I am very blessed to have married a guy that loves to travel! Since we married 32 years ago we have seen some absolutely incredible places and have been blessed to take our kids on some pretty cool adventures! One of my all time favorites was a sloth encounter in Honduras! We were on a cruise and chose this as one of excursions. We checked in to all our options, read all the info and were on our way! Our adventure took a turn when they had an extra stop on the tour. You may not know this about Honduras but they are known for their iguanas. You also may not know this about me, I do NOT do lizards of any kind , not here on US soil and certainly not in a foreign country. I am NOT impressed by how big they can grow nor am I impressed by how fast they can travel on land (we saw both of these points in action during our surprise visit on our excursion). Just picture your worst nightmare walking literally everywhere around you. TERRIFYING!!
I spent the entire time trying to protect my younger kids from what I was certain would be the death of us all while I was about to pass out! Just picture a mom with four extra humans attached on every side walking down the street literally surrounded by iguanas of all shapes and sizes. We could hear their tales scraping the ground as we walked. It was AWFUL! My sweet husband, in true dad fashion walked up several times with small versions of said creatures clipped on his ear, he thought this was awesome. The children were not impressed! There were multiple shops along the way selling green leaves to feed the iguanas… um no thank you!! We were so very thankful to get back on the bus and head away from this part of our adventure!! On to the sloths!!
My heart was so happy that we had just been “traveling through” this part of our day! We had not asked for it, sure didn’t choose it and we were so thankful it was over! Kind of makes me think of our lives from time to time. Circumstances come our way in life that we sure would not have asked for and sometimes we are not prepared for and quite honestly some can rock your world. Becoming a believer does not mean life will be free from trials and troubles, sadness or grief, but it does promise that the giver of eternal life will be with you. Psalm 23 says “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me”. Two words in that verse that we can to cling to as Christians are “walk through”. God did not breathe scripture into the hearts of believers for us to stay in the valley. He gave us His word so that we can walk through valleys and sadness and heart ache and in the darkness, in the sadness He is with us. He comforts us and and we do not have to fear.
So I will end this with two questions and a thought for you… How big is your valley? How big is your God? Just this week I have watched some very incredible people go through the loss of a loved one that will be greatly missed in many circles, THAT my friend is a BIG valley. BUT… (not good writing but it fits!!) WE SERVE A BIG GOD. God’s love and His peace is big enough to sustain a soul that is hurting and a heart that is breaking. I am so thankful that we are just “traveling through” this world, it is not home. Sin and death are part of this fallen world but take heart believer, we are just traveling through!!
Priceless 