The View from the Valley: Caleb Adcox

  This summer, I was blessed with the opportunity to join the Wesley Foundation on their summer mission trip to the Greater Appalachian region. For three weeks, we traveled through some of the most beautiful areas of the country, serving people in need. As we served, I was constantly reminded of God’s steadfast presence and abundant love in ways I never expected.

   I experienced many blessings over the course of the mission that were very obvious, the most obvious being the time I spent with the rest of the team. The long drives, shared rooms, team projects, and nightly team meetings all lead to some of the most interesting, funniest, and deepest conversations I have ever had. Through a mess of inside jokes completely incomprehensible to anyone who wasn’t on the trip, our team became a sort of family. We may not always agree with each other, and anyone can get on your nerves occasionally after a month of traveling together, but it was a blessing working with every one of them.

   Many times throughout the trip, I was reminded of the beauty and wonder of creation. Standing at the peak of a mountain and looking out over the surrounding landscape, I understood what was meant by the phrase “mountaintop experience”. This really was a high point in my faith, as well as my life in general. While I leaned against a rock, in awe of the world God had created, it hit me that God’s love for me is dramatically greater than I could ever understand. This is His perfect creation, designed exactly as He intended. I look down and see people at the base of the mountain, so small you can barely make them out, and realize that I am just as small. I am in no way worthy of God’s love, in no way deserving to experience even His creation, much less His presence. And yet, at this time when I am more aware of my unworthiness than ever before, I am also more certain than ever that God is present in my life. He got us up that mountain, and would get us back down again. He was, is, and will be with us at every point, both on and off mission. Standing on that mountain, I fully realized what I had known for years, that all things belong to God, and it is only by His grace that we may experience anything beautiful.

    Unfortunately, you cannot live your life at the top of a mountain. Eventually, any experience you have will come to an end, and normal life will hit you out of nowhere. After the trip, I was excited to “bring the mission home with me”. I came back with a renewed and reinvigorated faith, one that quickly faded back to the same old status quo. I was riding the high of mission, and once the excitement died down a little, I was all too quick to forget that the great commission applies to my hometown just as much as it does to the “ends of the Earth”. I still went to church, still made an effort to read the Bible, though less diligently as more time passed, but I had lost that drive and passion that I felt on that mountain. To be honest, I am still trying to get back to a similar mindset, where God is first and foremost, both in my thoughts and my actions.

    As discouraging as it can be realizing that I am in a worse place spiritually than I was a couple of months ago, I am encouraged by my experience. I have had that mountain top experience. I know it can be reached. I know the climb back up can be a challenge, but I look forward to reaching the peak again. Right now, I am in a valley between two peaks, starting the climb up to the next peak. While I miss the view from the peak, looking back at where I was on mission and seeing where I can get back to both comforts and excites me.

    It is important to remember not to be complacent in your faith. Wherever you find yourself in your walk with Christ,  there is always improvement to be made. However, it is just as important not to beat yourself up about every mistake or low point. After all, God does not ask for perfection. He calls us just as we are, with the promise that His love and our faith will lead us in the right direction. Though we should strive to grow closer and more obedient to God, He is faithful to call us back to Him. His love for us extends beyond anything we do or don’t do; we are His creation, which He loves unconditionally. The fact that God allows us not only to know and have a relationship with Him, but maintains that relationship through our many failures, is possibly the best example of Christ’s love for us.

    I debated for a long time whether or not to write about my recent struggles in this post. It would have been much easier to tell everything from the perspective of the mountaintop, but we are not called to put on a show, or to try and look like “perfect Christians”. As Paul put it in 2nd Corinthians: “...I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me”. So I write this post in hopes that Christ’s love and power will be apparent through my story, and that my perspective from the valley can encourage somebody on their climb.

Caleb is a joy to be around. Filled with the Holy Spirit he is always ready with a dad joke, a smile, or a word of consolation. He was a faithful servant of God at Wesley during his freshman year at LA Tech, and has already committed to serving another year as part of our Discipleship Team!