Each step was solidifying our resolve to move forward. We could no longer go back, but a tinge of doubt began creeping into my mind. My thoughts began turning into questions, and from those questions sprouted the distrust and hesitation to move forward. In His love and grace, God kindly showed me that my doubts, distrust, and hesitations were not acceptable toward the leaders He had chosen.
We had walked and climbed for about two hours before we stopped. In front of us was a small river that we had to cross, then another climb. As thrilled as we were about starting the fridge river cross into a wonderful hike, we took a break. The thought of crossing a cold river was just not it for me, so I continued moving forward, hoping to find a bridge, but before I could find it, a Georgian yell pierced the silence. I looked up, and on top of a hill were two men yelling and pointing.
These men were incredibly joyous! They were fun, but it was also unfortunate that they relied on alcohol so much. The one on the left was only a little drunk by the time we met him. However, the guy on the right was very drunk by the time we met him, and he only got worse by the time we left. Pray for these two gentlemen as you continue reading.
As I tried to process what they were yelling, Raquel had joined me. We decided to join them on the hill instead of deciphering their yells. Even in this, I still had doubts about moving forward, but it was here that God crushed all of that. As we began talking to these men, we realize that their whole family lived upon the current hill and across the river to the other hill. Raquel saw they had watermelons, and before we could even ask for some, they immediately cut up pieces and gave them to us.
We joined them for what we thought would be a quick snack and drink. As you continue reading, you’ll see that we ended up joining them for a longer lunch, lol. Their family was incredibly kind. Pray for their family as well.
Moving forward was hard, and it only got harder from there, but God provided watermelons on a hill to remind us that forward was where he wanted us. My doubts immediately disappeared as we yelled below to our team, “they have watermelons!” This was God showing us that we took the right step; find out why watermelons were such a big thing HERE on Aaron’s blog. With that, we all joined the family on the hill and were blessed with a meal and fun conversations before we continued.
We were so excited to receive the watermelon. This was a sweet way of God showing us that we were on the right track; moving forward was where he wanted us. The meal was incredible, by the way. God showed up in multiple ways on this trek, and meals were one of those ways.
This shepherd family on the hill, were they the ONE’s God sent us on the trek for? I couldn’t tell you at the time, but it didn’t matter because we knew what God had confirmed; move forward and don’t look back. Our journey for the ONE continued forward, regardless of the distance.
This was us wrapping up with the family; though they didn’t want us to leave, we knew our path was forward. Our Abba allowed us to have a sweet encounter with this family to show us that we were in His will. What a sweet Father! He didn’t say it would be easy, but He showed us that we would be taken care of by Him.
