In May a big biker man came into the restaurant, and after telling him I was from South Dakota, he asked what could have possibly brought me to North Carolina.

I told him about the ministry, and he went on to tell me that he was in a motorcycle ministry himself.

He ended up leaving me a Bible and wrote a message of encouragement to me in it. In July he came back through and our team was able to spend time with him. He told us his story of his brother’s drug related suicide that eventually brought him to Jesus.

We spent a few days with him, and just knew that God had sent him to us. He fearlessly shared his story with so many people whenever we went places with him, and it was such an encouragement to our whole team. A simple conversations in the restaurant led to him conversing with one of our employees whose brother had died.

He left her a Bible as well, and helped bring her back into a journey with Christ.

God worked in small ways that summer which taught me to pay attention to His voice, and enjoy those precious little blessings He gives us. Sometimes it was a beautiful butterfly at the restaurant on a hard day at work, or watching an employee change just a little because of the love we showed them every day. On our last hike, after many days of rain and fog, God blessed us with the most immaculate sunset. It was a beautiful farewell present to finish a glorious summer.

Rachel T., Blue Ridge Parkway, 2013