Chapter 14: Every Good
Thing
"Warriors
take chances. Like everyone else, they fear failing, but they refuse to
let
fear control them." -Ancient Samurai saying
Although
Danielle felt lost without a boyfriend for two whole months, she had been
turning her attention to her spirituality.
She had started praying and reading her scriptures on a daily basis
although she still lacked the courage to go back to church. She had even changed the type of music she
listened to. She found that music held a
lot of power for both good and evil. She
felt depressed, inadequate, and materialistic when she listened to America’s
Top Forty, but when she listened to the Christian Music station K-Love, she
found that she focused on herself less and others more. She liked the way the softer music made her
spirit feel and the lyrics of the songs made her ponder the meaning of life
throughout the day. Other than working
out daily at the club, Danielle was busy working at the restaurant trying to
save enough money for college. After
Anton had broken up with her, she had contacted the University and asked them
to refund the money back to him which they had done in a timely fashion. Danielle was still far away from her
financial goals but knew that somehow God would provide. She felt that something big was about to
happen but she had no idea that today would be the day.
Danielle
rolled over to turn off her radio alarm but decided to just lie in bed and
listen to the song playing instead. She
looked out the slats of her blinds to an overcast sky and enjoyed watching the
sun peek through the clouds. She was
confused about the day ahead but was excited to spend time with Caleb outside
the club, even if he did have a steady girlfriend. Oh well.
She was also excited about going over to her grandparents house for
dinner. They said they had somebody they
wanted her to meet. She laid her curly
brown hair back on the pillow and closed her eyes as she sang along to the
Afters singing Every Good Thing:
“You're the reason for every good thing, every
heartbeat
Every day we get to breathe
You're the reason for anything that lasts, every second chance
Every laugh, life is so sweet
You're the reason for every good thing, every good thing…”
Every day we get to breathe
You're the reason for anything that lasts, every second chance
Every laugh, life is so sweet
You're the reason for every good thing, every good thing…”
She finished the song
and couldn’t help but have a bounce in her step as she prepared herself for the
day. She threw on her favorite t-shirt
and shorts and then stared at her vast assortment of shoes. Hmm, she thought…flats or sandals. Yes, definitely sandals to look more
sporty. She was frustrated that Caleb
wanted to meet at the club parking lot instead of picking her up at her house
but she went along with the plan.
She heard the crunch of
gravel under her tires as she pulled into the parking lot. She spotted Caleb parked outside the gym in
his blue Chevy pickup truck. He seemed
genuinely excited to see Danielle and he even got out of the truck and opened the
heavy truck door for her. For a split
second, she thought she might actually have a chance with this ultra athletic,
drop dead gorgeous guy sitting beside her in the cab of the truck. She hoped that a lot of people would be at
the Falls today so she would have the satisfaction of being seen with a hunk by
her side. Yes, unfortunately she was
still insecure and needing validation through a boyfriend despite the huge
spiritual strides she had made in her life.
As they started the
half hour drive up the mouth of the canyon, they saw Nick Weldon and his wife
on a power walk. Danielle had been so
impressed with how serious Nick had taken the doctor’s orders to change his
lifestyle. Nick was losing weight
quickly but he also just had a healthier look about him since he went to an
almost all vegan diet. Danielle had
overheard him talking to Lucy after a Zumba class one day when she asked him
about how things were going and what kept him so motivated. He said the way he was able to have such a
drastic change in his healthy lifestyle, was simply because he loved his wife
so much. He didn’t want to do anything
to jeopardize leaving her here alone to finish off her earthy existence without
him by her side. As Nick had gotten
healthier, his marriage had gotten stronger.
Danielle waved at Nick and his wife and wondered if anyone would ever
feel that way about her. She looked over
at Caleb who was making air guitar sounds to the tunes playing on the
radio.
People do really dumb
things when they are trying to impress the opposite sex. The sad thing was Danielle didn’t realize she
didn’t have to do anything to impress Caleb because he really was clueless and
didn’t care anyway. Nevertheless,
Danielle tried her hardest to make herself look better and had promised herself
that no matter what, she would go with the flow. As the truck pulled to a stop at the bottom
of the hiking trail that led to the falls, Danielle was delighted to see the
line to the gondola up to the top of the mountain in full swing. She had been up that gondola many times to go
to dances that were hosted at the top of the mountain in the lodge. She was terrified of heights but the trip up
was always worth it. Anything to dance,
she always told herself. Today, she was
happy that Caleb just wanted to stick to the trail rather than wait in line at
the bottom of the mountain.
