a day in the life at hope mountain (pt.1)

“BAWKKK” my ears sting as I crack open my sleepy eyes. There are girls sitting up on their beds, others standing, some seem wide awake, and the rest are still half-asleep like me. The bright sun is shining in over the mountains through our two windows. Patches of pink, orange, and yellow sunlight lay across the beds. As I squint from the bright new day’s sky, my eardrums pierce again. “BAWKKK”!! This time I follow where the sound is coming from, my eyes settle upon a frantic rooster, a couple feet from my head. We make eye contact. No joke. Now some of my 19 roommates are also realizing this isn’t just a wake up call, its a confused visitor who has made its way into our room AND has the capability of pecking at us or pooping on our few possessions. As I taste my morning breath and become more aware of my bed head, the rooster hops onto my bed before I get a chance to sit up. It then moves on and begins to make its way around the room as a few of my friends have their try at rooster-wrangling’. We eventually get the loud and panicking rooster out the door, and begin another adventure filled day at Hope Mountain.

I rub my eyes, swing my bare feet out of bed and onto the white tile, and proceed to follow the rooster out the door. First stop is brushing my teeth and opening up my bible. I sit down on a porch chair. I realize that you cannot help but look up at the mountains in the morning and thank God. It is so obvious that the creation praises his name. That is what it is made to do. As I sit in silence with God, the serenity takes my breath away. The sun shines, but there is still a crisp mountain breeze that carries God’s comfort and gives me goosebumps. The morning is good. It cannot help but be good because God is there. As I hear my friend’s and I’s stomachs grumble, Margo brings out the coffee right on cue. We flock to the pot like animals, using way too much sugar and acting like we couldn’t live without the daily 8:15 bitter aroma wafting up our noses. Soon after our favorite chef walks out again with oatmeal, eggs, or some other masterpiece she has put together. We run upstairs to our deck. The deck where we have eaten, laughed, cried, prayed, and done a lot of life here in the DR. We sit together as family, pray for the food and the hands that made it, and feast. With bellies full, we begin our morning devotional, worship together and ask hard questions about the word. Then our sweet host, Viki, makes her way upstairs, often says a wise word to us, and gives us our ministry assignments for the day.

With newfound strength and motivation for the day, my team marches downstairs to do ministry. In the hot Dominican sun, we grab our brooms and start sweeping the driveway. We sweep and scrub as pebbles fall down the pavement and dust fills the air. We work the morning away until it was lunch time.

The mornings are the beginning. The beginning of either a good day or a bad day. The mornings are the times where I get to choose to thank God first,I get to choose to invite him into brushing my teeth or eating with me. I get to set the tone for the day, wake up early (sometimes to my alarm, sometimes to a rooster), sit with the Lord, thank God for the food in front of me, and look out on his creation with gratitude. Praise the Lord for mornings at Hope Mountain DR!

We have 27 days left on the race! After 8 months of living together the squad is holding onto daily pep talks and prayers to the Lord for patience and perseverance! I am learning to love people better, give more grace, and lean on Abba hard! If you could pray alongside us we‘d love that. Thank you! 

Blessings, 

Alex Ramirez