Cathedrals. Churches. Convents. Caves. Cars. Cafes. Chapels, Castles. Condos. Cabins. Cruise Ship. Canyons. And Creation. All of them. Uniquely different. But the same. Places of worship—while my wife Linda and I were on our recent four-month sabbatical.
Our four “R” goals during the sabbatical included recharging and reconnecting. Recharging our spiritual batteries was one intended purpose. Reconnecting with God in a more intimate way was another. Both were met in diverse and interesting settings.
Our spirits soared and connected with God while reverberating with the majestically-played pipe organ in the highest-spired Cathedral of the world in Ulm, Germany. Our hearts were stirred in the castle-attic-renovated-to-a-chapel as Gregorian hymns were sung in Swiss German at the Christustrager Brotherhood in Ralligen, Switzerland. Our emotions swelled into tears as just the two of us read the Bible, sang and shared bread and wine together in the Chapelle des chevres (Chapel of the Goats), a cave where our 16th century persecuted Anabaptist forefathers held secret worship services in the Jura Mountains (on the Swiss-French border).
So many ways. So many places. Too many to describe here. Catholic, Protestant and more. We recharged and reconnected through worship.
Worship is not limited to a particular day, place, time, style, religion or denomination. Connecting with God is for anyone, anywhere. We experienced that truth in refreshing new ways over the past four months and for that we are incredibly grateful.
However, there was something very special about coming home to Cape Christian for worship on the final day of our sabbatical. It wasn’t just the fact that we birthed the church nearly 28 years ago. It was even more than seeing young leaders we have invested in leading really well. It was the life-giving experience of reconnecting with long-time friends. It was the realization that we were worshipping with those whom we have personally witnessed the “before” and “after” of God-transformed lives. And, it was the reconnection, after being away for 19 weekends—with God and His family whom we have journeyed with through the mountains and valleys of life. It was good. Very good!
Yes, one can worship anywhere. Anytime. Alone. With strangers. In an unlearned language. But I’m convinced—more than ever—everyone needs a community of believers to connect to and worship with. As imperfect as people and congregations are. As disappointing as the failures and floundering of God’s people becomes at times. Recharging and reconnecting in worship together with those who are mutually committed to honor, follow and serve a living Lord brings a joy unlike all of the other ways and places of worship. It’s good to be home. Very good!
If you missed earlier links to the photojournal of our sabbatical, click below:
Europe PhotoJournal
North American Road Trip PhotoJournal
Lastest Releases Photos
It’s one of those songs stuck on “repeat.” Over and over for several days now. I keep hearing these words, “Everywhere I go I see You, everywhere I go I see You…everywhere I go I see You…” It all started when we began reflecting on the fact that it was our final full week of our four-month sabbatical. Michael W. Smith’s song “I See You” was playing in the background. I realized that song describes a thread through the entire last four months.
Salzburg, Austria –Never saw anyone else up above us on this ledge except this “guy” for a few seconds.
We have constantly seen God show up in our lives day after day, moment by moment. Sure. There were the over-the-top ways like leaving a wallet on a mountain rock at 12,000 ft. elevation and then having five of God’s angels hand-deliver it to you at 14,000 ft. It’s a great story …still being written in terms of it’s impact.
But there were many others too—perfect timing for a family member to find help and healing, a song, a Scripture reading, a parking spot, a tour guide sharing insight without us buying tickets or waiting for the next start time, meeting new neighbors in unlikely far-away places, a sudden weather change, precise scheduling without any planning on our part and way too many more to write. Linda and I frequently just looked at each other and laughed. Again? Can you believe it? God just showed up. He just winked at us one more time. Wow. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing.
I have a hunch that just maybe, God actually wants to show up in my life on a daily and consistent basis. But I’m afraid that I’m just too busy going down my “to do” list. I’m too preoccupied with life. I’m too stressed with situations. I’m too hurried by a crowded calendar. I’m just not taking time to tune my spiritual frequency to hear God’s whispers. How about you? Does worry and busyness also blind you from seeing God regularly in your situation and surroundings?
