You think you have mountains to climb?

"the Lord sent you on a mission"

1 Samuel 15:18

Thomas Jefferson.  President.  Founder of the University of Virginia.  Lawyer.  Diplomat.  Delegate.  Governor.  Vice President.  He was interested in language, science, architecture, religion, exploration, botany, philosophy and zoology.  Among other things.

Jefferson was a man of many accomplishments.  I grew up in Virginia, so he's a man close to my heart.  We have all been beneficiaries of his wisdom and achievements, but I have been lucky enough to visit places like the university he founded, and the home he built.

But one of the things that he was responsible for is a source of great interest to me.  The Lewis and Clark Expedition.  Jefferson not only authorized the Louisiana Purchase, but he appointed Meriwether Lewis to lead an expedition to explore and map the land. 

I love reading about it, and imagining everything that those men ~ and woman ~ accomplished on that trip.  Their goals were many:  to find out about the geography and topography, the flora and fauna, the rivers and mountains, and of course the native Americans living there.

There was so much to learn.  And that, I think, was Jefferson's favorite situation.  He loved to learn ~ what better scenario than a one in which there was much to learn? 

But he was not the man to go on the journey.  I don't even know if he wanted to.  Perhaps he would have liked to, but felt he was too old.  Perhaps, he felt the trip simply couldn't wait until the completion of his term as President. 

Whatever the reason, this trip was important to him, so he wouldn't choose just anyone to lead it.  This was his pet project; his passion.  And I wonder if Meriwether Lewis felt the weight of what an honor it was.  I think he must have been an amazing man, in many ways, to be worthy of what he was being asked by the President of the United States.

So, what are you being asked?  To what mission has God called you?  And do you fully appreciate the trust He has placed in you?  He's got a plan, and you've been commissioned for a special part of it.  It might not seem special to you.  It might seem tedious, or lowly, or far from glamorous.  But you're the only one who can do it in the way you are doing it. 

He's doing something great through you.

~ "I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God,

and have done according to all

     that You have commanded me" ~

Deuteronomy 26:14