Before leaving the States, our squad of 47 sat in a fluorescent-lit hotel conference room while our squad mentor gave us his most vital piece of advice for having a successful World Race. Our eyes were glued on him and our ears itched with anticipation of the wisdom he was getting ready to impart. He stood in front of us, with his infamous hoodie and skinny jean swagger, and pounded on the table three times. With each pound he bellowed, “Dig in, dig in, dig in!” We all laughed, thinking he was going to tell us something deep and philosophical and turns out – he did!
While in Honduras, our entire squad along with our three squad leaders stayed with our ministry hosts. We lived in a beautiful fenced-in ranch, surrounded by mountains. One morning a few of my squad mates decided to get up early and hike the mountain to watch the sunrise. Early mornings and hiking aren’t usually my thing but as I contemplated the decision to join my friends in this experience, I heard our squad mentor’s words ringing in my ear. This was an opportunity for me to dig in and I didn’t want to let a 5:00 a.m. alarm or a steep hill rob me of watching the sun light up the darkness – plus, I was positive all the bugs would still be asleep at this time.
At 5:00 a.m. we gathered with our jackets, headlamps and cameras in preparation for the hike. We started to leave the compound when we realized the gate was locked. Everyone paused for a second, contemplating our next move as it was way to early to wake our hosts and ask that they let us out. We had two options – slide under the barbed wire fence or jump the gate which stood approximately 8-feet tall. I opted for jumping the gate, thinking it would be the safer choice – and I had just watched my squad leader (who stands at 6’1” tall) jump over it with ease.
In my mind, I thought I would be able to clear the gate. After all, my 5’8” stature wasn’t that much shorter than his. I jumped, but I didn’t jump high enough and fell on a stack of bricks behind me.
Ouch!
When I got off the ground, two of my fingers were bleeding and I was sure the back of my thighs were as well. But instead of giving up on going to watch the sunrise, I decided that crawling under the barbed wire didn’t look so bad after all. I slid under and was off with the rest of the group.
We made it up the mountain and caught our breath. We chatted with one another and got our cameras ready for the sun. After waiting about 30 minutes, God pulled out His paintbrush and created a beautiful masterpiece of the sun hiding behind the clouds. It was breathtakingly beautiful and I was so glad I persevered through the pain to witness such an awesome creation of the Father. A creation spoken into existence by four words – Let There Be Light.
How Great is Our God!
He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
and turns deep darkness into the morning
and darkens the day into night,
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out on the surface of the earth,
the Lord is his name;
Amos 5:8 ESV