This Sabbath time, these last four months, have been good for me in many ways. We’ve clearly moved toward our four stated R’s. We’ve rested, recharged, retooled and reconnected. Reconnecting with God in the day-to-day little ways has been so invigorating. No huge new revelations. But just the constant reminder that He cares. About the big stuff. About the small stuff. I have nothing to worry about.
I’m reminded of Jesus’ serenity-giving words:
Female Rufous Hummingbird – McKenzie River, OR
That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
Wildflowers on the slope below Mt. Reynolds at Glacier National Park, MT
So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. (Matthew 6:25-33 NLT).
My prayer today, tomorrow, next week and next month is that this song will continue to play continuously on the tracks of my mind and yours, “everywhere I go I see You, everywhere I go I see you”…
For more sightings of God and his handiwork…go to Gingerich PhotoArt
A welder, chemist, music teacher, engineer, brain-cancer researcher, chaplain, physician, nurse, pastor, midwife, military analyst, business owner, and workers in a predominantly Muslim country. From Minnesota, Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, New York, Florida, Colorado and the Middle East. Married between one year and forty-eight years. Over 400 cumulative years of marriage experience. Twelve couples and two awesome leadership couples. Four days together in an idyllic hundred year-old castle.
One of the four R goals of our sabbatical was to reconnect. Reconnect with God. Reconnect with our spiritual and familial roots. Reconnect with our immediate and extended family. And of top importance, was for Linda and I to reconnect in our marriage. So we signed up nearly a year ago to attend a weekend Marriage GetAway in Colorado. We are so grateful we did.
It’s not that we had really disconnected. We’ve had a solid marriage. In a couple months, we will be celebrating forty years. But we wanted to be intentional about renewing our connection, strengthening our connection, developing fresh habits that will connect us even stronger for longer. We want to finish strong.
“Renewed intentionality” is what retreat participant, Daron Decker coined it. It’s not that we learned a bunch of brand new concepts or principles. Most of it we had heard before read before and even previously taught to other couples. But we learned. Relearned. We renewed our intentionality of regularly practicing the things we know to be helpful.
In addition to last weekend’s incredible four-day marriage retreat, Linda and I have been intentional about renewing our marriage throughout our entire four-month sabbatical journey. We’ve been listening to or reading: He Wins, She Wins; Devotions for a Sacred Marriage; Love & War; Love Talk for Couples; His Needs, Her Needs; and more. We’ve been more intentional and consistent to pray together and read the Bible jointly. We’ve been intentional about speaking each other’s “love language.”
A great marriage is hard work. It doesn’t happen by accident. It isn’t automatic. Unintentionally, relationships drift. An abundant marriage takes intentionality. These four months of intentional effort have been fruitful. We feel closer and more connected than ever. We’ve enjoyed our first-ever time of being together 24/7 for one hundred and twenty back-to-back days. We genuinely missed each other this week when we spent a few hours apart taking different flights to and from Colorado (using frequent flyer miles on different airlines).
If married, are you intentional about investing in the health and growth of your marriage? Maybe it is time for renewed intentionality—Reading. Sharing. Retreating. Playing. Praying. Counseling. Whatever.
Renewed intentionality. That’s what it takes. For sure.
P.S. We highly recommend the Marriage GetAway’s offered at The Glen Eyrie Conference Center. Leaders Terry and Leah Green are awesome! And assistant leaders Mike and Patty Berens were a great addition to the team.
We met some angels on Mount Evans in the Colorado Rockies earlier this week. They had names. Not Gabriel or Michael. But Amy, Pat, Chad, Greg and John. Yes, we met five angels at 14,130 ft. elevation. They actually called my name. I’m still in awe.
L to R: (Me), Pat Quinn, (Linda), Amy Stephenson, Chad Babcock, Greg Palmer and John Cichon
It happened like this. While driving up the highest highway in the Continental United States, my wife Linda and I stopped to take a selfie. Not the typical iPhone in hand capture, but with my large DSLR camera. Not bothering to get the tripod out of the car, I set the camera on a rock. But it needed a prop to stabilize and level it. My left rear pocket had the answer. My wallet. It was perfect.
We headed on up the mountain, driving carefully on the narrow guardrail-less road from 12,000 feet to stop again and take a short hike at 13,000 ft. We photographed Big Horn Sheep on the steep rocky cliffs and stunning Summit Lake with a glacier in the background and alpine flowers in the foreground. And for some reason, I touched my left rear pocket. It was empty.
