psalm 91:11

to anyone who only thinks angels wear wings, let me tell you about my drive to Clayton Georgia.

What was supposed to be a 3.5 hour drive, quickly turned into a 6 hour drive and one of the greatest blessings of my life.

I left Boone around 1:00 Tuesday afternoon, I had hoped to be in Clayton by 4:30 (needed to be there by 5 at the latest). After 3 hours of winding mountain roads, beautiful views and a mixture of Chris Stapleton, Norah Jones, Hillary Duff and Drake I was pretty ready to be out of the car and to finally meet these people I had been praying about for the last week! I'm cruising at a solid 76 up the mountain when all of the sudden I hit a complete traffic stop.

me: "okay its fine, you planned a little extra time in case of traffic- its a big highway they'll have it cleaned up in no time"

67 minutes later... we finally started moving. At this point I was already irritated that I was going to be late and that I had planned so well to be there on time. As I reached the front of the line where the wreck had happened I realized they werent letting cars through, they were directing traffic to turn around and go back down the mountain. Okay, time to freakout. I was in the middle of no where hours from home but so close to camp. If you are familiar with the mountains of North Carolina there is no such thing as a "slight detour". I suddenly started to panic. My GPS was yelling at me to make a U-turn, my phone had zero service and I suddenly found myself terrified of how I was going to get anywhere. Looking at the map, it was going to take me 2 hours back in the opposite direction of where I needed to be headed. I was ready to call the leader of trip and tell him sorry but I just cant make it, this trip is turning out to be way too much. Its just not worth it to drive 8 hours for 3 days with a bunch of strangers.

I pulled over to the side of the road with tears just streaming down my face. I kept asking God why he was doing this. Wasnt this his call to me to worship with these people? Wasnt God the one who set all of this in motion? I was just following as I thought He was leading me. Why was He punishing me for answering His call, why was He making this so difficult? All of these questions were swirling around my head as I typed out a text to Kevin (the youth minister of First Pres Orlando) when I heard a faint tap on my window. I Looked up, blotchy red face covered in tears and all. and saw a state trooper standing outside my window.

me: "Okay great now I'm getting a ticket? Thanks God"

I rolled down my window to see what the officer wanted, crying even more now thinking I was going to get a ticket for being illegally pulled over,

"Is everything alright, miss?" *me screaming in my head 'NO ITS NOT OKAY I NEED TO BE SOMEWHERE AND GOD IS PUTTING EVERY OBSTACLE IN MY WAY'

I somewhat calmly explained to him that I was in a time crunch to be somewhere and I was lost and had no idea how to get to camp without back tracking so far.

The officer explained to me that the highway would be shutdown until at least midnight and I would need to find a different way. I knew that the only reason highway patrol every completely shuts down a highway is because of a death, he told me there were three. Three lives taken just ahead of me, just as I was cruising, just as I was listening to Norah Jones, just as I was rushing to get through the next 30 minutes. Three lives.

He asked where I was going and I told him Clayton Georgia but that I had no working GPS. He told me the next best way to get there and that it would set me back about 2 hours but that it would get me there just the same- in one piece. I thanked him and he walked back to his car and drove back to the accident. I sat there for a few minutes trying to collect myself wondering how the heck I was going to remember those directions.. then I heard that same gentle tap on my window again. He was back.

"I bet you'd like it if I wrote that down for ya"

me: "ugh YES YOURE THE BEST I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU" *literally*

He pulled out a pad of paper and a pen and wrote down 3 simple directions. Handed it to me and went back on his way.

"okay God, I see you.. Im going, Im going"

As I pull back on to the highway I have this overwhelming sense of selfishness and guilt. God wasn't placing obstacles in my way, He was protecting me from obstacles ahead. If I had left just 10 minutes earlier, that could have just as easily been me in that wreck. If my GPS had been working it would have taken me back way further than I needed to go. So here I was blindly following 3 lines written on a piece of paper down the other side of the mountain. These back roads were so windy, forcing me to slow down- allowing me to appreciate these new views, giving me time to listen to new music, giving me time to thank God for all he just did for me within the past hour. I spent the next hours on the road praying for the families of those who suddenly had their loved ones taken from them. I prayed for the grace of the church for being thankful I made it to camp okay, no matter what time I finally got there.

Around 7:00 I finally pulled through the gates of Camp Pinnacle, in one piece, renewed and refreshed in the grace and the strength of the Holy Spirit.

God sent me an angel; no wings, no halo, no beaming light from the sky. A grey uniform and a silver Charger.

God is so good, yall, all the time

All the time, God is so good.

[ God will command his angels to protect you where ever you go] Psalm 91:11