The snow is long gone now, but not the memories of an adventure on the mountain just a couple months ago. As part of our desire to build community as a church and foster deeper and healthier relationships within the families we serve we have been planning outreach and service events as well as fun outings to do with all ages involved. Mid-April we led our church on a family outing up to the mountain looking for snow. Many have never seen snow so we eagerly planned as if we were going looking for treasure. This was a big deal!
The day of the trip a big rainstorm hit Los Angeles dumping new snow up in the mountains. It would have been easy to cancel the trip on account of the storm, but we come from a community where promises are broken regularly, plans are rarely realized and words hurt deeply or mean little. We wanted to honor our families and do what we could to fulfill our word. So the twenty of us excitedly ventured off.
About half way up the mountain one of our vans got hit by a falling rock that broke the transmission line after it bounced up on the underside of the vehicle. For the next four hours we were stranded just out of reach of the snow in a van on the side of the mountain waiting for a tow. We all crammed into one van and had our picnic lunch with hot chocolate, threw snowballs at one another (balled up napkins), made snowmen (out of marshmallows and pretzel sticks – see picture) and even got to see snow (as it came down pilled high on the cars descending the mountain).
While our adventure wasn’t what we had hoped or planned for it may have been better. We were reminded the great truth that God’s ways are above our ways. His creation – even a small rock – is mightier than ours (the van). He kept us safe and he really unified us in those many long hours (with 4 children under the age of 6)…believe it or not it was fun. One of our youth invited a cousin so we got to know him better during this adventure. We were amazed that leaving the city and the hectic routine and rhythm was so needed it was nearly enjoyable being stranded in a storm in a crammed van for a good portion of the day. Nobody – not even the toddlers – complained once!
We have been called to the city to bless others with the richness God has shared with us. We daily trust in God that this calling would manifest itself in a harvest of souls that love God more than anything and contagiously share this Light with others.
Please continue to pray for our safety and fruitfulness. May you have an unexpected adventure this month that draws you closer to the people God has given to you to love.
Chad & Fabiola
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment