You are Never Out of My Sight

I won't tell you the whole story but needless to say I was coming out of, or trying to come out of Amboseli National Park on the border of Tanzania and Kenya. Pretty much all you could see was dirt in most directions although if you looked far enough Mt. Kilamanjaro was in the distance. There was a group of us on this trip and a few of us had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves watching the wildlife and seeing the Lord's creation- the elephants, zebras, ostrichs, giraffes- all completely wild and roaming free. Some in the van were less than thrilled with the driver and his "shortcuts" through the desert and were a bit uptight. We'd already been through one flat tire and a two hour ride that turned into four just to get there so yes, some were a bit on edge. But the Lord had given me the gift of Faith that day and I knew that I knew that He knew where we were, that He knew what we needed. And even in the middle of no where, He saw us. Even in the middle of the desert, He saw and He would provide, and He did just that. After we got stuck in the sand and to all get out so the men could push the van out of the sand (which took a good twenty minutes), the tensions were high with most. But as we got going and drove along again towards the main road, there on it's own standing no more than 10 feet from our van was the most beautiful giraffe. It mesmerized the van and brought peace to tense hearts. It was the Lord's way of letting everyone know that He had us- He knew where we were and knew what we needed and wouldn't let anything happen to us that was out of His hands.
So the giraffe has always had this significance to me. I have a couple of them sitting on my night stand and got one while I was in Uganda. But for whatever reason this one seemed more significant to me and I don't know exactly why. Maybe it was just the timing. It came at the end of what honestly seemed to be one of the worst weeks in the past year and a half; a week where the stress was piled on, I fought with friends and family; unkind words were spoken; hurtful things had been done and said, and it was just a terrible week. So yes, I think it was tht timing. At our care group we did a gift exchange and this was the first gift that was opened. I happened to be the last person to either pick a gift to open or steal a gift and this is what I stole because it just seemed like the Lord was saying "This is for you. I still see you no matter where you are, no matter what's happened. I know where you are and what you need and will provide it. And I love you."