Todd was watching a Borg/McEnroe Tie-Breaker Documentary. I stood watching first McEnroe work his way back, then Borg, then McEnroe, then Borg, I was frozen to the screen and forgot why I had walked into the room…

Borg wins what the announcer calls a “Mt. Everest climb”. Borg says he was sure it was over after the 4th set. He was sure he’d lost. Then there was the deciding fifth set. He won.

Someone is always showing us we are stronger than we think we are. I think of a son who shows a parent she could be a parent when everything was crumbling around her.

My son showed me I could climb. And I’m afraid of heights. My arms are weak. I really didn’t want to do it. I didn’t think I could do it, I would have preferred to watch from a distance. But it was something we could do together. It was something I could do for him. And he wouldn’t accept, “No, I don’t think I’m strong enough,” for an answer.

He buckled my safety harness. He was my spotter. He told me he wouldn’t let go. I had to take those first excruciating steps on a wall slanting towards me.

At first all I could do was hang on. I was sure it was impossible. “Come on,” he said. “You’ve got this. That’s right. Use your legs.” What seemed impossible began to change as my focus shifted away from myself and to him. I wanted to do it for him.

That was the secret to making my way up that day, pushing through to finding strength I didn’t know I had. It didn’t just come to me. I had to trust. That was what the climb was really about.

Whether I’m talking about a tennis match, or climbing a wall, or walking in faith, a climb is a climb. He was still telling me I was strong enough when I didn’t think I was.

We don’t do these things–overcome, move through, endure what we’d rather not–on our own. There’s always going to be something working against us, all sorts of opposition including our own doubts and paralyzing thoughts.

We need others by our side, we need others’ encouragement and we need to accept that trouble is always going to be a part of it. It all works together for good in the end because there will always be the One who has already overcome.

So be of good cheer. Don’t be afraid.

Climb baby, climb.

The view is Divine.