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A TESTIMONY by Sally Whittington More than fifteen hundred miles long, begun four hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Great Wall of China remains one of the engineering marvels of the world. And since I read of it for the first time, over fifty years ago, I have dreamed of walking on that Great Wall. I asked my husband for a trip to China as a Fortieth Anniversary gift. As soon as he agreed and made our reservations, I began to worry. I suffer from chronic, sometimes debilitating fatigue, and there are days when a trip to the mailbox, a mere ten yards from our door, is physically impossible. Was I testing God by planning this trip? After all, He has had to remind me several times, "My child, you are not living within the physical limitations that I have chosen to place on you at this time." As I studied our grueling itinerary, I began to pray, "Lord, if I can't do anything else on this trip, please, please let me walk, for just a little while, on the Great Wall. Two and a half weeks later, after traveling thousands of miles by plane, bus, boat and foot, nineteen days filled with shopping, sightseeing, and a brutal bout with E- coli, we arrived at the Great Wall. As my companions grew smaller in the distance, I marveled as I reached each goal that I had set for myself. Up the steep incline, past the far guard post, and beyond. I believe I could have walked the entire length of the Great Wall that day. I returned to the bus alone, not to rest, but to reflect. I wept as I began to grasp, for the first time in my life, how much my Heavenly Father cherishes me and how He delights in giving me the desires of my heart. |
