When I told
people I was going to get hiking in the Smoky Mountains alone, people always
asked if I would get bored, or what would I do? So, to answer anyone who was
wondering what went on for four days alone in the mountains.
I am Alive!! J
and when I say that, I mean more alive than just stating a fact that bears did
not eat me. I feel like God really made me come alive last week while I was in
the mountains. I know it sounds cliché to say I went to the mountains as a
quiet reflection time and then felt Gods presence… but that is truly what
happened!
First, It was
amazing to see so many signs from God within a short 4 day span! From random
small silly things like me praying for a headache to go away and it happening
before I knew it, or the morning prayer psalm being about a raven crowing, and
a raven literally started crowing to big things like constantly (well, almost)
walking in a prayerful state or being so filled with love at every site I saw
that I was filled with song (and anyone who knows me for more than about 5
mins, knows that is not typically who I am, to be filled with song! Haha).
Sunday, Monday
and Tuesday before I left I kind of fell hard, I heard Satan tell me I threw
away any chance I had of a normal life by choosing to do mission work, he told
me that by serving God I would be poor and lonely because I was not doing the
logical next step after graduation. There were some long sad nights when that
was all that would be in my head… Before I even got there, God told me. ‘You’re
right Dan, you will not have a normal life. You may never be an engineer, and I
can’t promise marriage, but what I also can promise you is that I did not call
you to be ordinary, or just to take the next logical step. I called you to be
my child and to love with all your heart and I will ALWAYs take care of you and
fill you with joy and happiness’ Thus thwarting the lie the devil tried to pull
me down with.
Then I was so
focused on seeing bears, that’s all I thought about. So literally within 30
mins of arriving, God showed me bears. I was driving along, and Boom. Bears. 2
of them on the side of this scenic driving loop! God basically said, how
foolish can you be to focus on bears when there is so much other glory to be
seen here?! My mission was no longer to see bears, but it was to see God in the
mountains, and others that I met. Had I not seen bears on the first day, I
don’t know how the rest would have gone down!
So, to sum up,
God spoke to me on so many levels, all the hard heartedness I felt in my past
semester was smashed away by the awe and glory of Gods kingdom on earth!
Another way to sum up is with this quote a friend reminded me of:
“The world promises you comfort, but
you were not
made for comfort. You
were made for greatness”
— Pope
Benedict XVI
Words can’t
really explain the relaxation and freedom I felt by getting away from the
frustration and stress I used to feel… but this kind of explains why one would
want to go on a solo retreat to the mountains! J
~Dan
