Our journey began at 700am on Friday morning as we all piled into Pastor Orlando’s truck, Josh in the front and us four girls in the back. We had arrived in Ocotal the day before, ready to settle down, only to be told we would be leaving the next morning for a small village five hours away. Our initial destination was Murra, a little town in the mountains of Nicaragua and then Rosario, a tiny village deep in the heart of the mountains. The ride to Murra was quite comical… four girls sliding back and forth along the curvy roads becoming more overlapped and intertwined by the minute. Yet we arrived, safe and sound, in just under three hours. We were halfway there! Or so we thought.
We had breakfast at a little restaurant in town and were then told to wait in the church until our ride came sometime within the next hour. So we waited, and waited, and waited some more. By the time our ride showed up five hours later, Pamela had finished 27 Sudokus, Ashley had read most of Leviticus, Josh had napped and named all the 50 states, Dre had napped, read some, and then napped again, and I had tried to name as many countries in the world as I could. We were more than ready to be on the road again.
As we began climbing into the truck realization quickly hit that it wasn’t just us going to this small remote village. Our numbers somehow increased to 15 as we placed our packs into the pickup. The “Let’s see how many people can fit into one truck” game is becoming one of my favorites on the World Race. With all of us seated somewhat comfortably, we were off, part two of the journey.
After only a minute of the truck ascending the first hill we heard a slight squealing noise. We didn’t make much of it, but as the truck continued to go up this never ending hill the screeching didn’t cease. After 15 minutes of going practically straight up the noise was so loud that everyone on board began to get worried. Our driver, not being able to ignore the issue anymore, stopped on the first level ground since our departure and assessed the problem. He immediately announced that the transmission was having problems and there was no way the truck could continue the strenuous journey to Rosario. So there we were, stranded on some mountainside in Nicaragua with approximately 45 minutes of day light left and with no ride to Rosario or back to Murra. Once again we found ourselves waiting, not really knowing what would happen next.
Luckily we didn’t have to wait long this time, in just a short while another truck arrived to take us the rest of the way. Like last time, we piled into the truck, and just like last time, our numbers somehow increased once again. Weighed down with 18 people, our truck struggled up the continual uphill road. Realization soon hit that the road, which in the words of Dre was like “a mini version of the grand canyon”, was not really a road at all! It was more like a giant mud field someone had decided to drive on. The mix of never ending hills and giant mud pits made for lots of spinning tires and prayers for a safe arrival.
The sun soon descended behind the plethora of mountains and the stars began to shine across the sky. Though the darkness made navigating the road a bit more challenging, we kept on driving, and driving, and driving. Occasionally we’d pass a house or two and I’d get my hopes up, but no, there was no stopping. When we had been riding for almost two hours and the entertainment of the whole situation began to fade, we saw the most beautiful sight off in the distance….lights. While the town of Rosario is by no means big, it was big enough to create a delightful sprinkling of lights on the side of the hill ahead. With one last obstacle to overcome, a flowing river with no real bridge, we arrived in Rosario.
Looking back now, I think the entire day of waiting was planned by God. Not to learn more patience, although that was a bonus, but to truly enjoy the beauty that He created. He wanted us to be able to experience the beautiful sunset over the green capped mountains, the infinite amount of stars that speckled the night sky as we drove up and down the steep mountainsides, and the charming little dusting of lights dancing on the mountainside. It truly was an evening of magnificent beauty.
Please continue to pray that we take the time to notice the beautiful creations that God has made, even in the midst of frustrating and trying situations. And I encourage each of you to look around and find something beautiful today. God is truly the ultimate creator and the world if full of his precious artworks.