Mountain Sheep above Summit Lake
I moved into problem-solving mode for just a few seconds. Checked my camera bag. Told Linda to check in the rental car console. But I knew what had happened. My wallet was left on a random rock a thousand feet below us. I had screwed up. Maybe it was altitude-induced forgetfulness. But it was a big-time mistake. No other ID to use at the airport to fly back home the next day. Canceling credit cards. Getting a new driver’s license. New insurance cards, key cards and more. What a mess!
Summit Lake
And then there was peace deep inside as I breathed a prayer. God, I know you can handle this. I choose to trust in you. I don’t deserve any of this. It was my mess-up. My mistake. My bad. But I’m going to be like my mentor Tony Hostetler and rely on Your grace, Lord. We will go on up to the top of the mountain. And then, as we return to the bottom, we will stop at the cluster of rocks at the pull-out and see if the wallet is still there. If it is gone, we will check at the entrance gate to Mount Evans National Park and see if anyone had turned in a lost wallet. After all, I reasoned, the people who would take time to explore a scenic mountain road to enjoy God’s magnificent creation wouldn’t be dishonest jerks. They would care about others. They would do the right thing.
After photographing wild goats at the wind-chilled forty-seven degree peak of Mount Evans, Linda and I were returning to our car to head back down the mountain. A couple voices in a nearby crowd called my name. They even pronounced it perfectly. Dennis Gingerich! Are you Dennis Gingerich? I scanned their faces. I expected to see a friend, an acquaintance from Florida or from college days. They were young adults. Strangers. I didn’t recognize any of them. Then they told me they had my wallet in their car.
Mountain Goats near the summit of Mount Evans
While I had a peace that God would handle my predicament, I didn’t expect my wallet to be hand-delivered to me at the top of Mount Evans. I smiled. Linda cried. We hugged our five God-sent angels from New London, CT. These five delightful co-workers from Electric Boat had been searching the multitudes for my face at every pullout, every stopping place, and every parking lot all the way up the mountain. They planned to mail my wallet to me if they didn’t see me.
Amazing! I’m still in awe. As a pastor for the last thirty-five years, I’ve told many people that God cares about every detail of our lives. And, I’ve experienced it and I’ve heard the stories of others. But this encounter with His five angels was way too cool! Much like the rest of this four-month sabbatical–a mountain-top experience extraordinaire!
For more photos of our four month sabbatical journey, go to the following link: Gingerich Sabbatical Photos. Enjoy!
What is it that recharges you? It might be your hobby, an activity, your faith, a place, a person or even your work. It’s likely more than just one of the above.
One of the four R goals of my sabbatical time has been to recharge. While planning for the sabbatical some twenty months ago, I took some time to think about what filled my tank and charged my batteries. Several things came to mind: Connecting to God, time with my wife Linda, travel, nature, adventure and photography.
All of these rejuvenating activities were then intentionally planned and scheduled into the four-month sabbatical period (May-August 2014). Since I love photography, nature and adventure, I planned an event that would encompass all three into one activity—participating in a photography workshop at Glacier National Park.
I could say so much more about this particular experience. But here’s the short version.
Five days with five other guys who are also passionate photographers. (Thanks Dave, John, Phil, Ranjit and Tom!)
Learning from a professional nature photographer, Joe Rossbach. (A great teacher!)
Enjoying the incredible views and vistas of the Rocky Mountains along the Montana/Canadian border.
Hiking up mountain trails in Grizzly territory to find seldom seen lakes.
Four o’clock alarm settings to catch the pre-sunrise light.
Afternoon photo production instruction and review of our images of the day.
Seven mile evening hikes to catch the reflections of the golden post-sunset glow over a remote lake.
And so much more!
While physically drained by the limited sleep and loads of physical stamina needed for carrying our equipment up precipitous mountain inclines, I was extraordinarily filled by the experience. It was an exceptional time of recharging for me. Filled to running over.
So, I am sharing a link to some of my captures from those five days in Glacier. I do hope they will somehow inspire and fill you for just a few moments today. Enjoy! Glacier Park Photos (Click on individual photos to see larger image).
