Over Christmas break, our family took a trip to Indonesia, and we spent 4 days trekking in the Sumatra jungle. Why, you ask? In hopes to see orangutans in the wild, as well as some other wild animals. We did see orangutans and their babies, several different types of monkeys and lots of leeches (which we were NOT expecting). The trek was HARD! I have never done anything this hard before. I’ve hiked mountains in Colorado, Utah, Dominican Republic and Uganda, I live in Africa, I’ve had a baby, I’ve had lots of adventures… But I have never experienced anything THIS hard. I don’t usually push my body to its limits; that just doesn’t sound enjoyable to me. Some of you thrive on intense challenges, so this post is not for you. 😉

So when Day 1 started with steep climbs up a mountain and then steep climbs down another mountain, and up and down again, it was intense! Then rain poured down on us for several hours as we were trying to climb down the mountain to our campsite. We were carrying all our clothes and things for camping in backpacks of about 25+ pounds, and they were soaked! Everything was soaked! When we got to camp while it was still pouring rain, I tried to hang out all our wet stuff in a cramped space with 6 people in one tent area to air it out some. I thought I had reached my limit. I was exhausted, smelly, soaking wet, and overwhelmed with the day… I wanted to quit. We still had 3 more days of this, and I wasn’t sure I could make it.

But the next morning, we woke up and did it all again. Hard treks directly up the mountain jungle and slick, steep treks down. Up and down again for another 6-7 hours. Leland’s phone registered more than 78 stories of hiking up. Intense!! My legs were burning and my back hurt from carrying a backpack of wet stuff. It poured down on us again as we were trying to climb back down the mountain to our campsite. Once again, I thought I was done. I couldn’t imagine being able to continue. Surely, I had reached my limit this time!

And yet, we woke up the next morning and did it again. This 3rd day was the hardest of all. We were so tired, our bodies ached, everything stunk of sweat and mildew, our backpacks felt heavier with all the wet stuff, and we were spent. In the morning, we had to cross back and forth in the rapids of the jungle river with our backpacks, hoping we didn’t fall in the river and trying to avoid leeches. And the treks up and down the mountain were steeper and slicker. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I had just thought the two days before were the hardest things I had ever done! Spoiler alert – I survived to write this blog.

Throughout the whole experience, I found myself switching between negative thoughts of how much I hated hiking and the jungle, to praying for God to give me strength and energy to endure the journey.

The whole experience was eye-opening for me: I am spoiled. As I was trekking, I was reminded that I chose to be in the jungle for 4 days. Others experience terribly hard things by no choice of their own. I have never had to do really hard things, like survive everyday life. I kept thinking of others who have had to endure – and who continue to endure – starvation, war, genocide, human trafficking, and other horrible travesties. I am humbled. It makes me stop and pray for those in need of Gods strength, endurance, patience, and love. I pray for those who don’t even know they need God. I pray for God to be with them in the midst of the terrible, and give His power even when they don’t think they can do it anymore. 

Overall, the trip was amazing and we had a very memorable adventure together as a family – one we will never forget. We laughed about the challenge of the jungle, even in the midst of the hard. But as I was challenged that I can do hard things, I was also reminded that God is always with me in those hard things, even when I don’t feel Him or believe He’s there. God can handle my doubt, fear, frustration, questions, and even anger. He’s been dealing with our human nature and will always be I AM.