Our last night in the jungle 7 of us
headed out around sunset to try to find a hot spring that we had been
told about. It was supposed to be 15 minutes away, so we figured no
big deal, we’ll just head there swim a little and head back. We were extremely fortunate to have a van to use this month, but it was an old van and had a few issues as you can see from the video.
With 11 people in the house our plan to
leave in 2 minutes stretched to 30 and we ended up not leaving until
after sunset. We headed down the dark road for about 30 minutes and
just as we were about to turn around and give up we arrived at a city
park. As we went in to explore the pitch dark park we found out it
was in fact the spring we were looking for.
We examined the water and saw the algae
and fish that were in it, read the posted sign about health risks of
swimming and headed back to the van…..to grab our towels. The
water was pretty nice and all the guys had a great time swimming,
the three girls that came refused to get in the water and were
certain we would get sick from it. 1 Week out and so far we made the right choice. It was an
amazing way to spend our last night in the jungle. Swimming in a hot
spring lit by the moon and lightning at a distance.
After an hour or so we got back in the
van and push started it in the dark, just as it was starting to
sprinkle. As soon as I pulled onto the road the heavens opened up
and the rains came. The headlights proved to be woefully inadequate
and the water was rushing over the road.
I could see literally only 20 or 30
feet in front of me and there were debris and potholes that needed to
be missed. There was no defogger, so I had to constantly wipe down
the windshield with a towel. It was hard enough to miss the potholes
in the daylight, at night with the rain they were downright
impossible to see.
There were several downed tree branches
that went floating by, and as I drove through the ever winding road,
we started to hit low spots and often in the turns it was impossible
to see where the road was heading. I remember Dan in the back
laughing at the conditions we were in and asking how I was keeping
the van on the road.
It was then that I knew without a doubt
the answer to the question. Prayer I answered back immediately. I’m
not sure when I started, but at the moment I realized fully that the
whole time I had been praying for guidance and vision. The answer to
why the van was still on the road was simple, prayer. Every time I
couldn’t see the turns, there was a lightning strike. Every time
oncoming traffic blinded me by failing to turn their brights off I
never lost sight of the line on the road. When the line disappeared
I could find the edge of the road, so we didn’t go off.
As we neared the house, Jon, who was
next to me, began to yell frantically. I looked over only to see the
paperclip that was holding the electrical system together glowing
orange in the dark cabin. Well then I started praying for that too.
After few seconds it cooled down and we never lost power. I
remembered the line in Amazing Grace and God made it real to me.
T’was grace that brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me
home.
That journey is a great analogy for our
lives. We’re all living our lives and we can really only see a
little bit into the future. We go along with faith that when the
there are unexpected turns, God will light the way. When we pass
though the floods they will not sweep over us. When there are trees
in our way we will have enough time to see them and avoid them. The
reason we will arrive home is simple, God loves us and cares for us,
and the best way to keep our lives on the road is constant prayer.
