Finding God on the Trail

By Gianna B. Volunteer in Romania

One rest day, we got to go on a hiking excursion in the mountains a couple hours away. It was so beautiful, especially since I had been missing the mountains we have in Colorado. We got to a stopping point of the hike where we sat down to eat, and suddenly, coming up out of the woods, Ioan!

Ioan is a good friend who often comes for coffee after Sunday mass and loves nature and taking us on hikes in the mountains. He was very hurt in his life and is very lonely. It was a fun meeting on this random mountain on this random day in which he happened to be off from work.

He sat down to eagerly share his typical Romanian hiking lunch with us- Slanina (the fat of a pig) with bread, red onions, and homemade wine. As we were talking it became clear that he was actually in a very low place at that moment- he was especially worried about his son. I’m so glad we could be with him then.

I constantly marvel at how God arranges things, at how even here on this mountain where I am reminded how small I am in comparison to God’s creation, He is present in the small details of our lives, bringing us exactly where he wants us to be.