As a child, I always enjoyed the movie Fern Gully. Putting aside the whole fairy thing, I always saw the forest as something magical. It’s almost as if the magic comes from seeking out what is hidden, and uncovering the mysteries that nature carries.
The sense of not being familiar with things and loving every minute of it is just exhilarating. I suppose maybe that is one reason why I am on the World Race, to fulfill the childlike fantasy of going on some new and unknown journey.
Yesterday, we were given a chance to hike up a mountain. This mountain basically has three levels and at each level there is a cross. With the feeling of a new adventure setting in, seven others and I took two buses to get to the mountain.
It was not easy considering that it was approx. a 6hr. hike up and back. The terrain changed quite often so it was never boring. When we got to the top, we were told that there was a beautiful valley on the other side. (Beautiful was quite the understatement.) It looked so jungle-like; I half expected a monkey to swing thru the trees at any given moment. There was tons of moss and trees. The roots blanketed the ground and the moss brought it such a gorgeous green. There were plants I would have never imagined existed.
When we got through the jungle area, the valley looked more like Ireland or New Zealand. We were literally in the clouds, which is something I’ve always wanted to experience. After sitting awhile, watching the clouds billow by, and being in complete awe of God’s seemingly fantasy-land, Anton informed us we had to go back.
On the way down, somehow the group split up into several different paces. Being the “graceful” person that I am, I decided to watch my footing. In fact, I watched my steps so well that I soon was on a different path. When I looked up I saw a couple people in rain jackets so I headed in that direction, and upon arriving on the scene I realized that those people were approximately 10 guys speaking only Spanish.
Literally, thank God He gave me the knowledge on how to handle the situation. I went enough into the clearing in case one of our people saw me, but not enough for the guys to see me. Just when I was about to head back up 3 of my people saw me. I was less than 2 minutes away, but it still scared Christina something awful.
For some reason (A.K.A. GOD), I was never scared that whole time. For those of you that don’t know, the spirit of fear has somewhat followed me around during my 22 years on Earth. God is breaking that chain though. In fact, I think it is more of a habit to be scared now than anything. God is so big that He delivers us from things we couldn’t even see as hindrances long ago. I mean, with the King of the angel armies on my side, what should I fear?
(All photos by Christina Palmer)