P.S. If you’ve been following our sabbatical photo-journal, here are the links to my two other sections of photos that I’ve recently updated.
Sabbatical: Europe Photo-Journal
Sabbatical: North America Photo-Journal
Every turn in the road provokes another “take a look at that” comment. Life-giving. Breath-taking. Awe-inspiring. And more. Leisurely enjoying the Canadian Rockies over the last three days is certainly a reminder why we chose this five-day segment as a part of our ten-week road trip across North America.
Near Lake Moraine, BC (Copyright – www.GingerichPhotoArt.com)
As we take in the views and the vistas, our hearts are experiencing vitality. Psalm 8 comes to mind:
Upper Falls in Johnston Canyon
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
One of the four R’s of our sabbatical journey is to recharge. Seeing and trying to capture the views and vistas with my camera, has been filling Linda and I to overflowing. It brings vitality and vigor to our hearts, souls and bodies. Each step we take as we hike and explore, we breathe in the fresh mountain air and exhale years of stress and strain. Vitality and vigor come. Recharging happens.
Lake Louise, BC (Copyright – www.GingerichPhotoArt.com)
So, this blog is brief. I invite you to take a look at the recent images I’ve captured in my viewfinder. Relax. Enjoy. Just maybe you too will be recharged. May God’s grace and peace fill you today!
Current North American Road Trip Photos – Click Here
Photos from the beginning part of our sabbatical in Europe – Click Here
Resting, Retooling, Recharging and Reconnecting. We are daily immersing ourselves in these four stated goals of our sabbatical. Today, I watch a female Rufous hummingbird probe the flowers on the bank of the glacier-fed McKenzie River in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. The dopamine, serontonin and endorphin-producing sounds of the water rushing over the rocks and the sights of birds, bees and butterflies nearby, create an idyllic and picturesque place to reflect on last week.
Rufous Hummingbird @ www.GingerichPhotoArt.com
Last week was an opportunity to be intentional about leaving a legacy. A key component of our sabbatical was to reconnect with family and to connect our three children, their spouses and our four grandchildren to their family roots. So we started our four-month renewal period ten weeks ago with a visit to the villages of Switzerland where our ancestors lived. This past week, we rented an ocean-view home on the Oregon Coast and spent the entire time with our children and grandchildren.
When writing the grant proposal to fund this sabbatical, we desired to create some memories that would be carried for years to come in the brain cells of our descendants. We budgeted to fly them from Florida to my home state of Oregon for reconnecting with their grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins. And then, to spend an entire week together with their siblings and parents. But we planned so much more than just sleeping in the same house, eating our meals together, riding the sand rails on the Oregon Dunes, exploring the tide pools and watching the grey whales spout in the Pacific.
Although Linda and I have long been intentional about the legacy we leave for our children and grandchildren, we started planning this Oregon Coast legacy week 23 months ago. In addition to memorable fun together, we planned three evenings of intentional legacy-leaving activities.
1) An evening was devoted to giving a photojournalistic overview of what we know about our faith heritage and ancestral legacy from Europe. Our descendants needed to know of their adventurous, pioneering, risk-taking, courageous, and God-loving relatives of generations before them.
2) Another evening was dedicated to challenging them to be intentional about their own legacy. Six months prior we gave an assignment. Read “The 3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family” by Patrick Lencioni and be prepared to share the three answers you have come up with as a couple. We shared ours. They shared theirs. It was inspiring, beautiful and meaningful.
3) The third evening was committed to Linda and I verbally sharing pre-written blessings with each family member (inspired by The Blessing and Christian Grand-Parenting). From our one-year old twin grandchildren all the way up to our 38 year old son, everyone received a blessing of words, scripture and prayer. We concluded the evening with a reading of Joshua 4 (remembrance stones for future generations) and connecting it to communion together where Jesus invites all of His followers to remember His legacy of grace through the symbols of bread and wine. Each child and grandchild then chose a stone we had picked up in the Jura mountains of Switzerland near where their Anabaptist ancestors had expressed their bold commitment to Jesus Christ in the face of persecution and death.
