What a Hawaiian Rainforest Taught Me About The Power of Intention

I’m on the island of Oahu taking the whole family on an epic Hawaiian vacation.

Babette says she wants to visit a waterfall because she loves the idea of being under a waterfall in Hawaii.

I check the guidebooks and pick an excursion that will take us on a trek through a Hawaiian rainforest only minutes from our hotel room on Waikiki Beach.

The same location where they film movies and TV shows like The Hunger Games, Jurassic Park and Lost.

Our tour guide says the hike to the waterfall is less than a mile on a “beginner” type of trail.

Oh good, think I.

He drives us up a windy mountain road until we are literally in the clouds.

There’s a slight mist that makes everything damp and slick.

We start our hike.

The path starts out nice and flat.

The views are absolutely stunning – here’s one…

Here’s another…

It’s not hard to imagine T. Rex and velociraptors still might be roaming around the next curve.

Gradually, however, the path becomes a little steeper…

Then a little steeper…

Suddenly, we’re climbing up a very steep, slippery path made even more treacherous by the presence of that fine mist that makes every step like trying to climb up a mud bath.

But guess what?

The entire time we’re going up, I’m thinking…

“If it’s this bad going up, how bad is it going to be coming down?”

Because I’ve done enough hiking to know that as hard as a mountain may be to climb up, it’s twice as hard to come down.

Then I see some fellow hikers coming down the mountain, and they all have walking sticks to assist them.

And I’m thinking, “God, I wish I had a walking stick for the trip down.”

Then we finally come to the waterfall – and it’s totally worth it.

Look…

(The actual waterfall is over 150 feet tall, so you can’t see even a tenth of it in this photo. Trust me: Totally worth it.)

But I still have a very huge problem.

How to hike down that treacherous path we just came up without killing myself.

I’m silently praying: “God, I really need a walking stick to make it down this mountain.”

Babette and the kids decide to jump in the fresh water wading pool at the base of the waterfall.

I’m watching them with a smile, silently praying, “God, I really need a walking stick to make it down this mountain.”

I look at the time and realize that we have to start heading back down the mountain to meet our tour guide for our ride home.

And I’m silently praying, “God, I really need a walking stick to make it down this mountain.”

Amber comes out of the wading pool and says, “Noah, could you use a walking stick?”

And she hands me what looks like Gandalf’s staff from Lord of the Rings.

It had been laying there the whole time, about ten feet from where I’d been sitting, just out of my sight.

The fact that she found the perfect walking stick was miraculous enough.

But what made it truly incredible is the fact that the stick was at the top of the mountain.

That means someone had to have left it and NOT gone down the mountain with it.

There are no words to describe my gratitude for the appearance of this miracle walking stick.

And believe me – I don’t know how I would have made it down the mountain without it.

Here it is (with Amber who found it for me)…

The power of intention + Asking for help + Someone who can see something you can’t + Taking action even in the face of doubt = Miracles

Noah’s Note: Sometimes miracles happen when you least expect them. In fact, isn’t that the definition of a miracle? 

I believe in you!