Throughout the Bible you don't hear much about Aaron. Yes, God said, 'I'll send you and your brother Aaron to free my people and then you hear from him now and again but after Moses and Aaron free the people all you hear about is Moses and Joshua. Why is that? It's not like Joshua was anything big. I mean Aaron was Moses' older brother while Joshiua was more of Moses' travel service companion you could say. Like a blind man has a service dog wherever they go to help them out so did Moses have Joshua. The next time you hear of Aaron is at the bottom of the mountain then when Moses strikes the rock instead of speaking to it. The Bible says, ' Now Moses and Aaron died on thaqt mountain and couldn't go into the promised.' Besides Aaron being way older than Moses why was he banned from the promised land as well? I'm getting ahead of myself so let's get back to the story shall we?
That night we all slept together and thankfully no animal was thinking of frog legs on their menu plan. The next morning everyone folded their hammocks, put them in our bags and we set off. Aaron was still fresh on my mind so I decided to tell my dad about it.
"Dad, when last did you see your brother Aaron?"
He stopped for some time and thought about it.
"I don't honestly know when last we spoke. I mean he comes to the pond once in a while to check up on me but I never go over there and haven't; not even once."
"How come?"
"Son, when you're the youngest it usually means you can do as you please underneath the rules of course without parents knowing of it, but I was so not known with the path I took that Aaron quickly became the favorite child. He was better than me at everything. He was smarter, faster, stronger, and yes sadly even more handsome although it's hard to see that. I was nothing and always spent my days trying to compare myself to him but I would always fall up short.
So I decided the best option for me would be to leave. So that is what I did. Live my own life and not be held back by comparing myself to my older brother. Don't get me wrong; I had my fair share of getting into trouble myself. I have no idea what ticked Moses off or what he was thinking about on that day, but for me my brother was fresh on my mind and I wanted to get him back. So if I couldn't be better than him I could at least be richer and lavish people with my wealth. Long story short I got into trouble and found myself running from the blues. Nowhere did I bother to look back and make sure my buddies were with me cause all I was thinking of was, 'I need to escape.' I came to a small warehouse and hid in a small dark room all the way in the back; then waited until I felt comfortable to come out. When morning struck and the sun's rays lit up the room I was alone in what looked to be like an old run down chapel in the past. Now it sat burned to the ground and things could barely be made out. The only other thing that kept me company in my four walls was a Bible still in pristine condition like it had never been touched.
My eyes picked it up and from then on I clung to that book. Overtime, I felt pastor was the way for me to and I am happy that I did. If I hadn't I would have never met your mother nor had you.
Sorry if you think I am always tough on you and feels against you. You just have a different view on how you see the Bible and challenge others to make sure they are confident in knowing what they are preaching to others. Sometimes people don't want to hear that but that's what we really need to hear from time to time so we can stay in check with what we're really doing. Thank you."
I didn't know how to respond. That was the first time my dad opened up to me about…..anything.
"Sounds like someone I know!"
"Croak, let's just say I inherited my fathers not opening up and my mothers baking. She knew how to turn any situation for the better. Together my mom and dad made an unstoppable force."
Dad's response did give an idea though for something. No, I wasn't going to go rob a bank to show I was better than my brother or anything since I was the only child anyways but I remembered the Bible I had found and showed dad. Instantly his face lit up, he grabbed the Bible and riffled through the pages. 'He was there,' he had said in a little muffled voice close to a realization but I was barely able to pick it up.
"Who was there?"
"Where did you find this?"
"Uhh, I don't remember, but it was at the second or third pond I visited I do believe. Why?"
"Look at ther initials on this Bible. It was him. It was my brother. I'm sure of it. Everytime I got into trouble whether with parents or others he would always sneak in a Bible with a coded message of motivation in it then set it down somewhere close to me so when I woke up it was there. I never saw him do it but the next day he would just smile as I walked past him. It was just something small but there to remind me he cared even if he looked too busy to notice. It's usually in the middl...aha! Here it is!"
"Here is what? It's a blank page."
"Aah but that's what he wants you to think so nobody else can read it but me. My brother wrote me two types of motivation messages. The first was a code in numbers and that was usually a quote or a small motivational note. The second however was my favorite. A blank page, that could only be seen underneath the light of dark. A map would then appear and would lead me either to something small or someplace out of town to a spot where something was buried. The treasure wasn't big or anything but just an inspirational item. Do you have a flashlight or something I can borrow?"
"Dad, I'm not even going to ask how your brother managed to make new maps and messages for you everytime you got into trouble but every family has their own thing I guess. Anyways they are called phones now instead of flashlights. Here you go."
"Well actually my brother didn't do it everytime. He did it more when….nevermind. Let's see here. Nope. Too bright. We need to get someplace darker," he said after he had cupped his hands together as tight as he could.
"May I take over your journey from here?"
"You've gone this far and I wasn't the best at picking ponds anyways."
"Thanks. I got this. CLAN!! We're changing course so follow me.