Reflect: A Five Minute Friday post

When Scott and I lived in the Boston area in the days B.C. (before children!) we made many trips to New Hampshire to ski and hike.

New Hampshire is a beautiful state…a state full of mountains and long windy roads and hills full of trees and vistas and stunning scenery. Scott is an outdoorsman at heart. He worked at Eastern Mountain Sports for a short time in college, and owns things like ice axes, climbing ropes, glacier glasses (very round, odd looking sun glasses that I almost laughed at when he first put them on!) and head lamps. 

I'm a girl who likes the outdoors, but who also appreciates a functioning toilet nearby. 

He fell in love with the idea that I liked the outdoors enough to try rock climbing with him when we first met. I fell in love with the rugged, Birkenstock wearing enthusiast that he was. Our differences have often met in humorous ways in between- like when he anchored me to a tree so that I could belay him while rock climbing.

Or when we have argued about the best use of three hours in the woods…

"But babe, I just wanted to take a nice hike, on the path, up the side of the mountain. I didn't really want to set ropes and scale it from the side." 

"Well…what fun is that?" 

Hahaha.Sigh. 

And that is where marriage meets…at the intersection of what we were hoping for from our partners and the reality of what is. 

It's a messy thing. And a beautiful thing. And while it seems to not make sense sometimes I am reminded that God saw the bigger picture of our relationship while we were only seeing, with rose colored glasses, a small part of who we believed our partner to be. 

And when we butt heads over house chores and child rearing and how to best spend our time and money…When it seems like our differences are bigger than our similarities... It does me some good to reflect. 

On where we have been, and what we have done together. On how far we have come in thirteen years together. On the ways that God has provided for us. On that ways that He saw fit for an emotional, bookish, artistic girl with a whimsical heart to be joined with an outdoorsman with a business degree and a love of apple pies.

With how our two, becoming one, has become three and then four and now five. 

Reflection reminds me that all is as it should be. All as God intended for it to be. That my idiosyncrasies and imbalances, combined with his, somehow make up a more balanced picture. The perfect set of parents for our three little cherubs. 

When we were hiking those mountains in New Hampshire we often came across little rock formations that look like this…

A cairn, or trail marker made out of rocks to mark the path. From the top of a mountain looking down you can see where you have been and where you are going…All at once you feel a sense of accomplishment for what you have done and renewed hope to continue on your journey. 

We all have moments in our lives that serve as trail markers in the same way…What are the trail markers in your past, standing tall and strong in your memories? Maybe it's the story of how you met? Or how God interceded in your relationship? Maybe it's the day your babies were born? Or a wonderful trip that you took together? 

Reflection reminds us…by looking backwards... to see forwards with renewed perspective. 

So, until the kids are a little bit bigger and we can reconnect with the passions that originally brought us together, I will enjoy the moment by looking back to see where we've been. I will breathe in the joy of where we are. And I will allow it to carry us forward to where we are going with a renewed sense of passion and enthusiasm. 

And, in the meantime, I just might count my blessings that I'm not being tied to a tree. (:

This post is part of 5 Minute Fridays hosted by Lisa Jo Baker. To read more posts like this or to learn more about 5 Minute Fridays click here.