Sunday evening after dinner, my team and two other teams we are working with this month decided to break in our tents for the first time since training camp. With full stomachs yet hearts hungry for adventure we hiked about thirty minutes to a mountain that overlooks Moldova in its entirety. A day prior our team leader asks our ministry contact for permission to stay the night on this mountain. He says “sure” our team leader asks is it safe he replies “nowhere in Moldova is safe.” Well, what's there to lose then! Sweat dripping off our faces and down our backs and a hike that feels like it takes hours; we make it! Our faces light up like a child’s on Christmas, we throw off our bags and soak in the moment. We soak in God. On the top of this mountain it is a get away. Nothing but beauty. I could feel it in the wind, see it in the sky, and hear it in the sounds all around. On the top of this mountain one would never know of the spiritual warfare and heartache that takes place here. Without a doubt this moment is certainly a gift from God.
We sit around, tell stories, and spend hours laughing as if it was the last time we would ever laugh! Darkness falls and we pull our sleeping pads and sleeping bags out of our tents and stare at the stars. I have never seen stars like this before in my life. We decide to stay awake until we see a shooting star. There it goes… The first shooting star! We squeal and cheer! Then the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, … we see a total of 8 shooting stars. Hearts satisfied and on a high from His creation we disregard sleeping in our tents. We have also disregarded the fact that the wind is out of control. We literally just want to sleep under the stars. So, for a little while we do. The wind gets stronger as the night goes on. The sound of it is wild! My friend and I decide it would probably be a good idea to get inside our tents. I lay in my tent and look at the stars and see the trees bent over by the wind that sounds like it could blow away the entire mountain. Reality sets in while I'm in my tent by myself. Unsure of my surroundings and afraid I may blow away, I can do nothing but laugh. I was scared. But, what could I do? Tell my teammates? Run down the mountain? Or… Trust God. That night, God takes me to a new level of trust. I fall asleep and wake up as the sun begins to rise.