As she got out of the
high truck, she was careful not to fall out in a clumsy manner. Unfortunately, once she got out, she didn’t
pay as much attention to her technique in shutting the heavy truck passenger
side door. She swung the door with all
her might but wasn’t fast enough to get her knee out of the way. The door crushed her knee and Danielle had to
use every ounce of energy not to lose it.
She bit her lip and moaned.
“Whoa there, girl. You alright?”
“Ummm, sure. I have another knee right?” she laughed
embarrassedly. The pain was throbbing
through her leg but she didn’t want to let on that anything was wrong to Caleb
so she tried hard not to limp as they proceeded to the trail head. “Just shake it off,” she thought to
herself. Nothing was going to ruin her
“date” with Caleb. Danielle was
determined to make Caleb have so much fun that he would question his hot
girlfriend away at work. No, she would
have to keep it platonic. Maybe that
could be fun too?
They hadn’t been on the
paved trail long before Caleb got a spark of adventure in his eye. He said, “Do you know what I’ve always wanted
to do?”
“No, what?”
“Haven’t you ever
wanted to get off the trail and just hike to the lodge the old fashioned way?”
Danielle was surprised
to find herself saying, “Yeah, me too”.
The minute they stepped off the path, she knew that it was probably not
the smartest thing she had ever done.
She tripped on a log and found herself lying face down in the dirt. “I’m ok,” she called out. “Maybe I should stay a little closer to you,”
Caleb replied as he put out his hand to help her up. Danielle held tightly to Caleb’s hand as they
made their way through the heavily forested area. It’s not my fault, his girlfriend chose to
work today…she rationalized to herself.
Danielle and Caleb fell into easy conversation and were soon laughing so
hard they were losing track of where they were.
The terrain was getting rockier and much steeper as they were lost in
conversation. Danielle’s knee throbbed a
little but it was her hand that started bothering her. Her free hand, not holding onto Caleb’s, was
itching like crazy and as she looked down she noticed it was turning red. They stopped at a stream and Danielle decided
to wash her hand to rid it of any irritant.
But the itching quickly turned into stinging. She didn’t dare tell Caleb that when she fell,
her hand had brushed against what must have been stinging nettle. Not now, they were having way too much fun
together.
As they made their way
up the mountain, the thought occurred to both of them that they probably should
have worn more appropriate footing other than sandals and they probably should
have thought to bring along some granola bars or at least some water. But they had planned on taking a leisurely
hike on a paved path. This had not been
the original plan but they were making the best of it. This would probably be a good time to tell Caleb
about my low blood sugar issues, she thought.
But she looked at Caleb and he looked so energetic and excited about
making it to the top that she didn’t dare ask to turn around now. Pretty soon, they were no longer hiking…they
were full on rock climbing! Danielle was
definitely not prepared for this. Caleb
scaled the rocks with ease and so Danielle pretended to make it look easier
than it was. Her knee was throbbing, her
stomach was growling, and her hand was going numb! Yet, she still kept silent.
Danielle looked
overhead and saw people going up the mountain on the gondola and wished she
were one of them. Her legs were getting
shaky and her footholds were becoming more and more unsteady. Her hands were having a horrible time finding
handholds because the stinging nettle effects had become torturous with any
sort of contact. Caleb would let her go
up ahead of him and steadied her by holding onto her calf. Danielle knew she wasn’t equipped physically
or emotionally for what lay ahead and as she looked up, she saw the storm
clouds gathering. She wasn’t sure if she
heard thunder in the distance or if her tummy was just growling like crazy but
up the mountain they continued.
