Tim O’Brien

Hey Friends, Hey fam-

In one week I’ll be embarking on what will be my fifth ever Clean Water Climb (wow). Every year God uses this climb to prompt in me an opportunity to re-center my life purpose and really align that with why I choose to pursue this adventure. God has a funny way of getting our attention and meeting us where we are in many different seasons of life. Personally, I believe God is challenging me in this season to focus on one specific word – TRUST. We’re called to trust and lean into him with everything in life, even in times of vast uncertainty. For example, this year I faced a challenging decision of whether I would be able to participate in this years Clean Water Climb due to a fracture in my hip (it was terrible!)This deeply hindered my ability to maintain adequate fitness and was a significant challenge, mostly based on the doctor’s orders to forego running, working out, or participating in any activity that impacted the injured area. Thankfully though, I’ve been cleared to start running again and have been able to train for over a month with little to no pain. I give you this example because I often choose to over-prepare (especially for the Clean Water Climb). Yet, in my attempts to prepare physically, my focus sometimes misses out on what God has for me mentally and spiritually. This is simply me trying to control too much and, rather than trusting in Him, I choose to lean on and burden myself.
As Isaiah writes in Chapter 26 (v.3-4), ‘You who keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.’ The source of such peace, the ‘everlasting rock’, is the righteous, sovereign, saving God.”

So here we are, I’m sitting here readying to climb, learning to trust God more in this season. Yet year after year, my foundational purpose remains the same for why we climb. By climbing, we raise awareness and funding, which directly impacts the ministry we’ve chosen to serve – the people of Malawi, Africa who lack access to clean water. Through this simple act of trusting God with our resources, we not only positively impact clean water in an entire nation, but we make an impact at a deeper level by uprooting  generational poverty, disease, oppression, and other systematic and socioeconomic barriers standing in the way. My encouragement to you – find ways to trust God – with your lives, with your decisions, and with your giving. What might that look like for you? How can we take steps to lean in and trust God better?

In 2019, The CWC Team is climbing Mountain of the Holy Cross in Colorado.

My goal this year is to raise $3,000 in the name of clean water and in the name of trusting God and serving the people of Malawi. Join me in this years Clean Water adventure as we trust God and serve his people together.

TO. THE. SUMMIT.

Tim O