As I sit here beside the calming McKenzie River, reflecting on this recent legacy week with our children their spouses and our grandchildren, I can’t help but be moved with the emotion of my own memories. I have no idea what kind of details our children and grandchildren will remember from that week together on the Oregon Coast. I doubt if they will remember seeing their first Peregrine Falcon in the wild at Yaquina Head, how many whales we watched feeding in the bay or even how fast the high-powered rails went up and over the sand dunes. But I do know they will remember. Here’s how I know.
I remember my grandfather, Orie Kropf, bringing my older brother Galen and I fishing on this very river–the McKenzie River, famous for spawning salmon. It’s been 50 years. I can’t remember how many fish we caught or even if we caught any fish. I just remember my Grandpa Kropf being surprisingly patient with a 10 year old who tangled lines with his brother and lost a lure through a wayward cast. Those are the memories that legacies are made of. I commit to be even more intentional in the years that remain.
For a photojournal of our six weeks in Europe, check out this link on Gingerich PhotoArt.
For a photo overview of the past four weeks of our USA Road trip, check out this link on my photography website.
Wow! Hard to grasp that my four-month sabbatical is half over. In many ways it seems like it has been so much longer than two months. We’ve been to so many places. Experienced many adventures. Met amazing people. Fallen in love with God more. I rediscovered why I married my wife nearly 40 years ago. Walked 551,160 steps. Driven thousands of kilometers and miles. Read several books. Taken thousands of photographs. And a whole lot more!
Sunset on the southern Oregon Coast
If there was one theme I had to identify from this first half of this sabbatical, it would be gratitude. Just plain old thankfulness. Deep appreciation. Feeling blessed. Full of gratitude. Every single one of the first 60 days, I’ve experienced an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Sometimes it has been a tear producing, lump-in-the-throat, choked up, no-words-for-it, and emotional kind of gratitude.
I’ve been grateful for so many things it is hard to communicate them all. But here are a few highlights:
Faith Heritage – The first 6 weeks in Europe included visits to sites in Switzerland, Germany and Greece where our Biblical roots, our Protestant and Anabaptist history unfolded. I’m so grateful for deeply committed, courageous, risk-taking followers after God’s heart that have gone before me.
One of the smaller Redwood trees
Family Legacy – During our time in Europe, we connected to our family roots in Switzerland and Germany. We discovered adventurous, pioneering, lovers of God who were willing to lay it all on the line to live out their faith and chase their dreams of starting a new life in America.
Vocation and Calling – While in most settings these last two months I’ve not been serving in the role and capacity of a pastor, I’m more grateful than ever for the last 35 years as a pastor. While I have an identity as an individual outside of my chosen vocation, I’m most grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to serve God and His people and to impact the lives of so many through pastoral ministry. I’m especially grateful for the God-blessed fruitfulness of the past 28 years at Cape Christian.
Leadership Vision – I’ve been overwhelmed with gratitude that God gave me a clear vision for developing young leaders over ten years ago. Realizing that I can leave for 4 months and not have a single worry about what is happening in the church I founded has been amazing. I’m so thankful for the time and energy I intentionally invested in younger leaders.
Generous Givers – And finally I’m thankful for the generosity of folks like the Lilly family who created a foundation and an endowment to fund clergy sabbaticals like mine. I have profound gratitude for our Cape Christian lead team and church board who saw the value of me taking this sabbatical and generously gave me four months off. I so appreciate my wife’s boss who allowed her to take a leave of absence from her work so she could enjoy this sabbatical journey with me. We both feel extremely blessed.
As we enter the second half of our sabbatical, we have so much more to experience. Our four “R” goals are being accomplished. We are more than grateful for each day of this journey.
Links to my photo journal of this sabbatical: Europe and USA Road Trip. Enjoy!
Wow! It’s been a whole month since I last posted. When I’ve been in a pattern for the last years of writing at least two or more times each week, it feels really strange. But remember, I’m on a four-month sabbatical. And don’t forget the four R goals of my sabbatical plan–Rest, Recharge, Reconnect and Retool.
