(Shout out to my sister Shannon Meador who captured this sweet day so perfectly and has graciously let me use some of her words here)
It was snowing. A LOT. So much that it was hard to see, and the ground was already covered in about 2 feet of snow.
Again, we were looking for something, as we are every day here.
We don’t know what it is we’re looking for, but we look and we wait and we pray every single day.
We got to the end of the road and hadn’t found whatever it was we were looking for. We joined hands and prayed in the middle of the street, snow falling, hands freezing, hearts seeking direction from God, and when we finished we decided that instead of turning back we were going to walk through the snow covered corn field.
There was no good reason to walk through that field. But we did, and as we walked I was filled with joy. With each step my legs were covered in snow well up past my boots, but with each step I was sinking deeper into a place of intimacy with Jesus.
We started singing songs of worship to my Lord. “Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow…” There was absolutely nothing whiter than that field I was walking through with my sisters.
I sang, and laughed, and struggled to keep my balance the whole way through, and when we made it to the other side of the field, laughing and brushing ourselves off, there was this quiet assurance… I am exactly where I am supposed to be.
The Lord confirmed just how true that was just moments later when we met a beautiful old woman named Roseleah. If we hadn’t walked through that field we wouldn’t have come out on the road Roseleah lived on. We wouldn’t have played “charades” trying to communicate with her that we wanted to shovel for her, which somehow lead to us singing the song “Divine Romance” to her, which somehow lead to her warmly inviting us into her home, feeding us chocolate croissants and grape Fanta, and praying and worshiping with her.
None of that would have happened if we would have turned back at the end of the road.
None of that would have happened if we hadn’t trekked through that field.
None of that would have happened if God didn’t lead us to Romania instead of where we were supposed to go for month 6, Bulgaria.
None of that would have happened if I hadn’t listened to God when He told me to GO.
None of that would have happened if people like you hadn’t made it possible for me get here.
There's so much good and glory waiting if we just keep our eyes focused forward, if we keep the song in our hearts of "The cross before me, the world behind me – no turning back!"
My little heart is swelling with a song from somewhere else!
It's filling up with glory and I'm ringing like a bell
My little heart, my little heart is racing.
It's racing just to keep up with Your love & live to tell
'cause it's all I know.
I'm following behind You.
I'm staying close beside You.
I've got nothing to lose, but I've got everything to find.
There's something in Your laughter
that keeps me running after.
I'm breathing to the beat of Your heart and leaving the world behind.
No turning back.
{No Turning Back – Audrey Assad}
