Many people are placed in situations beyond their control. They are faced with unexpected difficulties and may be far removed from their comfort zone. As humans, our reaction to these situations can vary, but they remain our choice. We can succumb to the stress, wallow in self-pity, or choose to make the most of the situation and push ourselves to grow as human beings, testing our personal strength and limits. I know a person who has been placed in a situation far from his true choices and passions, forced to search deep inside himself to discover inner strength and to avoid the reactionary impulse of creating excuses and complaining. 

That man happens to be my husband, and the wonderful father of our little girl. Micah Helser is a Medevac pilot for the Army, currently deployed to Iraq. He’s been in Iraq for a year now, and will remain there for three more months.  He spends his days sweating in the desert heat, flying rescue missions in a Blackhawk helicopter. His job is dangerous, exhilarating and fulfilling. At a moments notice, he and his crew will climb into the aircraft, despite weather, time of day, or enemy fire. They will fly to a call of distress made by a unit or even an enemy that has been injured by the consequences of war. They fly into any and all situations, first removing the injured and then flying them to a medical facility to receive care and hopefully save their lives.  He witnesses violence, anger, blood and tragedy everyday.  Mortar attacks frequent the base. After a normal “day at work” most soldiers will spend their limited free time playing video games, watching movies, sleeping, or reading. That may fulfill most of the men and women there, but it is a lifestyle to which Micah has never been, nor does he want to become, accustomed.  Although the temperatures can reach 120 degrees, and the sand blows endlessly, the hunt for the joy and peace of being outdoors follows him everywhere. Micah is meant to be in the outside air, whether fresh, cool, Rocky Mountain air, or hot, muggy, tense Iraq air. 

Growing up in Oregon, Micah was blessed with the opportunity to experience some of the most beautiful outdoor scenery available. He grew up camping, climbing, mountain biking, skiing and running the occasional street luge. The fresh scent of juniper and the feel of a hard granite rock face, run through his blood. Placed in a land consumed with grief, danger, hatred, a land lacking most, if not all, aspects of an outdoorsman’s landscape, and the inner outdoorsman emerged and took control. So instead of sitting on a couch watching TV reruns, or mindlessly passing the time with video games, he defied the common and refused to let the war deprive him of his internal passion.  Micah made his own mountain.