WOYWW: An Adventure in Petra

This is supposed to be a short post for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday but alas, not this week!

I did some tidying up!  And I had some help...

Last week I didn't get to post a close-up of a wonderful surprise I received from Jo.  Thank you so much, Jo!  You must visit her and see her lovely eyes ;-)

Here is a quick sketch I made in my travel journal.  Notice the waters at the bottom left...

While we were in the amazing World Heritage Site of Petra, Jordan, I marveled at the ancient structures...

and amazing rock formations of the "Siq," the dim, narrow gorge (in some points no more than 3 m wide)  that winds its way approximately 1.2 km...

 

The first glimpse of Petra's most elaborate ruin, Al Khazneh (The Treasury), was awesome...

David Bjorgen

 and to see The Treasury up close was a dream come true.  But the dream turned into something of a nightmare when we experienced what would have been a terrifying experience for me if not for my faith in God - a flash flood!

It was drizzling when we started our walk and our tour guide made a remark about not dilly dallying because of the possibility of flash floods.  I thought he was joking and I said, "Oh, that would be too exciting for me!"  

By the time we reached The Treasury the rain had gotten harder (see the edge of the umbrella in the top of the picture above?)  and right after we took a group picture, our tour guide told us to hurry back.  Some of our older tour mates were able to ride the horse carriages but there were only a few carriages available.  

In a few minutes, he was shouting, "Move!" and pointing to the water flowing through the Siq, "See, the flash flood? It's starting already!"  Oh my gosh!!! By now we realized he wasn't joking after all, and not knowing just how high the floods would eventually reach was frightening.  Walking as fast as I could and getting breathless at the effort, the water quickly rose to knee high, and it was freezing!

After a while, a Petra guide told us to stop under an overhanging rock (this is what I later drew in my journal).  Here, we were able to catch our breath and we prayed together. For a while I thought we would wait it out under the comfort of the cave but in a few minutes, we heard the familiar, "Move!" and out we went back into the rain and the freezing floodwater.

But this time, I recalled these verses,

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 

Philippians 4:4

In every thing give thanks. 

1 Thessalonians 5:18

I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise; continually in my mouth. 

Psalm 34:1

and decided to do just that.  Thanking God while walking through the freezing flood, I felt courageous and victorious!   I had other lessons to be learned from this experience but that is for another post and I leave you with this verse from Isaiah.  

Thank you, Lord, for your protection, and for renewing my strength!  Also sharing this in Word Art Wednesday,  Inspire Me Monday and Paint Party Friday!