Upper Antelope Slot Canyon near Page, AZ. Copyright by Gingerich PhotoArt
So, here’s the deal. Over the past month, every time I said, “I should write a blog post,” my wife reminded me that if it felt like I “should” be doing it, then maybe it was too much like work and a sabbatical is meant to be a time away from my work. So, I’ve truly been experiencing rest and the other three R’s. But I sure have made multiple entries in my “Blog Potential” notebook in Evernote.
Bryce Canyon, UT. Copyright by Gingerich PhotoArt
One of the key points I made in my sabbatical grant proposal to the National Clergy Renewal program was that travel, adventure and photography all recharge me–emotionally, spiritually and physically. Therefore, in case you haven’t connected with our sabbatical photo journal through social media, I want to end this brief blog with two links.
The first link is the opening six weeks of our sabbatical when we were in Europe (Click here). The second link is to images from the first 10 days of our 10 week road trip across our magnificent United States of America (Click here).
I hope that you enjoy the images I have captured. They point us to a marvelous and spectacular Creator who cares about every detail of His creation–including you and what is happening in your life today!
I’m incredibly blessed. Blessed beyond all measure. A fully funded four-month sabbatical. A time to rest, recharge, reconnect and retool. Multiple times every single day, I make mental notes of things I could be writing about in this blog. However, spotty internet connections, full days of interesting experiences, new places to explore, and just the promise to myself to not write out of pressure, means those topic ideas are primarily just logged in Evernote for future posts. But “vision” is one of those things I can’t resist writing about on this beautiful day, sitting under a canopy of trees, listening to the birds of Berlin at Hotel Christophorous in Germany.
Two weeks ago, my wife Linda and I experienced an unforgettable ride from our Interlaken hotel to the highest railway station in Europe, 3454 meters (11,332 feet). Frequently called the “Top of Europe”—Jungfrau is one of the highest peaks of the Swiss Alps. An alpine wonderland of ice, snow and rock. A spiritual and emotional tank-filling viewpoint! (Check Gingerich PhotoArt for more photos).
Equally inspiring as the panoramic breath-filling images of the Alpine villages and valleys below, is the vision of the rack-railway that was tunneled to the summit over 100 years ago. It was Sunday, August 27,1893. The 54-year-old industrial magnate and finance expert Adolf Guyer-Zeller was hiking from Schilthorn to Mürren with his daughter. Suddenly he stopped and said, “Now I’ve got it!” As he saw a train travelling up to Kleine Scheidegg, he hit on the idea of building a railway from there to the Jungfrau. That night he sketched his idea on a sheet of paper. The sketch shows the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau peaks as well as the route he planned for the Jungfrau Railway. He attached such great importance to this pencil sketch that he added the following note: “11-1:30 at night, Room No. 42, Kurhaus, 27/28 August 1893” and then his initials GZ.
Yes, that was the moment of vision for Adolf Guyer-Zeller. But the building of this incredible 7 kilometer curved tunnel through rock with a cogwheel railway system using turn-of-the-20th century engineering and technology (much of it done with only picks, shovels, muscle power and dynamite) is even more impressive. And then, the perseverance and price paid to see the vision become a reality. Just four months after his vision-inspiring hike, Guyer-Zeller submitted his application to the government authorities. A year later it was approved.
And then, the reality. Horrible weather. Unexpected obstacles. An accidental explosion of 30 tons of dynamite. Extreme working conditions. 30 deaths and 90 injuries. There was even a two-year pause in the construction while additional funds were collected. Some said, “It can’t be done.” The first train went from the bottom to the top on August 1, 1912. A projected four years to completion turned into 16 years. But, vision became reality.
More than a century later, we and nearly a million others each year, are blessed participants in the fruit of another person’s vision turned reality—a stunning view and an exhilarating experience at the top of Europe.
This is how I wish my life to be remembered. Visions pursued to reality turning into blessings for multitudes. Hardships incurred becoming purpose-filled joys. Labors resulting in fruitful legacy. Success transforming into significance.
How about you? Do you have a vision that is becoming reality? Is there a need for a restart of a vision that is on pause? Do you need to persevere through a tough patch on the journey toward your vision?
Remember these words from the New Testament, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:2-5 NIV).
For a photo journal of his sabbatical journey, go to the Sabbatical 2014 folder on Dennis’ photography website at www.GingerichPhotoArt.com.