The people in the
gondola from far above Caleb and Danielle were yelling, “Hey guys, what the
heck are you doing down there? You’re
gonna get yourselves killed!” Right at
that moment, Danielle looked down . She
had just scaled a rock and was about 10 feet away from any sort of physical
contact with Caleb. Danielle looked down
at Caleb standing on a steep ledge which was only three feet wide. The world started spinning as vertigo set
in. Danielle started to panic and froze
in fear. Even though they were almost to
the top of the mountain, Danielle knew there was no way to try to impress him
now. Her legs were trembling as fast as
hummingbird’s wings, she was pitting out with sweat, and she was scared to
death.
“You ok up there?” Caleb
yelled up.
“So, I guess now would
be a great time to tell you about my fear of heights?” Danielle ventured.
“You’re kidding right?”
“Oh, how I wish I
were,” her voice trembled.
Danielle was stuck…she
couldn’t go up and she couldn’t go down.
She was frozen there on the side of the mountain ledge. Danielle regretted not telling Caleb
sooner. They should have stuck to the
path. She knew it and now he knew it
too. Caleb paced the small ledge he was
on trying to come up with a solution.
Over in Afghanistan, he had been trained for every possible
situation. Even when his troops had been
surprised by the IED, he was able to command all his guys safely back to base. But now, as he looked up at this helpless
looking girl, he was drawing a blank.
Tears started to roll down Danielle’s face. She was no longer trying to impress anyone,
she was letting herself just be. Caleb
had the idea to go around the trail they had made to the ledge to see if there
was an alternate route to get up to the top of the rock wall Danielle was stuck
on. As she watched Caleb’s head
disappear around the corner and away from her, Danielle felt 100 percent alone
and so she did the only thing she knew how…she prayed.
“Please Heavenly
Father, please help me,” she sobbed aloud.
“Please help Caleb find a way to get me off this rock.” People in the gondola up above her were
almost tipping over trying to get a look at her in the predicament she was
in. Danielle clung to the rock with all
her strength and squeezed her eyes shut.
Right then the thunder rolled and the first drop of rain dripped right
on the crown of Danielle’s head. She
looked up to the sky and yelled out, “Seriously?” Then back to her prayer, “Please don’t let it
start raining…not yet!” As she poured
her heart out in prayer, she was indeed comforted. After what seemed like an eternity, she saw Caleb
round the corner and come back into view.
The gondola rides had ceased due to the weather she guessed. She felt relieved just knowing she wasn’t
alone anymore.
“I guess we’ll call it
a day!” he exclaimed.
“Ya think?” Danielles
said in her sassy way. “Oh Caleb, I’m so
sorry…and we were so close to the top too.”
“Yeah, this is the only
way up I can see and as long as you’restuck where you are, I can’t get a
handhold good enough to come up. There
is one other option though…”
“Anything!” Danielle
shouted.
“Just let go.”
“Umm, I’m sorry…did you
just tell me to let go of a cliff?”
“Danielle, it’s the
only way down. You have got to trust me
on this. Let go, and I promise I will
catch you.”
As Danielle looked down
on his full head of thick brown hair, she seemed to note how small the ledge
was that Caleb was standing on. If she
let go and didn’t fall at exactly the right angle, they both could go
plummeting down the side of the mountain.
Danielle didn’t weigh a lot and she knew from working out with Caleb
that he was plenty capable of being able to catch her and keep his balance but
Danielle just couldn’t do it. She was
more terrified than ever and felt her body go rigid and become one with the
stone she was clinging so desperately to. Caleb could feel Danielle’s panic
escalating and knew he had to do something fast.
“Do you by chance
believe in God?” he yelled up.
“Well, of course I do!”
“Alright then, do you
mind if I say a prayer? Out loud?”
Danielle nodded her
head emphatically and said, “uh-huh”.
Caleb prayed that they
would be able to find a way down the mountain safely and he blessed Danielle
with the courage to let go on the count of three so they could begin their
descent before the storm came. After
they both said, “Amen”, Danielle let go and fell…right into Caleb’s arms. She buried her head into his broad, muscular
shoulders and started to sob. She was so
thankful he had caught her, and he was so thankful she was safe. As if on cue, the lightning cracked and the
rain began to fall. Going down the
mountain proved to be much tougher than when they had gone up. Several times, they had to implement the
strategy of Danielle having to let go and every time, she landed in his capable
strong arms. Danielle started to feel
like they would never make it down the mountain. The rain came in intervals and so they tried
to make headway on the rough terrain when the rain subsided a bit. They were both drenched and exhausted.
