Lessons from North Georgia
I talk a lot about the road trip I took in 2020. A little background, I was supposed to be flying out to Rwanda at the time. But COVID-19 changed the whole world's plans. And instead of finally stepping foot in Africa after three years of prayer, I was invited on a spontaneous road trip in a 1997 Jeep with my best friend and two strangers. It was quite literally the time of our lives. We camped on public land and made our food surrounded by canyons out west. Our home was a Jeep. We had no set itinerary; we just wanted to see more and experience more.
Those who are close to me know this trip has played a huge part in my testimony. I fell in love with the grandeur of our God within His creation in the wild west. I surrendered to God right in the middle of Monument Valley while stargazing. The lyrics, "If the stars are made to worship so will I" came to life like never before. It became personal, for I have seen the same astronomical landscape Abram did when God told him his offspring would be as in-numerous as the stars.
The trip gave me purpose, which is simply to be in awe and wonder of His creation. I learned how to live with little. I had a roaring hunger to see more new things, to discover new crevices in the earth that God invented and knows intimately. I can't always drop everything and drive out west, but I definitely will when the next opportunity opens. I have left my heart in many places and I wish to visit those pieces once more. I’ll probably leave more pieces with them.
There's one hike here in North Georgia that has claimed multiple pieces of my heart. I think I have hiked Ravine Cliff over 10 times. I once thought a hiker was one who never stopped exploring. But here in Ravine Cliff, I’ve come to know more intimately the way the river has changed, when the water level is high or low, the trees that are growing, the trees that are dying, the paw marks of a black bear, the landscape becomes more and more familiar each trip. I learn more about the woods hiking the same hike than venturing into other sections of the numerous North Georgia hikes.
It hit me that this will one day be me with Uganda. I don’t need to travel the entirety of the world to pursue God’s creation. I just need to show up and love intimately what has been placed before me. I pray that I may be intentional with the time I have left at home and the upcoming time in Uganda. I am honored to have the opportunity to learn her better. I cannot wait to learn about the people of Kyangwali, to love on them more intimately, and to intentionally pursue the glory of God intimately within this corner of Africa.
I’ve learned maybe I don’t need to see the world to see more of the Creator, for He is right here. His glory and His plans are right in front of us, we must choose to trust and walk with Him. You don’t need to chase wind. The very God of the universe will reveal all things in His time.