trail, it was freaky to think that if you hadn't been paying attention you could fall right down it to the bottom of a very steep cliff. Our next little scare was when we came up on a rock slide, we had to climb around the rocks, it was a bit unnerving as we had to check each rock to be sure we had a sturdy one to grab onto or we would fall right down another cliff on the mountain. But neither of these area's was anything compared to what awaited us on the top of the trail.

The sink hole in the middle of the trail

As we turned the corner to the end of the trail it dawned on me that I hadn't prayed for God's protection that day, which is something I normally do anytime we take a trip anywhere or do something that is a bit challenging. So I stopped and prayed that God would surround each one of us with His protecting Hands and keep us safe, I really truly believe that is why I'm here typing this out tonight instead in a hospital bed or worse yet in a grave. You see as we came to the very end of the trail and the gorgeous falls stood before us there was a huge patch of snow and ice, but Janell, Josh and Natalie would not be stopped by this they continued on skirting around the bottom of it. I in fact told Natalie that I would wait there for them to return, but as I stood there looking at the beautiful falls I decided that I too would follow in their foot steps and skirt around the end of the snow. I made it over to the falls just fine and sat on a huge boulder enjoying the sunshine, the sound of the falls and river as it went by all the while thinking to myself that I would be so thankful once we got back to the other side of the snow patch and around the rock slide.

All of us at the end of the trail, happy we made it to the falls

As we started to go back down the mountain, I slipped and began to fall down the side of the mountain, the only thing that saved me from completly slidding down the mountain was I had the impluse to reach up and grab some small branches of some trees that were right in front of me. I layed there for a moment catching my breath, as Josh who was in front of me and Janell behind me, along with Natalie all began to ask me if I was okay. It took a minute for me to stand up and as I did I realized that nothing was broken, that I was very sore, but thankfully because of God's protection I was okay, I was covered in mud, shook up and sore but Praise God okay. I just remember saying over and over again, thank you Jesus for your protection, thank you Jesus that I'm alive, thank you Jesus that I didn't break any bones, thank you Jesus that I could still walk. . .

The spot where I fell, it's hard to see how sloped it was here. Those little tree's there are what saved me from plummeting down the mountain into the falls.

So here I sit tonight with some huge bruises, a nasty looking gash in my thigh, a torn muscle in my shoulder from grabbing the tree limb, a sore knee, but that's it, in fact I woke up feeling so much better yesterday morning, well enough to be on my feet for about 4 hours in the kitchen making Luke's food formula and was even able to take a short walk.

I've come to the realization once again that each day we wake up able to walk, talk and move without assistance we are blessed. I've also been reminded by God's faithfulness in His protection that He hears our prayers and answers them, knowing that I can trust him to protect me when I ask for his assistance, thank you Jesus!

Natalie and I at the bottom of the falls, this is the part that you can see from your car as you drive up the mountain.

In closing I just wanted to take a minute to ask you to pray for Luke, he was really sick on Sunday, throwing up most of the day, then he seemed to get better, but then yesterday he woke up with his nose running like crazy, coughing and sneezing all through out the day. When I layed him down at night I decided to take his temp, as his heart rate was high, it was close to 102. PLEASE pray that he just has a cold and that he will be better by today, thank you.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Thankful Mommy Sue