Once more, they ended
up on a precarious ledge where Caleb had to leave Danielle for a moment to
scout out possible options. By now,
Danielle’s knee had swollen up like a grapefruit and each step hurt. She was happy to have the chance to rest
while Caleb was out scouting but he ended up being away much longer than she
anticipated. She once more started to
get scared and thought that maybe Caleb was in danger. Again, she prayed to God to be
protected. She prayed to not be left
alone, she prayed for safety, she prayed for the rain to stop, and she prayed
for Caleb to return quickly.
Silence. Danielle remembered the
song she had woken up to and decided to pass the time she would start to thank
the Lord for every good thing.
Essentially she was counting her blessings and found that she had
many. But even still, she wanted to know
that God heard her. She didn’t dare ask
for a sign but right at the moment her faith began to wane, she caught a
glimpse of a piece of material snagged under a bush within arm’s reach.
She rubbed her left
hand and prayed for the allergic reaction to get under control. If she was going to get down this mountain,
she would need the use of both hands.
Her eye caught the piece of fabric again and she reached out to release
it from the thorny branches. What she
pulled out shocked and reverenced her at the same time. She had found one lone red glove. She blinked hard to make sure she wasn’t
dreaming. She wasn’t. Sure enough, not only did the glove fit her
small hand, but it was a left hand glove…the exact hand that was suffering from
the reaction of the stinging nettle.
Maybe she wasn’t alone on this mountain after all, she thought to
herself. Right at that moment Caleb
appeared and eagerly exclaimed, “I found the path!” As Danielle clambered down the rock she
thought to herself, “I found mine too”.
Caleb had found a way
down, albeit extremely dangerous, which would lead them back to the main hiking
trail. Thankfully, the glove Danielle
had found supplied the needed grip she needed to safely maneuver the rock
formations which led back to the trail.
By now the rain was incessant and both Caleb and Danielle looked down at
their drenched, muddied clothes and sandals.
There was nothing to do but laugh and soon they had their feet back on
solid ground. They found the paved path
that they had strayed from six hours earlier.
They could see the parking lot from the path and saw only one lone
vehicle…it was Caleb’s blue truck.
Danielle couldn’t believe how idiotic they had been to go hiking in such
weather and having been so unprepared .
Caleb was just as happy
as Danielle was to be back on the path.
They were both famished and thirsty.
Caleb had massive blisters on his heels where the skin had been rubbed
off from his sporty sandals. Apparently,
sandals are not the smartest things to wear while hiking or rock climbing. Danielle’s legs were cramped up from the
paralysis of having been stuck on the ledge for so long. All Danielle wanted to do was go home and
soak in a hot shower. They were both
disappointed that they hadn’t made it to the top when they had been so close
they could see the lodge, but at this point they were just happy to be
alive. Caleb started the truck up and
they both sat in silence as the windshield wipers swished furiously. Danielle asked to change the station from the
blaring rock guitar to something a bit more soothing. She stared out the window as Mandisa sang,
“When the waves are taking you under,
Hold on just a
little bit longer,
He knows that this
is going to make you stronger. Stronger!”
Something changed in Danielle that day.
She realized up there on that mountain that she could stand on her own
but only if she had God by her side. She
realized that she is never truly alone.
As much as she had loved holding Caleb’s hand, she knew that he was
taken. And rather than pout about it as
she would have before, she found herself being happy for Caleb and Alicia. What kind of girlfriend would allow a
boyfriend to take a “workout buddy” hiking?
The answer was one that trusted Caleb implicitly. That said a lot for her character as well as Caleb’s. Danielle’s whole body was in pain but somehow
she felt stronger than she ever had before.
She smiled over at Caleb and slept the rest of the half hour down the
mountain holding her own hand..the one with the red glove.
http://youtu.be/l1mMgPA0iJE
Every
Good Thing
http://youtu.be/TTk0GB7J7X4
Stronger
The Afters. Every
Good Thing. Rec. 16 Apr. 2013. Columbia, 2013.
Mandisa. Stronger.
Rec. 1 Apr. 2011. Sparrow Records, 2011.
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