Here is part three of our trip ... this is the part of the trip where God opened our eyes and hearts to see what exactly He was doing, symbolically, in our lives. It was simply amazing and VERY exciting and just what we had been praying for ... to hear Him clearly. On 10/7, we went on this hike in the afternoon, after lunch ... to the Seven Hollows Hiking Trail. As you can see from the photograph, it was a 4 1/2 mile circle. Phew! We took the left fork (thank you, Jesus!) which was almost straight down into a canyon. It was rock cliffs on either side with a stream running down the middle. We were walking on the left side. (Just FYI, on the way out, it was not as steep going up as on the way in ... that was a great thing for this pregnant lady :) Our amazing God looking out for me! )
We were all following our fearless leader ... the head of our household. It is important to note that three times other hikers tried to get us to turn back because the clouds were threatening rain. As a family, we decided to move on and pray and believe that God would hold back the rain. It is exactly what He did. We were not going back to "Egypt," we were heading to the "Promised Land."
These flowers and two other varieties were all along the trail. I thought they were beautiful!
This is the Natural Bridge Cavern. We would have missed it if another couple hadn't pointed out how to find it. The light you see shining wasn't there in real life. I believe it is an angel that was watching over us as we hiked and the Lord allowed me to catch it on camera. So cool!
Streams that we saw all the way through. At one point, we crossed a stream to the right side of the canyon. I said, "Look, we've crossed over to the other side." Brian and I looked at each other and the light bulb went off at the same time. We were symbolically crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land. We are no longer in the desert! Praise God!
This is the grotto. I am 30 1/2 weeks pregnant in this photo. Baby girl is a-growing! :)
Peyton in the cave part of the grotto ...
Madison posing on a rock in the grotto ...
The girls by the grotto waterfall ... adorable! This was about 2 and 3/4 into our 4 1/2 mile hike!
Madison posing at the end mile marker ... it was quite a hike. We were happy to be able to rest and get some dinner after that! :) But, oh what an amazing and beautiful journey it was!
Next day, 10/8, we stayed in the mountains at the Queen Wilhemina resort. It was a God-thing that we got in because when we originally called several hours earlier, there were no rooms. On our second call, they had had one cancellation ... a room for four. God is so good! A huge storm was brewing and there was no tenting it that night. I asked God why He worked this out. He reminded me, it had been prophesied over me several years ago that I was Caleb and I would take the land. In Joshua 14, after 45 years (wandering 40 in the desert and fighting 5 in the Promised Land), Caleb recieved his mountain ... his part of the Promised Land ... from Joshua. I turned 45 years old on 10/8, the very night we stayed in the mountain!
These are two photo's we took before the storm moved in. The entire resort was enveloped in a cloud during the storm. It was too cool! Don't you love how the sun was shining through the clouds. The SON is always shining through our storms. He says, "I will never leave you or forsake you!" Amen!
Next day, on our way home, we stopped in a senic turnaround to watch the clouds, still in the mountain. As we stood there, a cloud blew toward us and, ultimately, enveloped us in white. It all happened within a matter of a minute. It was the most awesome thing! The wind was blowing inside the cloud and the temperature dropped about ten degrees. Loved it! So thankful for camera's to capture the moment.
On the rest of the drive home, it rained and was clear alternately. On several of the side roads, we would pass these amazing little streams. I was fascinated by them and God reminded me of a verse He gave me several years ago about our family ... Isaiah 43:18-19 "The Lord says, 'Forget what happened before and do not think about the past. Look, at the new thing I am going to do. It is already happening, don't you see it? I will make a road in the desert and rivers in the dry land." (NCV). The NIV says "streams in the desert." This picture reminded me about the streams. Our God is so faithful!
Our vacation during the Feast of the Tabernacle culminated on the last day (10/10) with praise and worship at church. The sermon was about giving everything to God ... everything ... we had a "miracle offering" and God really spoke to our hearts. As a family, after returning home, we burned pages where we had written curses that had been spoken over us for generations (symbolically breaking them) and prayed for the "new things" ... the mighty things God is working on our behalf to begin to manifest on earth. We took communion together as a family. It was an awesome end to a celebration of harvest, provision and God's faithfulness.
Like I said, it was an awe-filled, awesome trip!
