THREE FRIENDS PRAYED

THREE FRIENDS PRAYED

This Preach Letter is very late today because the Lord wanted me to go on a hike this morning.

 

It all started a few days ago when my niece and I talked on the phone about her coming down to help me buy a new car. I’m short and fairly small, so salesmen tend to think they can take advantage of me. I always had my roommate Jane to deal with all the car stuff, and she didn’t mind it, and was great at it. But she passed away, so the idea of going to buy a car by myself was basically terrifying me. My niece offered cheerfully to come down and help. She is brilliant in business, likes car stuff, and has no fear when it comes to those kinds of business deals. So, I thought “Great!! I feel so relieved.” Then she called and said something like:

 

“Well, how about you go online and look at available cars in your price range and then go to a dealership and sit in the cars and drive them to see which ones you like? “OHHHHH, NOOOOO!!! And panic grabbed me!!

 

I’m usually brave in most things, but I cratered! I was basically terrified! So…… I texted my niece and two other friends and told them how scared I felt, and would they please pray for me. All of them said yes, and all of them told me I could surely do it.

 

Then the new church I started attending was having a hike on Mount Charleston today. I thought that would be good for me, so I thought about it, and it seemed like the Lord also wanted me to go. But when I came home yesterday and started really thinking about it, I started to panic again. I hadn’t driven that far by myself in years. The hike was an hour’s drive out of Vegas and up a mountain. Then the “what ifs” started: “What if I have a flat tire, what if I get caught out on the highway and some creep comes along, what if my car breaks down up on the mountain,” all kinds of negative thoughts flooding in.

 

I repeatedly asked Jesus: “Am I really supposed to be doing this?” And every time I asked, the answer was “YES, I want you to do this!” I even “forgot” to set my alarm last night when I went to bed, and HE woke me up about an hour into my sleep, and I knew I was supposed to get up and set the alarms on my phone and on my clock! I did it, but when I got up at 5:00, I still considered not going.

 

But something happened inside me. I felt an odd kind of new bravery that came from the prayers and belief of the three friends who prayed for me. Their faith and prayer lifted me into a courage I didn’t have before, and I just kept moving.

 

As I was driving on a practically empty highway, getting closer and closer to the turnoff up the mountain, I felt better and better. I wasn’t even a quarter of a mile up the mountain road, and I had to pull over to take some photos. It was so beautiful!! I was so early that I had the luxury to pull over three times! As the sun was coming up and shining on the mountains, there were wonderful white cloud formations in a brilliant sky! The Lord was showing off, and it was spectacular!

 

Then the Lord did a wonderful personal miracle for me up there. When I got near the top, I went past the dirt road leading to the trailhead. I got about a half a mile up the road and realized I needed to turn around, so I did, and right next to the road when I turned, was the most beautiful painted horse, a wild Mustang!! Anyone who knows me knows I love horses, and especially the wild Mustangs, so this was amazing, and I had the time to just stay there and watch her. Then I drove back down the road to the trailhead parking lot. I got out of the car, and who do you think I saw trotting down the path on the other side of the road, and toward me? The Mustang!! She passed close by and went over the edge and down into a flat area below. As she was just getting out of my sight, she let out a very loud neighing, as if she was saying, “Bye for now, come again.”

 

No one could ever convince me it was a coincidence. NO, that was my God adding to the gifts He wanted to pour on me, His child. And then He had more! He picked out the perfect people to go on a hike with, and I had a really super time. I got to know some new Christians, and we had some really great conversations.

 

The longest hike I was able to do recently was about three miles on flat terrain. This one was on an incline, six miles at an elevation of 8,600 feet. I was surprised that I had no trouble whatsoever and, in fact, was energized and felt even better at the end of the hike. The Lord had strengthened me, and my praying friends had a big part in that, too!

 

When my three friends specifically prayed for me to be brave, they set off the domino effect—I was brave enough to drive myself an hour away and up to the top of a mountain, do a six-mile hike, and feel great afterward, and be perfectly comfortable talking with new people that I don’t really know. If I could do all that, I now believe that I can definitely handle the car dealership as well! NO FEAR!

 

It’s funny in life how different things come up over the years, odd things that all of a sudden petrify you, or cause you to act in a way you don’t want to act. But it’s a journey, and the Lord will always have a way to help us, rescue us, and get us through victoriously. And then He puts the cherry on top and gives me one of my favorites, a beautiful painted Mustang girl 😊.

 

Love, Carolyn