A hiking adventure interrupts our plans—Several months back we needed to take a trip to a specialist in Atlanta GA. We planned in a couple of stops to make it special and voila! A hike to a beautiful waterfall in a very special place interrupted our plans!

Trip to the Doctor—My Honey fought against a bladder infection for five months. A close friend of hers shared that she had been cured 20 years before by an Osteopath in Atlanta. So we made the trip, got the treatment and the infections stopped!  We planned a return trip for a follow up. It is far enough away that the round trip can’t be done easily in one day.

Plans to make it special—We booked a German supper and bed hotel in a tiny little town partially because of the hotel and partially because of its location. Staying here allowed us to come and go past our favorite German sandwich shop in Ball Ground GA for a meal each way.

The interruption—While leaving the hotel parking lot my Honey announces that she has to go back inside. She wanted to use the restaurant bathroom and there were some decorations that she wanted to take a picture of. This was the interruption. Why did she not go before we left the room? What was so special about the bathroom decorations that we need pictures? I’ve learned to just go with it because wonderful things happen when my Baby makes a deviation. This was all a bit hard for this guy to grasp but we were on a meaningful  journey and I was particularly relaxed that morning.

The Adventure—She came back to the car with a newspaper and she was excited. She said that she was walking past this newspaper stand and she felt the Holy Spirit tug her heart to stop and get one. When she opened the newspaper at random there was a beautiful water fall and an article about Amnicola Falls. It was only 30 minutes away and we love hiking to waterfalls. Zoom off we went. When we got there, we took our left over German sandwich to a picturesque spot and ate it in a swing by a creek. Then we hiked to the falls, explored a little and stopped at the gift shop for a snack.

The surprise—I had not noticed where we were. The name had not rung a bell yet…until I saw the Appalachian Trail marker. I started to smile…could it be? We went inside and sure enough: this was the starting point where the kick off party is every year for the north bound through hikers for the Appalachian Trail.  The hikers have to hike about eight miles to get to the beginning of the trail and hike back past this park so it’s the start but not really the start. I love the AT and have done part of it. I plan to hike it all in sections during my 60’s. What a cool surprise!

Had it not been for the “interruption” we would not have experienced God’s providence to bless us with a special place  “accidentally”—a place where we had wanted to go for years.

What interruptions are you experiencing? Could they be the hand of God? What blessing could be there for you? Look for more insights on interruptions on a blog my wife writes about the lessons we learn from our cat—Clive The Cat.