There is nowhere else on the planet that I feel closer to God than in His natural cathedral, so we decided to kick off the summer with a family hike out to Hawksbill Crag. We'd seen pictures of this glorious site, but had never made the trek ourselves.
The hike to the crag is mostly downhill for @ 1.5 miles. We got out to the crag, and had it all to ourselves for at least an hour. We took pictures, admired God's creation, talked and prayed about what this new ministry will mean to our family. We discussed the very real enemy who doesn't want us to reach these international students. One way he'll try to wear us down is through our relationships with each other, so we determined to set aside one hour per week to talk and pray together after dinner. It was such a sweet time.
Then came the hike back. I'm not sure any of us really understood just how hot it was going to be that day. The hike back was uphill the whole way, and we had underestimated just how much water we would need. Eric and Claudia moved ahead of us quickly, and Eric asked for the keys, so they could get into the car at the top of the hill. Rick and I trudged our way back up the mountain, taking several pitstops along the way. We ran out of water, and were seriously sucking wind when we approached the top. Both of us were chanting, "Water...water!" as we spied the car.
But the kids were nowhere to be seen, and the car was locked.
It is not beyond the realms of possibility for Eric to hide and make us search for him, but that made no sense given the water and A.C. were in that car. We called for the kids with no response. Rick and I spotted a cooler in the bed of a pick up truck, and were incredibly tempted to see if there was any water we could "borrow." Finally, we heard the kids coming. They had taken a wrong turn and had to loop around. We were all completely parched. We were so thirsty that we even drank some of the melted ice in the cooler!
On the drive back, I promised a double scoop of ice cream to whoever could find the verse in the Bible that talked about God being like water in a dry and weary land. After several attempts, we came across Psalm 63. We decided this would be our "go-to" verse when things get tough. We'll think back and remember how we couldn't wait to get that car open and have some water, and recall that we need to feel that same way about our Father. Only when we thirst for Him in the same way we craved that water will we be on the right path...nothing else matters but our relationship with Him and His glory. (BTW, Claudia won the ice cream, but she offered it to Eric...so of course I go them both a double scoop : )
Out on the crag, surrounded by so much beauty, I couldn't help but sing,
O Lord my God,
When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the world Thy Hand hath made,
I see the stars,
I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy pow'r throughout
The universe displayed...
No comments:
Post a Comment