Regress Not Progress
So today,
June 24, Brandi and Stacey dropped me off at the same spot where she
had met me the afternoon before. My goal for the day was around 20 miles
to the 3rd shelter. The first one, Black Mtn, was only 2.8 miles from
the drop point. An easy down hill descent.
I
stopped there to sign my name in the book since I spent the previous
night off the AT. Rangers do check the shelter logs and keep up with
hikers so I know I need to log in from time to time. Nephew always did
that for us before.
When I left the shelter I
mistakenly walked right back up the hill I had just descended. When I
got to my starting pt and realized my mistake, I was of course mad at
myself. I walked 5.6 miles for nothing! So today I ended up only hiking
12 trail miles.
As I retraced my steps, the
Lord spoke to my heart. He reminded me that REGRESS is what a
refugee' s
life is dominated by because they have left and possibly lost back home
all they had worked for and accumulated. The pastoralist has lost his
livestock. The farmer's tilled land is now growing up weeds and may soon
return to the shape it was in before he put so much back breaking labor
into clearing it. Regression.
No one likes
having to retrace their steps or redo work once done well. Yet this is
what awaits every refugee who returns home once peace is restored.
Today I lost some time and energy, but in the big scheme of things it was a small thing.
Thanks Lord Jesus for granting me experiences which enable me to put things in perspective; even when they are painful.
Please join us in this Hiking to Help Refugees venture so we can
together provide God's Word to S. Sudanese refugees. Only God can
restore what war and the forces of evil have destroyed in these people's
lives.
Uncle
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