There's a song called 'Here Again' by Elevation Worship that I hold very close to my heart nowadays. You'll see why later.
Every year, my family travels somewhere for our annual family trip. I am so thankful to have such an adventurous family who will literally go anywhere and do anything just for the sake of experiencing life, whatever that entails, together. It's our favorite place to be: together.
This year, we needed our God to meet us where we were as we found ourselves stuck in complete terror and hopelessness. We knew our prayers needed to be powerful. Powerful enough to move the mountains we were trapped in. And they sure did.
Some years we go out West to hit the black diamond slopes in Colorado or Utah and some years we spend our trips swimming with sea life and soaking up the sun. This past year we decided we wanted to go somewhere we hadn't ever gone before. My momma, the queen of all excursion planning, hopped on the internet and did her thing. It was super anti-climatic when we found out we were going to visit West Virginia, but when she told us about the amazing Airbnb she found and all the great hiking trails, we were so eager to get there.
When we arrived, it was pouring down rain. The rain lasted for the entirety of the trip all for about four hours. When we saw our short window of dryness the next morning, we decided to get a quick four-mile hike into an overlook in the George Washington National Park called the Big Schloss. Everyone one trip advisor raved about this hike and we had just the right amount of time to do it. Or so we thought.
With our shoes tied tight and smiles on our faces, we started on the trail at 8:00 a.m. When we got to the lookout, fog covered the entire landscape. There was nothing in the so-called "breathtaking sight" to be seen. We descended down the mountain to find that the marking on the trees had all been weathered. There was no direction on how to get out. No distinct tree markings. Not signs. Nothing. It wasn't a big deal if we just kept going down to get down the mountain. But as time went on, none of the trails we went on lead downward. My sister and I were sure that my dad had misread the description of the hike. Surely it wasn't four miles, it was definitely eight or it wouldn't take this long. So we laughed it off until it wasn't so funny.
Hours had passed and we shamefully admitted that we were lost. The rain had begun again and it was not a warm day. We had run out of water and decided since it was a four-mile hike, we weren't going to bring any food along with us. We had no cellphone signal and we were stranded in the mountains with no direction on how to emerge from it.
Tears were shed. Angered words were spoken. Fear overcame us as the sun started to set. We came across a tiny cabin that could maybe fit one or two people in it, used by hikers who planned on hiking for an extended period of time. Of course, it was locked and the key was nowhere to be found. Just down a ways from the cabin, I saw that my phone had minimal signal but we needed to contact someone.
I could hear the static and breakage of words as a woman picked up the phone and began to speak. Between the terror in my voice and the poor signal, I'm not sure how she even heard what I was saying. From the time we called the park services to the time we were rescued was about four hours. From the time we entered the trail to the time we got out was fourteen hours. Standing in the pouring rain, shivering in our cold, wet clothes, and fearful that no one was actually coming to lead us out.
We prayed as a family, holding hands under the tiny lip of the closed cabin door. We prayed for God to deliver us from the situation we were in. To meet us where we were. The sounds of bears and other animals seemed to echo in the boundless depths of the drenched forest.
I began to cry and yell when I heard the sound of an ATV in a distance. It took them two hours to get to where we were in the mountains by ATV. We had hiked over state lines into Virginia and were well over an hour drive back to where our car was parked. It was 10 p.m. by the time we got back to the car to head home.
The lyrics to the song 'Here Again' say, "I'm not enough unless you come, will you meet me here again? As I walk now through the valley, let your love rise above every fear. Like the sun shaping the shadow, in my weakness your glory appears." This trip, God met us exactly where we were and rescued us from the situation we had gotten ourselves into.
I am truly thankful for those who were able to get us out of the situation we were in. It was petrifying, truly, and I believe that our big prayers to our big God is what rescued us.
God delivers you from fear. He forgives you for turning down the wrong path. He shows up to meet you where you are. Over, and over, again & that, right there, is something I will never be able to comprehend. We could be in the darkest, scariest places. Ashamed and terrified and he will meet us right where we are to show us how deep and wide is love is for us. That, to me, speaks volumes to who my Savior is.
