Starting with the first winter I spent with him–as shown in the photo with this post–my buddy Caleb has always enjoyed walking up snow mountains.

When I say snow mountains I mean the big piles formed when snow is plowed to the ends of driveways and parking lots.

Pretty much every morning and evening on our walks during the winter Caleb makes a beeline to the top of these piles.

I’m not exactly sure what he enjoys about walking along the top of them and, being a dog, he’s not talkin’.

Sometimes I think the attraction is that being up high on a snow mountain is a welcome vantage point to a dog such as a Corgi that is built so low to the ground.

I’m not so sure that’s it, though, because Caleb does much more sniffing than looking when he’s on top of a snow mountain.

My guess is that his attraction to them is not so much that they offer him a better view of the world but rather that they offer him a new place to look for “treats.” Treats meaning anything that is “edible”—oftentimes rabbit poop—that is buried in the snow.

While I will always find it quite repulsive to see Caleb rooting for such disgusting “food” sources, I have to say that this winter it fills me with joy to see him doing so.

That is because for several months during this past summer and fall Caleb was having quite a bit of trouble walking, let alone climbing hills. During a week-long visit in late August to the family lake place he threw his back out by going up and down too many stairs.

Stairs can be hard on short-legged corgis so I have always done my best to carry Caleb up and down them. But during this particular visit I let him get out of my sight one too many times and he wound up going up and down too many stairs.

Caleb strained his back bad enough that for several long weeks he had quite a bit of trouble walking. There were more than a few times when I had my doubts that he’d ever regain his mobility.

Well, I am happy to report that after several anxious months and visits to the vet, Caleb is back climbing snow mountains again. I said many prayers during the ordeal, doing my best to ask not just for Caleb’s recovery but for God’s guidance on how to best navigate the challenge.

One of the challenges that I faced the past few weeks—along with many other folks, I am sure—is holiday stress. As joyful as the Christmas and New Year’s holiday season can be, it has a way of stressing us out as well.

At least the commercial side of it, anyway. When I get too wrapped up in trying to find the perfect gift, the perfect ornament, the perfect treat, the perfect companions, or the perfect whatever else I think will make my holidays bright, I start to lose sight of the true gift of Christmas and get stressed out.

I was feeling a pretty big wave of this holiday-induced stress one particular evening as I wrapped gifts, packed my bags, and made a trip to the grocery store.

Which is why I found special comfort in the Bible verse I read the following morning during my daily prayer and meditation time:

“I am content with weaknesses…for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.”—2 Corinthians 12:10

Reading that verse was a timely, wonderful reminder of the true gift of Christmas: A Savior who came into this world and comes into our lives most freely and fully when we are in the midst of struggles.

What a wonderful gift it is to have a God who is there for us when we are feeling stressed out, down and out, or otherwise faced with adversity, strengthening us to climb those mountains and other mountains placed in our path.