The very next morning, we were off. We said our good-byes, shed our tears and began our journey northward.

The trip up the Al-Can was amazing. The scenery, the herd of animals grazing on the roadside – all was as picturesque as you can imagine and the children squealed with delight as they viewed God’s creation up close. My husband and I talked and drove late into the night as we recalled the wonderful things God had so recently done. We sensed that this was the beginning of an entirely new phase of ministry in our lives.

But trials came…

In this vast land, as the four of us were squeezed into our little Toyota amongst blankets and gear, we had a very real sense of our vulnerability – no side roads or services or ANYTHING for hundreds of miles at a time.

We saw God’s providential hand keeping us safe through many near misses: Hotels in Canada rarely leave their doors open. You have to ring a bell and pray someone actually answers. And if they do, which is VERY rare at midnight, it was nearly impossible to find one that accepted cash or debit cards. On top of that, most require a damage deposit of $200 dollars minimum! Unfortunately, we only had cash and debit and it became the thorn in our side the entire four-day trip.

In the Yukon Territory a semi-truck slid off the icy road right in front of us. We decided to stop and help the driver whom we found was East Indian, couldn’t speak English very well and, of course, was very shaken up. This ordeal set us back and caused us to get into White Horse at a late hour. We drove around White Horse until 3 am in 20 below weather until finding a hotel that would accommodate us. The next night our vehicle ran out of gas around midnight 90 miles from Tok, Alaska and we could not find our flashlight.

We had planned to use our reserve gas where the gas prices were the highest, so we were well prepared for the emergency, but we had not realized how low we were when it actually happened.

The darkness at midnight, out in the middle of nowhere Yukon Territory, is thick. Not to mention, November is CRAZY cold! It’s a good thing we had brought LOTS of blankets and some candles.

We had filled four emergency two-gallon containers of gasoline, which rode on the roof of our 4-runner, and it was like an epic struggle getting that precious fluid into our vehicle. It was a blitz gas can that had a safety no-spill mechanism on the spout, which was too fat to fit in the hole. So Isaac had to prop the safety flap open on the Toyota with a pencil and made a funnel with a piece of paper in order to get the gas in. What an ordeal! When the nightmare finally ended we headed toward the border.

Our little sleeping beauties in the backseat had slept right through the trials and were sweetly dreaming of buffalos and caribou while mommy and daddy were praying their hearts out.

We were exhausted to the max when we finally drove into Tok and to make matters worse, all hotels were closed. Now, you won’t believe what happened next, but an acquaintance from Delta junction, who knew we were traveling, texted us and told us to stay at the home of her lady dentist friend who lived in Tok! She sent us her phone number and told us to call her once we arrived, so we did. She came to where we were parked and we followed her home. At her cabin the wood stove was blazing and she had made up cozy beds for us. We had never slept so soundly.

By the time we woke up the most delicious breakfast was waiting for us. Breakfast burritos with homemade tortillas and fruit salad on the side. They had even packed us a lunch for the remainder of our trip and a bag of goodies for our children. I tell you, our hearts were overflowing with thankfulness for our God’s love and care towards us.

Now, there is a tiny detail I have not mentioned. We were clean out of money, and our gas tank was almost on empty from the last leg that we had driven. We had spent more money than we had expected with all the extra driving, from one hotel to the next, on a nightly basis, not to mention we had gotten lost on several occasions in the city. On top of that, gas in Canada during that time was almost $7 a gallon.

But we didn’t dare ask for anything from these people who were complete strangers and had already given so much. It was God who had gotten us that far and it was God who would have to get us to our destination. We went into the bedroom we had slept in and got on our knees.

You know, so many people talk of trials and how God uses trials to reveal to us our need of Him and so on, but when hard times come they are quick to say that God did not lead them, that they must have overlooked something, that maybe they were too impulsive…and on and on and on. It may be true in some cases that these things apply, no doubt about it, but it is vital to understand that trials are a very common aspect of the Christian’s walk, and a very vital one. You will remember that the Israelites that chose God were protected during the terrible plagues of Egypt, but don’t forget that they had trials nonetheless; Pharaoh upped their workload as a result of Moses’ request to set them free…and at the opening up of the Red Sea, God revealed His mighty power to them, but shortly afterwards, they had trials! Did this mean that had God not led them that far? Had it been all a figment of their imagination?

One essential reason why God allows trials is so that He can show us His power and we can learn to love and trust Him as our provider and friend. We actually rob God of this opportunity when we murmur and complain and shift into panic mode.

So, while we understood all of this in our heads, there the two of us kneeled with our toddlers, asking God, with fear and trembling, to provide once again for His people. We recalled the way He had led us thus far, and claimed the mighty promise of Jeremiah 33:3: “Call upon Me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.”  

You will not believe me when I tell you this but as we stepped out of the bedroom the lady announced she had to leave for work but wanted the honor of filling up our vehicle for the last leg of our trip! We about fell over backwards. I can’t tell you enough how thankful we were that we had allowed God to work and show us His power once more.

Tempting are those moments of intense trials, when you have two little ones you are responsible for, and the enemy is breathing down your neck, trying to convince you that you have been presumptuous, that you are a failure and God has left you…. But God wants to show His people, just as He did to Israel of old, that He is our God and we are His people and that He is well able to take care of us. Just as He was preparing them for the promised land through their wilderness wanderings, He is preparing us for the Promised Land as well.

But the story is not over. You see, as we stated at the very beginning – “We have come to realize that when God, in His mercy, has given light to a searching soul, and someone else is looking for the same light and understanding, He will bring them together even if it means crossing the continent.”