A View from the Clouds

Sometimes, it's so frustrating that I can't see the forest for all the giant trees surrounding me.  

I know the view from up high (and by that, I mean a heavenly one) is quite clear.  If only I could see the big picture that God sees!  

And yet, I wait (not always patiently) for Him to reveal pieces at a time, thereby demonstrating His power and love for me and giving me an opportunity to practice and demonstrate my trust in and obedience to Him.

I took a trip up to the Citadelle of Haiti Tuesday. It's an old fortress built at the top of a mountain between 1805 and 1820.  It was a hike up to the top, but well worth it.  I kept trying to imagine all the people and resources it took to build it...  Truly amazing.

The view from the top was astounding!  As you walk up the stone path past little stick houses and meandering horses, you can't even see the enormous fortress through the plantain trees. From the bottom, it almost seems like it's touching the clouds.

                                      

And then, suddenly, there it is towering above you--emerging from 

the fog like a hulking, steel ship on the ocean.

That's my friend, Esther, who hiked up with me.  Yep, the same one who had a baby not long ago!  Baby Elijah slept the whole morning in a sling.  She's been up to the Citadelle about 18 times so far, so there was no need for a guide.

See the bright orange colored mold/mildew on the walls?  Striking.

The cannons were still there, waiting for an attack that never came.

I was making Esther nervous, lingering too close to the edge.  Historic monuments like this in other places would be blocked off for visitors--imagine the liability nightmares!!

See the brick, Sarah?  That's called the EDGE.  Danger! Danger!

She felt better when I had laid down to peer over the edge.

  More of the bright orange mold...  Grassy walkways... And stray cannonballs here and there...

Some type of royal stamp on the cannons.

Giant piles of cannonballs are still lined up on the grounds around the fortress.

I came back down the mountain resolved once again to be patient.  I imagined all that The Citadelle has weathered over about 200 years on this island.  No wonder it has become such a symbol of Haiti and its people!

Pieces of history like this one remind us that there are things larger than ourselves going on in the world.  There is a big picture, and even though we might not have the perspective to see it, we know we're a part of it.

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."